Album Review: Harassor – Into Unknown Depths
Harassor has always been a band deeply rooted in extremity and the black metal aesthetic, after all, corpse-painted singer Pete Majors douses himself in blood at the beginning of each live performance. Here on the band’s fourth full-length album, Into Unknown Depths, the trio finds itself treading new, dark ground. The band has never shied away from championing a style of black metal rooted in convention, hell; “Ildjarn is Dead” was named after one of the most barebones black metal acts to ever exist. On the new record, however, purity is pushed to the side with a blood-soaked hand and with more freedom Harassor reigns.
The first noticeable difference is the production Into Unknown Depths brings to the table. Past Harassor releases have been accompanied by fittingly grim production but here the band really hits the raw sweet-spot. Clear enough that the listener can hear the vocals, guitars, and drums blister forward with perfect audibility, raw enough that all aspects of the record still contain the grim buzzing of a traditional black metal album. The guitar tone is thicker and eliminates any need for the presence of a bass due to the low, gelatinous sound guitarist James Brown utilizes. Drummer Sandor’s drumming is also given room to breath in the mix, and that room is capitalized on with his perplexing patterns and rhythms.
On Into Unknown Depths Harassor shows new willingness to experiment with influences outside of the black metal spectrum. Hardcore punk has always been an element to Harassor’s sound, the band has always somewhat towed the thin line between punk and black metal. The combination of icy production and tremolo-picked riffs with a more charged and stomping hardcore vibe is still very apparent on the album, especially on tracks like “Die Forever” which I could easily call the pissed blackened d-beat anthem of the year. New influences from death metal and post-punk are now thrown into the mix. Twisting, cavernous riffs rear their head, like on the opening track “Nine of Swords” where Brown’s serpentine riffing squirms between drummer Sandor’s inventive rhythms. Another noticeable influence on the new record is post-punk. The track “Winter’s Triumph” is filled with flittering hi-hat and brooding and moody guitar work, all this without sacrificing Harassor’s trademark aggression. These new influences never overshadow what seems to be the overarching goal of Harassor: to play some of the most depraved metal music imaginable. Instead, the band only enhances the descent into delirious aggression.
Moving to what I believe to be the focal point of Into Unknown Depths, Pete Majors’ vocal performance. His distinct charred rasp is fully utilized and is as blisteringly evil as ever. Majors’ vocal style has also evolved noticeably, adding to his repertoire an insanely low and distorted roar that would make Craig Pillard green with envy. Not only that but he effortlessly adds depth to his rasp through gurgling and shrieking with what seems like boundless rage. I was instantly struck with how multifaceted the performance was, yet again another example of Harassor’s growth on their fourth full-length.
The closing track “Purest Hate” really sums up what makes this album such a step forward for Harassor better than I ever could. The galloping black charge, the twisted riffs that somehow inexplicably tow the line between the darkness of black and death metal and post-punk, the strangled screams, and the ripping punk aggression. This fusion of some likely elements and some unlikely is hopefully ushering in a new era for Harassor, one of newfound experimentation and depth.
– Kurt Witteman
Summoning Spirits 