Officially released on 21st July to coincide with the Buck Moon, Steve Von Till (aka Harvestman) delivers ‘Part Two’ of his ambitious ‘Triptych’ album cycle (‘Part One’ coincided with April’s Pink Moon and was reviewed in BSM HERE). Von Till may be a prolific musician, whose output as lynch pin of post metal pioneers Neurosis plus their experimental offshoot Tribes Of Neurot, solo acoustic songsmith and crafter of Harvestman’s organic psych- folk, highlights his creative stamina. But putting out a three album opus over a six month period seems like a stretch for even the most tireless innovator. Maintaining the flow, avoiding repetition, keeping the music fresh could be a challenge but one which Von Till/Harvestman can evidently rise above.
On ‘Triptych: Part Two’ the music bonds strongly with what has come before on ‘Part One’. That’s unsurprising maybe given the themes of connectivity through time and the cycle of nature which have been a conceptual touchstones of Harvestman art since it first appeared in 2005 with ‘Lashing The Rye’. But this second album in the trilogy seeks to go beyond merely continuing, it aims to make wider perhaps more forceful strides. Reflecting the Buck Moon’s symbolic significance, ‘Triptych Part Two’ represents change and progression, abundance and vitality. Less subtle perhaps than ‘Part One’, the soundscapes here pulsate with a burgeoning energy.
Check into the cavernous expanse of Galvanised and Torn Open. It’s a rolling, processional post rock piece hung around von Till and drummer Dave French’s sonorous DIY beats, tapped and brushed on an abandoned, rusting water trough (the very same stock tank that clanged so gloriously on ‘Part One’). A tidal riff flows, gothic guitars twang and synth lines swarm to launch you in Von Till’s words “on a sonic journey to a few different internal landscapes.” Then there’s Damascus which marches to grand harmonic riffs, cascading synth drama and raucous ritual rhythms. The twin guitar harmonies hint prog, the scintillating tabla shakedown post-rave but the overall result is a distinctive bundle of Harvestman sonic goodness.
Given that the raw materials for the Triptych series are reams of home recordings amassed by Von Till over two decades, the final outputs which we are receiving now could have been fragmented and directionless, a completist’s dream maybe but beyond that less satisfying. But it’s clear that as with ‘Part One’ the pieces are woven with an intuitive focus on arriving at a whole, they have an inner integrity and purpose, an overall vision to deliver. Von Till also aims to enhance the continuity both within each album and over the whole trilogy by setting each release within a similar framework.
So, mirroring the first ‘Triptych’ instalment ‘Part Two’ begins with a inspired collaboration between Von Till and old friend, Om bassist Al Cisneros. This time the pair conjure up The Hag of Beara vs. The Poet, which gets played ‘straight’ in Harvestman style then reappears as a rewired dub to open the second segment of the album. In whatever form it’s an imposing slab of rock drilled sculpture, the first run through high on shivering synths and a relentless rhythmic trudge. The wizened vocal incantation which hexes the closing section falls just the right side of theatre as it goads the sonic thrust onto higher ground.
If anything the revisit on The Hag of Beara vs. The Poet (Forest Dub) dials up the dynamism with a nod to Leblanc/Laswell mechanisms. The upfront beats hit distortion levels, whipped by a drum n’ bass skitter, while the vocal chants get scrambled and absorbed in a wild sound stratosphere. By the close everything is shattering in a brilliantly crazed dub delirium of which the Great Upsetter would certainly approve.
As pivotal as these two tracks are for ‘Triptych: Part Two’ when you step back you recognise that they are also the hinges on which Harvestman’s more experimental ideas can swing. Take the looping minimal kosmische melodicism of The Falconer, an unhurried, mesmeric electronica elegy which surrounds you with the gentle persuasion of an Edgar Froese moment. Then there’s the more intangible Vapour Phase, a cosmic, vocoder semaphore that loops ominously like a warning.
Such tracks introduce a futuristic edge to ‘Triptych: Part Two’, the looking forwards as well as looking backwards which powers Harvestman music. Fittingly then the album closes with The Unjust Incarceration, a ballad resolutely binding Von Till’s deep folk, metal and electronic sensibilities. Those triumphant ceremonial bagpipes, a feature of ‘Part One’, return more short-circuited and unstable but still stoically present, ready and waiting for what might come next.
That will be the closing album of Harvestman’s Triptych series due in October to coincide with the Hunter Moon. Until then the folkloric resonance, psychedelic Gothicism and dark metal density which merge through ‘Part One’ and now ‘Part Two’ provide the compelling first chapters. To be continued…
Get your copy of ‘Triptych : Part Two‘ by Harvestman from your local record store or from Neurot Recordings HERE
