Black Lotus - Harvest Of Seasons - review
Black Lotus - Harvest Of Seasons - review
Tracklist
01. Prelude02. Signatura Rerum
03. Statues In Auburn
04. Of Pathless Woods
05. Terra Hiberna
06. Wreath Of The Triumphant Sun
07. Awaken The Season Of Old
08. The Fallow Earth
A review by
Darkside Momo June 11, 2009
The musicians are good, for sure. There are quite a few great riffs out there, and the guitar work is woven with precision with the bass lines and the drumming. And, of course, with the keyboards, intensely used for atmospherics but never taking the lead in the overall sound. Jasper V.D. Veen is in charge of all the vocals, both clean and harsh. The clean, plaintive one are not always in tune and lack some power, but it is far from unbearable. Fact is, it even adds a bit of charm to it. And of course, they are used in contrast with the harsh, classic black metal howls (which are really good).
The folk/pagan side of their music can be heard in the songwriting, and not in the use and abuse of folk instruments. The feeling they evoke might be compared with Wolves In The Throne Room, but where Wolves... are harsh and raw as pure wilderness, Black Lotus are more refined, warm and pastoral. Beware, this does not mean they cannot put out some aggression, because they are efficiently and powerfully aggressive too.
Overall, Harvest of Seasons sometimes sounds a bit repetitive, which is both blessing (as it's mesmerizing) and curse (sometimes the mind wanders off). All songs are good, but Terra Hiberna is certainly the highlight of the album, with its 9 minutes and 24 seconds of pure epicness, and what are certainly the best clean vocals of the album.
As for the production, it is a bit 'blurry' for lack of a better word - those who have listened to Immolation's Harnessing Ruin, for example, should understand what I mean. It's not as bad as it sounds, because one can make out all the instruments while listening. More like if the music was reverberating through a fog bank, in fact...
Harvest Of Seasons was clearly a nice listen; this is an album I took pleasure to discover and immerse myself in. A good pick that all fans of melodic/atmospheric black metal should listen. Period.
Written on 11.06.2009 by
Written on 11.06.2009 by
Once your regular Hellfest reporter, now retired. I (strangely enough) listen to a lot of metal. And enjoy good beers, comics, novels and role-playing games. Comments
Comments:
10
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Posts: 3857
Sounds like a nice, atmospheric, black metal album that I should pick up. Good review! 
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Posts: 8004
I didn't think of the Wolves In The Throne Room similarities before but now that you mention it I think you're right. This albums also reminds me a bit of Primordial, mainly for the epic atmospheres. There's also a couple of riffs that recall the mighty Irishmen. Anyway, good review, I agree with the rating 
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Posts: 825  |
Posts: 825
As a Magic plaer I approve the band's name.
---- My account on other musical pages: http://www.last.fm/user/Pozito/ http://rateyourmusic.com/~Talvi
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Posts: 537  |
Posts: 537
Never been into this kind of blackmetal to be honest but you awoke my curiosity so will check it out, great review!
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| Posts: 9126 |
Posts: 9126
Thanks to all for the comments! @ Collin: yes, forgot to mention Primordial, but I thought about them too @ Talvi: I don't know, however, if they do play Magic or not 
---- My Author's Blog (in French)  "You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you" "I've lost too many years now I'm stealing back my soul I am awake"
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Posts: 3724
I'll sure check this staff. It seems interesting and tempting for my taste
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Posts: 9726 Written by Talvi on 12.06.2009 at 16:10 lol, glad I'm not the only one who caught that.
---- "I got a lot of really good ideas, problem is, most of them suck." - George Carlin
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Posts: 108  |
Posts: 108
I've known about these guys for quite a while... first heard Terra Hiberna. I recommend it, clean vocals are very good
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 Posts: 1689 |
Posts: 1689
Nice album but kinda repetitive as you said in your review, still worth checking out.
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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Posts: 62  |
Posts: 62
Wow me and my friends were joking about writing magic themed songs/names. I guess no ideas are original 
---- Wendy's frostys are "black metal."
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