Posted: 26.02.2006
Rating: 8
Black Harvest - White Light Came Down
01. Die, Lavinia
02. Let Us Go
03. Tamora
04. Remnant
05. New Year's Day
06. Lamentation
07. White Light Came Down
08. Apocalypse (Hypocrisy cover)
USA: 2005
Genre: Melodic Black-Metal-Oriented Doom Metal
Label: Oak-knoll Records
Length: 49:34 minutes
Line-Up:
Guitars, Bass Guitar, Vocals: Kishor
Guitar: Roger
drums: Eric
Reviewed by DerRozzengarten
Black Harvest hail from the US and they are a doom metal act. They have those melodic/acoustic passages that have a sense of Opeth/Novembers Doom that burst into raging and filled with intensity doom/black metal oriented passages. I think they harmonize these different passages so beautifully together that they make you longing for these tender acoustic moments and then wait so badly for the outbursts to make their appearance and escalate the emotional charge of their songs!
Having already released two self-financed works, Shrine Of Hours and Mute, they caught the attention of Oak-knoll Records and signed with them a contract which led to the release of their official debut album under a label, White Light Came Down. According to the album title, white light came down and instead of making the atmosphere more bright, more alive, it managed to make the whole landscape grey and gloomy, filled with melancholy, and I can say that the darkened and gloomy cover artwork in contrast to the title and in perfect harmony with the feeling of the compositions is quite successful!
White Light Came Down consists of 8 songs, 7 composed by the band and 1 being a successful cover on Hypocrisys Apocalypse (I always thought that Hypocrisy at times have a doomy approach and this song was one of those that Id like to hear someday covered by a doom metal band, well, I cant complain, Black Harvest made a dream come true offering an interesting version). As I said above the album ranges from soft acoustic passages with clean vocal lines and a fragile aesthetic to raging and filled with pain and anger black metal oriented outbursts with intense guitar riffing, powerful drumming and shrieking screams that sound so damn expressive! What is remarkable is the fact that they manage to harmonize so beautifully together the powerful moments with the softer ones with the sound/emotional changes making the album flow in a better and more interesting way.
The ideas of Black Harvest are very good, sometimes they might sound a bit repetitive (to avoid misunderstandings, they dont abuse the word repetitive, they tend be repetitive to the level that wont bore the listener, something neither bad nor good, something in between Id say) but its not a problem! What someone may easily notice is that the guitar work is well-conceived and well-executed, with the acoustic passages being haunting in a beautiful way, sounding so gentle and friendly! The vocals whether they sound so melodic and fragile or intense and aggressive they are expressive, giving life to the melancholic lyrics. The drumming is fabulous, unerring! Just listen to the raging parts and youll get what I mean!
Concluding, I think that the fans of melodic black metal oriented doom metal should check out Black Harvest, they have the ideas and the potential to become a bigger name and they deserve a chance from you to listen to them and notice yourself that they are a strong band!
Highlights: "Tamora", "White Light Came Down", "Apocalypse"
Link:
http://www.black-harvest.com
