Human Harvest

Some folks were anticipating a surprise with this disc, as CODC"s lineup had changed considerably since they released "The Genocide Machine" in 2001. The band's drum and bass slots had been vacated during the intervening years, but only one drummer Mike Rosswog was obtained. Rather than wait for a new bassist to come along, original members Joe Horvath (vocals) and Jason Andrews (guitar) decided to move forward with the recording of their fourth opus, "Human Harvest".

After listening to this album for a mere thirty seconds, it becomes apparent that the absence of a bass player has only amplified CODC's insatiable hunger for pure aural savagery. After a brief sample of spoken dialogue, the listener is treated to the equivalent of a 12-gauge shotgun going off in his face. It all starts with Andrews' guitar riffs, which have evolved into a presence that is blunter and and more forceful than in the past. Fans of the sharper, more precise riffs that adorned "The Genocide Machine" might initially find his new style to be less appealing, but this will likely change with repeated listens. Where the previous record was technically satisfying due to the clarity of the guitar tracks, " Human Harvest" is a bit foggier and more dense. In fact, it may be necessary to scan backwards after certain passages just to figure out what the hell is going on. This is especially true on the first and third tracks ("A Family Tree To Hang From" and "Salt Rock Eyes", respectively), where the mix is thick to the point of near-suffocation. But the band somehow allows this potential flaw to become an asset, in that it creates an impenetrable atmosphere which enhances the album as a whole. With this simple bit of groundwork laid out, CODC proceeds to immerse you in a world of frightening extremes. Whether it's the brutally short (3-5 second) disintegration of tracks like "No Tolerance For Silence" and "White Trash Headache", or the perverse intermingling of grind and truncheon-swinging doom on "Harvest at Dawn" and "Corsage of Fresh Meat and Rotting Pride", this disc is an unmitigated assault against moderation and restraint. "Mother Pig" is one of very few disparate tracks on the album, as it features the aforementioned grind/doom duality, but with a liberal dose of feedback and caustic shrills laced throughout.

I've heard some people mention the supposed "parallels" (both thematic and musical) between "Human Harvest" and Pig Destroyer's "Prowler in the Yard" album. Such comparisons aren't entirely fallacious, as there is a sort of familiarity in how the tracks flow. Both records evoke a sense of manic urgency with their sudden tempo changes, abrupt stops and starts, and overall style of songwriting. Releases such as these don't appear to be overly calculated, as the musicians are clearly pulling inspiration from the gut, rather than spending countless hours trying to think everything through. Here is where the sheer brilliance in these bands clearly shines through; their instinctive approach to writing and playing doesn't necessitate a lapse in tightness or execution. With this release, CODC once again proves that beauty and brutality can (and often does) walk hand in hand.

Grindcore is a Metal genre that most times is related to Gore, Rotting corpses, virulent diseases and such stuff that early carcass and related bands used to sing about. Well here's a band that has a lot of Grindcore elements in it's music, but, there is practically 0 gore in it's lyrical content, the lyrics are incredibly well thought and have a great conceptual structure.

Ok don't get too excited, if you are one of those "Dragonforce is the law" dudes you'll despise this album, yes the lyrics are quite different but well it's still a Grindcore band so don't expect to understand the vocals, you have to read it to know what the song is about, which I think is great by the way (Those vocals are to this day the best vocalizations in Grindcore history).

The album is very fucking entertaining, not only if you are into Grindcore, there are songs (Mother Pig, the longest song in the album) that are actually…well… Mellow (in a Grindcore kind of way of course) the instruments are very well executed, incredible riffs and a tempo that goes from ultra violent fast riffs to "Slow" drum beats that can equal any Death Metal Band, Human Harvest has that weird something that makes the songs different from each other

The peak of the album comes in the 6th track "Destiny Of The Slug" a song that combines all the Circle Of Dead Children elements in just one minute; This song has incredible riffs, after the first 23 seconds of ultra violent fast bleeding ears music the song turns into a Great Piece of musical artwork, The vocal effects in the end are infamous, nothing I have ever heard in this particular genre(a weird high-pitched effect, it's shown in the entire album, very cool actually), "Destiny Of The Slug" really saves this album from every minor flaw it could have; Another song that is worth to highlight is "Oak And Iron" a song that talks mostly about society, with again insanely drums and great guitar riffs.

As I was saying at the beginning, this album is great, but well if you are into melodic metal, and the sound of extremely fast riffs scares you, avoid this album and don't pay attention to what I wrote here, now if you aren't into Grindcore but you love any extreme Metal Genre you will love and respect this album for it's content, I won't promise you anything, but if you want to check one of the most interesting bands on the planent DO NOT skip this one, in time you'll see that "Human Harvest" has more to offer than just blasting riffs and ultra fast killer drums.

Masterpiece!!!

Lets make one thing clear from the start.
CODC, aside from having possibly the most un-radio friendly name this side of Dying Fetus, are quite frankly fucking nuts.

I'm not talking happy-slappy schizo 'glad to be mad' stuff of seemingly every band trying to be "kooky" these days.... nor am I talking walnuts.

I'm talking about being completely unhinged, volatile and ready to "blow every last motherfucker away" (thanks to kitsch late 1980s US Cinema for that last paraphrase)...

This album whilst undeniably heavy & brutal also, to me at least, has an undeniable amount of something undefinable that draws you into the cacophony of craziness and actually makes you rock the fuck out at the same time.

Genrewise I guess the closest thing you could put this into is "death/grind", but if the first band that comes to mind when you think of that label is say Napalm Death, think again.
This has a sound all to itself (admittedly thanks in part to the decidedly dodgy & VERY tinny high-presence toms), but be warned.... do not, I repeat, NOT listen to this album on say a Walkman or in a situation where it's not advised to generally get so adrenalised and utterly demented that you have to fight the urge to leap out of your chair/into space & just go absolutely postal.


Worth a listen, even if you don't find much comfort/ interest in definatively "extreme" bands.

This isn't just pushing the envelope in terms of unhinged, it's bound & gagged you whist ramming said envelope into your ears before duct-taping your mouth shut and dumping your cold damp body in a shallow ditch by the side of a road........



sorry, I forgot I was still typing there!

This album had very high hopes, you can tell just by listening. The band was trying to incorporate many different ideas into one big, arty, grind fest (something like a tank made of poetry). But what came out was much different. This was not Pig Destroyer or The Locust...This was Death/Grind.
Heavy as hell, breakdowns strewn randomly (just to make kids murder at shows), time changes.

There are the gutteral vocals (some are Lord Worm-esque), the annihilating drums, and the raw-as-shit-to-make-it-more-grind-but-just-makes-it-sound-worse guitar. That, my friends, is my problem with the album, it's not THAT repetetive, it's not THAT bland, it's just muddy as shit. If it had better production, id be very happy. This could have been a "Prowler in the Yard" using it's rawness in it's favor, but if this had a more pristine guitar tone, it would just add so much to the music.

2 parts Napalm Death
+
2 parts Suffocation mosh-death stylings
+
burnt out guitars and high hopes
___________

Circle of Dead Children - Human Harvest