Harvestman — Triptych Part Three

Like the first two, part three is also expertly produced and mixed, a nod to Harvestman's ability to see the forest as well as its trees, a challenge made all the more daunting when a triptych is in play. One striking fact on this release is that the third seems to share less with its other brethren, where previously there were shared song titles and other intentionally overlapping terrain. The third is sparser, more focused, with big pockets of space carefully sequenced between instruments

Should it be a surprise that a closing panel in a triptych signals the end of something, as the harvest does for so many cultures around the world? And there is a finality about this release, on tracks like the appositely named "The Absolute Nature of Light", a slowly developing drone that forces listeners into a kind of temporal equilibrium with the work, the act of listening as permanent and steady as the drone itself. The notion of permanence is one that animates each part of triptych, devoted as they are to earlier forms of ritualistic behavior informed by the cycles of the moon. "Herne's Oak" follows, and its crescendo is more menacing than anything that came before, where distortion and filters overwhelm one another. The final track is a lament, and like its predecessors, we get some bagpipe sounds that are washed out under synthy-textures, ultimately bidding adieu to the world of the organic, at least for this lunar cycle. 

 

Part Three belongs very much to the triptych picture thus far painted by Harvestman and is a fitting farewell to the project in its entirety. Fans of Von Till's solo work, as well as the more abstract side of Neurosis and Tribes of Neurot, will find this final installment worthy of repeated listens. For others, sparse dub, dark ambience, and instrumental electroacoustic work from metal genres, should serve as points of orientation. Highly recommended!