Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The Gates Of Hell are open and whilst all the devils and demons have been on Earth for some time, what is being evoked now is the sound of the cries of the human traitors allying themselves to causes that will surely bring destruction. Only the heralds of music for the masses, the portents of good fortune and live mentality can hold the un-songs at bay.
Finland’s metal scene is at the vanguard, the souls that defend the space between the genre’s mortal enemy, the inadequacy of beige boredom, the relics of just getting by and to which many subscribe to without realising that the offer of intensity and fortune is close by, just waiting for the signal to unleash the sound of metal growling in desire and fortitude.
For The Harbinger, the new doom/death metal band to come from the glorious harbour of Finland’s almost insurmountable abundance of the genre, the five strong E.P. that encompasses Gates Of Hell is one for the age, it doesn’t just announce itself to the listener, it actively forces the door down, vigorously shaking down the butler of good taste and roaring into the fire burning in the hearth that they have come to add fuel, depth, and thunder to the proceedings.
The Harbinger are filled with a sense of the colossal, they have agency, drive, and focused fire and it shows with certainty the boom, the crack of volcanic disruption that has come into forceful play as the vocals ruthlessly demand attention, and as the sound of outstanding musicianship from Aku Rundberg, Arto Kujala, Lauri Korhonen, and Sami Karhu blend with powerful alignment with Pasi Kanerva’s voice, so the epics of Sleepless, Fading Lines, Bleak Salvation, Hollow, and Glass Walls declare upon the seizing of intent, the beast that dare venture from the realm of Hell forced back and left cowering in their cowardice.
A fantastic set of tracks that adds volumes to Finland’s ever-increasing stance as the world’s most prolific centre for Metal releases.
The Harbinger release Gates Of Hell via Inverse Records on December 12th.
Ian D. Hall