REVEREND BIZARRE „“Harbinger of Metal” EP”

Music: Epic Doom Metal
Country: Finland
Website: http://reverend.shows.it/
Cool Songs: Dunkelheit, Strange Horizon, The Wandering Jew

Despite its length, ‘Harbinger of Metal’ is considered an EP. The disc contains six original tracks and one cover of BURZUM’s “Dunkelheit.” If you read my reviews of ‘In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend’ and “II: Crush the Insects” then do not change your preconceived notions about what ‘Harbinger…’ is supposed to sound like. The Reverend has a good thing going for them and based on these three albums I’ve reviewed, they do not plan on making any drastic changes.

The album begins with an instrumental appropriately titled “Harbinger.” The said track moves at the pace of an unobtrusive South American Sloth yet hits with the force of an Indian Elephant. Bass and drum fit together precisely, crashing down at the same moment to create massive sound waves. The first song to feature vocals is the next track, “Strange Horizon.” This track, epic in proportion at over thirteen minutes in length, features a catchy groove characterized by their trademark fuzzy, distorted ringing guitars. The rhythm is slow but moves along quite well with the guitar riff breaking down a low note and the bass stepping in before the guitar starts its grand rhythm again. The track ends with a Hammond organ eerily fading in and out.

My personal favorite of the album is the fifth track, “The Wandering Jew.” The said track is one of the album’s lengthiest, which is saying a lot, at eighteen plus minutes. The time span genuinely reflects the song’s storyline about a Jew who mocks Jesus while Jesus is carrying the cross. For his cruelty, Jesus pays this bystander back by cursing him to wander the desert sands…forever. The plodding rhythm imitates the lonely wanderer’s slow, eternal walk, while the distorted guitars sound like the gritty sand the walker steps upon.

Another track that must be mentioned is the BURZUM cover, “Dunkelheit.” Taken from the ‘Filosofem’ album, The Reverend plays this song true to the original, yet does not betray Reverend’s doomed style. The tones are thicker than the original. Although the cover version contains a good amount of reverb, it is not the maelstrom of electricity found on the earlier version. The arrangements are precisely like the original including crystalline keyboard parts. Witchfinder adds his own flavor to the cover through singing entirely in English in his dismal, life-ending vocal style. He also shows his diverse vocals with agonizing black metal screams near the end of the track. It is always interesting to hear bands cover songs from a band outside their respective genre. The Reverend is dark enough and their tones are thick, and distorted enough to do a BURZUM song justice.

‘Harbinger of Metal’ was my least favorite of the three albums I covered of REVEREND BIZARRE. That in no way means this is a bad album, as I said before, if you like the band’s style, you won’t be disappointed with ‘Harbinger of Metal.’ I just liked the other albums slightly more, especially ‘In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend’ which simply had more to offer with two discs. I highly recommend fans of BURZUM fans to check out this album for the ‘Dunkelheit’ cover.

note: 8.5/10

Tracklist

1. Harbinger
2. Strange Horizon
3. The Ambassador
4. From the Void
5. The Wandering Jew
6. Into the Realms of Magickal Entertainment
7. Dunkelheit (BURZUM cover)

Line-up

Magister Albert: vocals, bass
Peter Vicar: guitars
Earl of Void: drums