Harvyst- Winter

Last Updated on Monday, 18 June 2007 13:32 Written by Matthew Johnson

Artist: Harvyst
CD Title: Winter (3-song demo)
Label: AcidVictim Records
Reviewer: Matthew Johnson
Date: 12/29/05

Billed as “the world’s only industrial metal jam band,” Harvyst’s three-song demo CD is as weird as you’d expect. With its psychedelic keyboards, crunchy guitars and distorted vocal screams, it’s a little like My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult’s early stuff crossed with that stoner garage band from your high school – not the mellow, friendly one that used to follow the Grateful Dead around during summer vacation, but the kind of scary one that wore Slayer and Deicide T-shirts every day and smoked cigarettes in the parking lot between classes. Of the three tracks presented here, “Mercury” is perhaps the most compelling; except for the growls, it’s almost pretty, like an old Pink Floyd album fed through a meat-grinder, and incorporates some interesting fuzzy pianos. “Ergot” is oddly interesting with clean but raw-throated yells competing for volume with the ever-present vocoder, while title track “Winter” is the most straightforward metal piece, full of grinding, sludgy guitars. While Harvyst could still stand a little more polish, this is a promising demo; it really leaves you wondering what they’ll do next.

If you’re intrigued by the idea of Fear Factory on mushrooms, visit Harvyst online at www.harvyst.com.