Album Reviews : This Ending – Dead Harvest

I felt myself to be a very lucky person today, when in the post there came a preview copy of the new album by new kids on the block of the Swedish melo-death This Ending. Having only recently discovered the band, I was excited at the prospect of a new album in the works. Their debut album contained the killer track Inside the Machine, but unfortunately, apart from one or two other gems, it was hit and miss. But after all, it was a debut album, and as we all know, practise makes perfect.

Well, maybe not perfect, but as close to perfection that anyone has come in the melo/death scene in a few years (two and a half years to be precise – Dark Tranquillity‘s Fiction anyone?)

The album starts in unusual fashion. A distorted guitar played in a jerky, discontinuos sort of way that actually had me momentarilly believing that the CD was skipping. This pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album, as it is much more progressive than its predecessor.

The vocal work on this album is pretty much flawless for this type of music. The death metal roaring fits in perfectly with the dark atmosphere on the album, but he also has a fairly broad range, from clean yelling, through to black metal screams to keep thins interesting.

The production on this album is what ties it all together. The direction they were going for is “futuristic dirty”. Think Blade Runner… in metal form.

The lead guitar is haunting, clear, but with a slight echo feel to it. And there are some truly wonderfully written guitar melodies on this album, from the fast, building work on Instigator of Dead Flesh to the very emotive, slow and very simple work on the chorus in Dellutionists.

Dead Harvest on the other hand shows what the distortion guitars can do when turned up to full for machine crunching feel. Combined with the terrific work of BBB on the drums, this album keeps you hooked from start to end.

The album comes to an end with a (stereo)typical slower, keyboard infused depressant in the form of The Asylum.

There are five songs on this album that are my favourite, and the rest are still very good songs. When an album has this much choice for a favourite song, I get wet. Given the time of year, it would be hard not to call it album of the year, but even if 2008 was still drawing on this would be top three without a doubt. If you’d given up on Melodic Death Metal for good, give this album go and you will thank me for it later.

9/10

Band: This Ending
Album: Dead harvest
Year: 2009
Genre: Melodic Death metal
Label: Metal Blade Through Stomp
Origin: Sweden
www.myspace.com/thisending

Tracklist
1. Trace of Sin
2. Parasites
3. Machinery
4. Instigator of Dead Flesh
5. Delussionists
6. Army of The Dying Aun
7. Dead Harvest
8. Tools of Demise
9. Deathtrade
10. The Asylum

Review by Mathew Boelsen