est.IV:XX - Tracklisting
1.魔煙の奥底で散れ w. Hiroyuki Takano & Hyo Kagawa 12:27
2.Tombstone Tourist 07:30
3.On the Devils Playground w. Fight Lintner & Hyo Kagawa 04:43
4.Daughter of Horror w. Emanuel Portelli 14:47
5.AsMadAsHell 10:05
6.Indica//Sativa (CD Bonus Track) 10:15
7.Frequently (CD Bonus Track) 03:32
Members
All songs written and recorded by Johnny Rumble.
Except guest parts, those are written and recorded by the perfoming artist.
All Songs mixed and mastered by Johnny Rumble.
Emanuel Portelli (Hemplifier, Thy Legion)
Hiroyuki Takano (Sithter, ex-Church of Misery)
Hyo Kagawa (Sithter)
Fight Lintner (Hollowed)
Review
DevilsHarvest releases their latest twisted and violent creation est.IV:XX which is a fusion of evil sounding Doom, Drone, Sludge, Black Metal, Crust and Stoner Metal sounds. The main creative force behind Devil Harvest is Johnny Rumble is joined by some of his famous friends from the underground scene with the likes of Emanuel Portelli (Hemplifier, Thy Legion), Hiroyuki Takano (Sithter, ex-Church of Misery), Hyo Kagawa (Sithter) and Fight Lintner (Hollowed) who all lend a helping hand creating violent fucked up sounds throughout.
The album opens up with the epic first track 魔煙の奥底で散れwith Hiroyuki Takano and Hyo Kagawa and this is slow-to-mid played track that focus upon the more Blackened style of Drone, Doom and Crust Punk with the eerie distorted levels of amplified heaviness giving a more sinister vocal style throughout the song. The song can be quite slow-paced and brutally stubborn but you have to admire the bleak atmospherics that Johnny, Hiroyuki and Hyo have created here. This is perhaps my favourite track on the album as it showcases the most demonic themes on the whole album. There is also a blistering Stoner Metal riff-driven sound that appears towards the final stages of the track which showcases a different musical philosophy without losing all the nastiness or violent sounds that’s been built up previously.
Second track Tombstone Tourist is Johnny Rumble left to his own creative devices and this is a less aggressive and violent approach compared to the previous track. The song is still dominated by a violent Droned Out Fuzz attitude which aims for the top level of AMPLIFIER DISTORTION and MULTI-LEVEL FEEDBACK. The song is quite slow-paced yet again which does take time to fully find its groove. However, this is still a highly intriguing song to cause listeners nightmares with. DevilsHarvest conjures up an oppressive environment with overlapping droned instrumental passages that have a powerful “CHAINSAW!” and “INDUSTRIAL” effect.
Third song On the Devils Playground features Johnny joining forces with Fight Lintner & Hyo Kagawa for another round of crust punk aggression. The violent HARSH vocals appear once more for a song that has a slightly more chaotic and fast-paced direction with traces of Thrash Metal and Speed Metal appearing. This is a song built on nightmarish visions and distorted melodies with the whole journey becoming superbly evil with each passing second. There’s not much sense of melody on this track with DevilsHarvest focusing upon a sense of BLUNT WOUND TRAUMA style musical delivery.
Fourth track Daughter of Horror sees Emanuel Portelli joining the creative ranks of DevilsHarvest which opens with an Occult Doom soundbyte before settling down for an original style of Crust Punk, Doom Metal and Sludge Metal surroundings. This is quite an intriguing concept with the OCCULT and HORROR influence with DevilsHarvest playing different styles for Drone and Doom which makes this another of the standout tracks on the album. The song is slightly long at almost fifteen minutes in length but when the HEAVIER DISTORTED grooves take complete control then there is not stopping Johnny and Emanuel generating another FUCKED UP slice of ugly melodies of the highest order.
The final three tracks of AsMadAsHell, Indica//Sativa and Frequently sees Johnny Rumble on his own without his famous musical brotherhood to help him out and he pulls this off violent charm especially on tracks AsMadAsHell and Indica//Sativa. The PISSED OFF soundclips and depressive DRONE sounds just pushes the EVIL menacing instrumental passages into a surreal level of extreme darkness for the listener to fully survive from.
DevilsHarvest have released an exquisite record that is a brutally violent and surreal musical adventure that will SCARE you for a long time to come.
Excellent and Highly Recommended.
Words by Steve Howe
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