aaamusic | On 27, Nov 2011

The Man-Eating Tree are eager to press home the bleak romanticism of ‘Harvest’, and although reading the press release feels a little like having your face rubbed in HIM’s lost political and interesting side, they have a point. Right from the off, ‘Harvest Bell’ is the kind of intro track that raises hairs on the back of your neck. The guitars are bleak, burnt-out and mournful, the track oddly sparse for Finnish metal, and the keyboards silken and heart-tugging. Then we’re thrown into, well, Finnish metal, with the massive guitars of ‘At The Green Country Chapel’. There’s a symbiosis of metal bombast and pop melodies, with beautiful riffs and hooks wrapped in luxurious multi-layered vocals, and a chorus with keening guitar wails and soaring drums. Beneath it all, the keyboards create gauzy atmosphere while guitars chug. The midsection is suitably epic, and all in all, this is one hell of a statement as it twists and turns and expands both sonically and structurally without losing hold of the aforementioned riff/hook allure. ‘Code Of Surrender’ has a heavier intro with buzzsaw guitar laid over operatic piano, but the verse brings us back to the familiar, with that accessible grandiose style that bursts into a full-on chorus that tries to carry the listener away with its momentum into an intense metallic instrumental and a triumphant final chorus. ‘Incendere’ blends the poetic pop lushness with a message, and the result is perhaps awkward at points but a valiant effort that isn’t a failure.

The centrepiece ‘Exhaled’ pulls out all the stops, an eight-minute monster of a track that shows the band’s entire repertoire from the luxurious immense guitar soundscapes they hired an extra axe for, through hushed verses with thin lead guitars and plodding cymbals, into operatic choruses, all with lyrics that for a band that embrace that sound are pleasingly intelligent. And the instrumental outro is a fully realised yet not too obtrusive work.

‘Armed’ is a much more controlled song in terms of the layering of instruments. Instead of going at it all guns blazing all the time, the verses are noticeably hushed, allowing the pristine vocals to take the foreground before another gargantuan chorus, and a bridge formed from crashing cymbals and churning guitars that creates a real sense of reward, even if the chorus feels somewhat token by the end, which is redeemed by the snappy outro. ‘Like Mute Companions’ likewise feels more controlled as the keyboards and bass lead the track in a hybrid of classical melodies and a satin Pantera groove that is plunged into heavy distorted guitar thunder and simple yet driving drums.

The Man-Eating Tree are capable of heavier moments too. ‘Down To The Colour Of The Eye’ is in the slightly compromising position of straddling their brand of Finnish metal with an angrier, heavier strain, and although the guitars and even the vocals pull it off, the keyboards feel a bit directionless, adding a slightly incongruous tinkling, and the drums are too clean and same-y to really bring atmosphere.

Winding things to closure, ‘All You Kept Free’ keeps a baroque yet desolate tone, fluctuating between sparse and melancholy bass/guitar soundscapes, intense guitar rifs, and huge choruses, that feels like an end, but ‘Karsikko’ gives a suitably romantic end, as there’s an acoustic style to this last track that really seals the album as a collection of songs. A strongly atmospheric, bittersweet work, the whole track feels like it was really worked on, and as such makes ‘Harvest’ complete.

 

I’d say that ‘Harvest’ is very much Finnish metal, and make of that what you will. Its baroque sense of sonic enormity and habit of keeping an eye firmly on the pop sleekness it wears like plush velvet over any rough edges will never appeal to everyone, but The Man-Eating Tree are a band well worth checking out if you want more challenging and intelligent songs compared to a lot of what we in the UK get sent.

 

Katie H-Halinski