Harbinger - Doom On You
December 18 2009 at 01:15:54 AM
These guys gotta let you know that they're not here to "break barriers" but to play Heavy Metal. Hometown Heavy Metal, East Lansing style. These are the guys "bippin and boppin' and tellin a dirty joke or two" in the sleazy saloon in the very hometown of Turbo-Rocker Tesco Vee. In this case, fantasy and reality share a common truth : most heavy things happen in the night. Occasionally a crane will fall in broad daylight killing some and maiming many. Someone is hit by a daydreaming motorist perhaps, but 9 times outta 10, mischief and mayhem go down after the sun goes down. And the night of the Harbinger is a busy one.
It's a rocky road fighting fights in the night. Heavy Metal Kills, NWOBHM Thrills. Trodding hard on the trail, Harbinger heavily and giddily venerate the mighty Slough Feg. Damn, that's a hook and a half even though picked right out of The Governor's claw. "Dark Ages" stretches Runnin' Free long into the night. I wonder if Froggy plays with his fingers. "Morningstar" follows suit with Lizzy/Feg cock swingin' and harmonisms, but trips and falls into a stiff sing-song. On and on they wrote the song . . .
The over-confident vocals, over the top energy and occasional overplaying are the rise and fall of these Dark Midwestern Knights. On the downside, vocal melodies remind me Descendents or Doughboys and kinda makes me gag like to much syrup.
"Every line / Is gonna rhyme / Until the end of tie-yime" style. On the upside, boundless energy barrels it all through. The jumpy Wild Dogs style double bass speed metal of "PoserPatrol" has the sheer audacity to dip rudely from "Girls Gone Wild" style funky skank directly back into
MaidenLand after spankin' and a splashin' them hi-hats.
Also, like Iron Maiden, they have an eponymous theme song, "Harbinger" which takes it's chorus melody almost directly from Angel Witch's "Suffer." Fault them? No. These guys list fucking pre-choruses in the liner notes to guide you through their pep-pill overdosed arragements. "Solo : Hanneman" anyone? Listen, if you're gonna go fight Heavy Metal War in the night would you use those new fangled Heavy Metal Weapons or the Medieval Ones?
[Patrick Delaney]
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