Harbinger | facebook |
Released on June 3, 2016 via Independent
There have been many harbingers of the death of noisy music. Iggy Pop doing car insurance commercials. Axl Rose and Angus Young pretending to be AC/DC. Phil Anselmo’s racism. Loutallica. But – perhaps ironically, given their name – as long as bands like Harbinger stalk the earth with the aim of wrecking our necks (and causing irreparable damage to our hearing, health and safety fans), we’ll be OK.
Wait, I’m not lumping this band with a ‘Saviours of Metal’ tag barely a year into their existence – that would be beyond unfair. But given that they have put out this high quality five-song EP barely a year into their existence, they are a sign that all is not lost.
There isn’t much in the way of new noise in here – but what you do get is an angry, well executed taste of Gothenburg-style melodic death, with some schizophrenic grooves a la Leng Tch’e and and some dizzying technical segments, which will please many a Decapitated fan. Just for good measure, there are a few metalcore barks thrown in.
The opener, ‘Falsifier’ sets the bar high, beginning with a crunching riff, which is soon dispensed with in favour of thundering speed and liberal use of subsonic effects. ‘Instruments of Guilt’ follows and it fits inside its three-minute duration more heavy hooks than many may think is possible – it is the album’s highlight. Things get technical on ‘Survival’, which also has an anthemic chorus to offset the growls. Things switch around so rapidly, with trills of guitar to mark the changes, that you’re left cross-eyed. But again, there are frequent subsonic booms to keep you rooted to the ground. The EP is rounded off by ‘Subsidised Slaughter’ and ‘A Fractured World’; the latter in particular a bleak yet pummelling slice of rage.
As I said above, much of the racket in here will be familiar to many. But, we must remember, this is Harbinger‘s first release and even though the five members are veterans of other bands – the death outfits Acrania and Doomed from Day One, as well as No Rest, a hardcore band from London – they have been together in this incarnation only since 2015. The game-changing triple album can come later.
Let’s face it, it’s difficult enough to get anything at all recorded, let alone something as slick and well produced – not to mention heavy as hell – as this. And these five songs leave you wanting to hear more. And if they restore a few people’s faith that the fate of heavy music is safe, then it has done more than enough.
