HAMMERDRONE - Dark Harvest
March 18, 2017, 7 years ago
(Independent)
Nice watching bands like Hammerdrone grow up, the Calgary-based melodic death group already proving with its earlier output that it’s up there with some of the better melodic death of the day, here with Dark Harvest confirming itself as a heavy hitter, no doubt. Check out the title track for a killer example of intense melodic death paired with catchy songwriting; “Black Bison” is a great name for a death metal song, and it’s a killer song indeed, rampaging along like a steamroller, while delivering vocal hooks to remember. “The Wasting Throne” finishes up this mid-album trio of exceptionally high-quality tunes, the six-minute cut working just fine as the important song six of nine, creating a tone and vibe that approaches epic, especially with the mid-song battle-march section.
“Harvest The Void” is a final-third contemplative moment that works very well, and “Lost In An Instant” is a riff-driven melodic death album closer to remember, which you probably will after one listen; not bad at all. Last time out I referenced melodic death of a Century Media calibre, and that comparison sticks here, except there’s something a bit more hungry and less sterilized about Hammerdrone than the bands that reference brings to mind, which is a good thing. No idea why a label hasn’t snatched these guys up yet.
