Harvested – Dysthymia
Harvested – Dysthymia
Self-Released
Release Date: 01/08/2025
Review by Victor Augusto
8.5/10
Maybe I’ve mentioned a couple of times all the things I love in this amazing work of expressing my experiences about music, but one thing I really enjoy is when bands release debut albums, and it’s even better when I can follow their evolution along the albums that come after. The Canadian band, Harvested, may flee from this pattern, and the reason is quite simple. This album I’ve picked up to review makes them sound like a very mature and experienced band that I would never imagine could be their debut full album!
If you had the chance to see their video of ‘Harvested’ before the album release, you would be able to see how brutal and technical they sound. Harvested knows how to hit you like a punch in your chest, from their first riffs. By the way, riffs are something that you won’t miss here. Mitchi Dimitriadis and Vitto Oh are responsible machine-gun-like guitar picks. The drum sound also hits you with all blasts, and thankfully it’s not that digitalized soulless recording style that a lot of bands fall into now. It carries good organic production qualities, in good measure.
My honourable congratulations also go to all the effort the bassist Eric Forget has made to keep his bass present among all the heaviness of the other instruments, and through the complexity of playing his own parts. The vocalist Adam Semler completes the team with good vocal lines. I’m glad he and all the members didn’t commit a common mistake of brutal bands that is sounding massive but repetitive sometimes. Adam was able to do a great job here to stop this happening.
Musically, it’s possible to hear all the influences of Cannibal Corpse or Suffocation, but different from these bands I’ve mentioned (that I love), Harvested also shows what we can call as something modern, with breakdowns and guitar leads and solos that make the sound feel influenced by Deathcore. But don’t worry if you are more into the old school Brutal Metal. These “Modern” things I’ve mentioned are not the main elements here.
The themes in the lyrics also flee from that constant pattern of death and killing. From what I could understand, it explores themes such as kidnappings, but mainly discusses mental disorders caused by our chaotic life and society that surround us. I believe it all connects to the beautiful cover art that amazingly represents the album title.
For a debut full album, these guys showed they know what they are doing. It’s incredibly brutal, but also not massively tiring, as sometimes it happens with bands in this style. They also did great with the album production, which is a crystal clear wall of heaviness, without sounding plastic or overly digital.
Maybe the mix of tracks that goes from pure fast songs to tracks with more breakdowns and technical parts, helps make you enjoy the entire work. I noticed a special attention that had been paid to every single track as well, meaning you can pick up any song as a stand-alone track, and you will really enjoy that. My favourite one is ‘Gathered and Deluded’. I dare you to not break your neck whilst listening to this one.
As always, Heavy Metal Canadian bands never disappoint us! And Harvested is one more band to honour its Heavy Metal scene with this incredible album, “Dysthymia”.
‘Harvested’ Official Music Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Harvested
02. Repressed Neurosis
03. Unending Madness
04. Synaptic Confusion
05. Designed Dilemma
06. Gathered and Deluded
07. Voices of the Void
08. Unanchored
09. The Infestation
LINE-UP:
Adam Semler – Vocals
Mitchi Dimitriadis – Guitars
Vitto Oh – Guitars
Eric Forget – Bass
Jacob Collins – Drums
LINKS:
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