5th May 2022

Review: “Self Titled” by Harvested

A rising force in Ottawa Ontario Canada, Harvested are a Death Metal quartet who are highly thought of by those in the know, including Suffocation drummer Eric Morotti. His warm words for the bands creations that pay homage to classics of 90’s and early 2000’s whilst not relying on any backing tracks or digital disfigurement, instead push the band to their limits in terms of performance are certainly intriguing. So is the fact that guitarist Mitchi Dimitriadis is an engineer and producer in his own right while vocalist Adam Semler can also be heard on works by A Scar For The Wicked, Misshapen, Hatred Reigns and Harmoniaq to name but a few. Lyrically, this self titled debut touches conceptually on mental illness and the vile actions carried out by those suffering from it…

…recording as a four with Eric Forget on bass and Jacob Collins on drums and playing live as a five with Miguel Marcheterre-Piña as a second guitarist, the influence of bands like Morbid Angel and Immolation is clear on Harvested as they raise hell across all five of these fierce and fiery cuts. From the very start of “Apathetic” the talent of drummer Jacob Collins is obvious, a Death Metal percussive master in the vein of Morotti himself, he drives the nails into the coffin with expert precision and benefiting from the use of Silver Wing Studios in Montreal. The vibrant leads over the top of the technical rhythms perhaps show a little Melodic Death Metal influence on Dimitriadis, his guitar tone choices being ideally suited to this razor sharp display. The rampaging gallop of “Bludgeoned” is a classic circle pit starter before it breaks into a rich, warm extended solo in the final third that has loosely flamenco favours and leaves you hungry for more. Each one of these cuts is something of a short, sharp shock at around the 210 second mark, while other bands could trim some fat and loose a chorus and verse, Harvested go straight for the jugular live and direct, leaving you wanting that extra chorus and verse which is testament to how good their debut really is. A clean and crisp high quality recording, if we were wine drinkers we would say it goes down like a glass of Chenin Blanc but chances are that if you had a glass in your hand, it would be smashed on the floor in your rush to get to the pit for this. “Delirium” is an absolute bone shaker with some tight sinister leads in the back end that are nothing short of majestic but we’ll agree with the band when they say that finale “Bereavement” is one of their strongest songs. A track which involves themes of extreme depression and suicidal tendencies, if an enigmatic solo and razor-sharp tremolo picking aren’t enough to capture your attention then the triplets and blasting surely will [8/10]

Track Listing