Green Lung – Black Harvest

Green Lung – Black Harvest

Every once in a while a band come along who just knock you off of your feet, for me one such band would be the London based occult Doom Metal machine Green Lung. I can’t even recall when I first heard Woodland Rites but it was instantly everything to me. I adore all of the lyrical themes and cannot even begin to express how excited that album made me feel. I was privileged to see them live supporting Church Of The Cosmic Skull just before lockdown and this budding gig memory and Woodland Rites really helped me through covid, so big praises for that guys

Having formed in 2017 the band worked hard producing the Green Man Rising demo the same year, which was later followed in 2018 by the Free The Witch EP and then a debut full length in 2019, the epic and indeed perfect album Woodland Rites. To describe the sound is very difficult, and this kind of genre-defying mastery is what makes Green Lung so interesting. Marketed as a sort of Doom Metal band I would say that they also employ elements of Heavy Metal, Occult Rock, Classic Rock, Prog and beyond, truly an eclectic but brilliant range of influences therein. Thus we come to that ever scary precipice, the follow up to such a mammoth album, the 2021 second full length Black Harvest.

It starts off with the atmospheric and somewhat spoken word tones of The Harrowing. A song which eventually kicks in with some impressive instrumentation, huge riffs, packed with Heavy Metal flare and Occult Rock fury. Soon enough Old Gods comes in to give us the Green Lung we all know and love. Absolutely killer and indeed tonally unique in every sense, not to mention the perfect catchy lyrics which litter almost every song in Green Lung’s back catalogue, and they aren’t stopping here. What follows is a glut of singles Leaders Of The Blind, Reaper’s Scythe and Graveyard Sun. All of which are absolutely brilliant songs, in fact witnessing the first two live at Bloodstock really solidified their impact with me, this is without a doubt music for a live setting, full of passion, witchcraft and pure undiluted Metal power.

Interlude and title track Black Harvest crosses the middle of the release, flowing well and again with some impressive musicianship, I’m actually quite the fan of these moments, much like The Harrowing. Naturally Upon The Altar crashes in with further ritualistic carnage and hard hitting Metal, the keyboards really come to life in this song and I absolutely love it. You Bear The Mark also gives us plenty of keyboard and again I’m all about it. Doomsayer does what it says on the tin, this is a song rooted in big Doom Metal riffs and ideals, one for those seeking a more traditional edge. Finally the album closes with Born To A Dying World, this song is full of emotion and it suits Green Lung so brilliantly. In fact it could just be one of the best Green Lung songs I’ve heard to date, never in my mind was there a doubt that Black Harvest would be another thundering addition to one of the UK’s top bands discographies.

All in all Black Harvest has fully hit my expectations, I love it and will surely treasure it as much as I do Woodland Rites. If you have even a passing interest in the occult, Metal and some of the best song writing in years then you simply can’t miss this. Every now and then we stumble across perfection, and two albums in I can firmly say that Green Lung are absolutely one of my favourite bands at the moment, may the old gods bless them and may all their rituals come true!

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