Green Lung – Black Harvest

Releasedate:  22-10-2021
Label: Svart Records

Green Lung has done it again, but this time better.

The occult-driven UK doom-stoner act comes back with a killer follow up record to their 2019 debut ‘Woodland Rites’, their sound has become more polished and mature, only this time in high definition and with great guitar solos and a more refined eeriness.

Every song on this record is worth rocking out and humming along to, the highlights are ‘Leaders of the Blind’ with its face melting guitar solo at the end and ‘Reaper’s Scythe’ with its very hooky chorus. ‘Born to a dying world’ is probably the song that best represents the idea that this band is stepping out of that same old formula which their previous record used up.

‘Graveyard Sun’ is a slow burner and apart from being the “let’s take a break to light one up” track it’s also their first single that was released with a music video which is hilarious and proves how this band doesn’t take themselves very seriously, it does make a great soundtrack to a cheesy b horror flick from the 80s.

‘The Harrowing’ which serves as an intro to the record is either a blatant ripoff or a well executed tip of the hat to the 1970s band ‘Boston’ and their song ‘Foreplay’ which is an intro to ‘Long time’ off of their self titled record from 1976. Either way, this easter egg got me ready to see if Green Lung would take me to the 70s in an equally hard rocking way, the next track ‘Old gods final’ did not take me to the 70s exactly, it did not matter, it is a killer opening track that emphasises its oomph on the mighty riff, the organs also add a welcomed sinister character to the overall sound.

And now to address the elephant in the room: It’s easy to sound like just another Sabbath copycat band when you are re-hashing the same 1970s blues inspired (But heavier) riffs together with Ozzy type vocals, which most bands in this style do, yet Green Lung have managed to give their personal touch to this mix, I can however Imagine that most people listening to this band for the first time would not be able to think about anything else other than how similar it sounds to Sabbath, I would argue that after a few songs that thought will slowly transform to indifference in the form of foot taps, mellow head banging and lots of humming thanks to these catchy horror inspired tunes.

In conclusion, it’s instantly noticeable from the first listen that they completely upped their game, both sonically and in terms of composition, the latter in my opinion playing a big role in my new found respect for this band. The writing got better, the guitar solos got better, the singing got better, the riffs delivered as they did before but now it’s easier to appreciate them, and that’s probably thanks to the mix which also got way better, now there are dynamics and space between instruments. Just go and listen to Black Harvest!

Great comeback lads!

 

Line up:

• Tom Templar – Vocalist
• Scott Black – Guitarist 
• Andrew Cave – Bassist
• Matt Wiseman – Drummer 
• John Wright – Organist 

Links:

Bandcamp
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