The Man-Eating Tree – Harvest

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Harvest is the second album from The Man-Eating Tree, formed by ex-Sentenced drummer Vesa Ranta. Typically for Finnish goth metal, the band includes other familiar faces in the scene (including ex-Poisonblack guitarist and song-writer Janne Markus) and has familiar themes of Autumn. Unlike some of the other post-Sentenced bands such as Poisonblack and KYPCK, The Man-Eating Tree don’t stray too far from how Sentenced sounded prior to their break up, slow and moody gothic metal but still with strong melodic sensibilities that give it an almost mainstream rock appeal. The very clean production, simple but effective melodies and consistently solid song writing is delivered well, with particular mention going to singer Tuomas Tuominen’s mournful voice, much higher in tone than what one would expect from the genre but still able to carry the band’s mood well. Still, the band don’t dwell on the gloomy too much musically – lead single Armed for example has darker undertones, but is otherwise a solid, anthemic rock song. To an extent Harvest might be too ‘mainstream’ sounding for some, relatively speaking, and lacks the real heavy gloom that some might crave. Still, there is just enough depth in the musicianship and song-writing to give the album the benefit of the doubt, and can certainly be enjoyed as distinctly moody but still rocking gothic metal.

Written by James Donovan
More: 2011, Albums, Gothic, Quick.Play Reviews, The Man-Eating Tree