Being a side project of a member of Neurosis always lends an air of cache to such musical project, and Harvestman is one that is certainly intriguing as it could be considered an almost psychedelic (an insane description of music if ever I heard one, although there are worse) outfit, which gives me the impression of Neurosis minus the heaviness. The brainchild of Steve Von Till, Harvestman offers In a Dark Tongue as the second album from this outfit that includes Al Cisneros (Sleep, Om, Shrinebuilder, etc.) amongst a group of other artists that play on the album.
One aspect of In a Dark Tongue that immediately strikes me is the tone of the instruments and the sheer fullness of the overall sound of the album; the production makes the record sound huge without the various instruments being oppressively loud. As far as the music that the record contains, soaring compositions that feel like they are crashing on some distant shore in another time tumble from my speakers like nothing else that I have ever heard; even the song titles read like the chapters of some ancient epic. Occasionally songs like "By Wind and Sun" with a more traditional instrumentation of drums, guitar, and bass will jump out, but even these are more like otherworldly jams with vocals than traditional rock songs. "Music of the Dark Torrent" contains a heavy mix of eastern sounds even to the point of the plucking of a koto. Harvestman produce an album that is fairly easy to get lost in its music while listening to it, particularly songs like "Eibhli Ghail Chiuin Ni Chearbhail", the title-track, and "World Ash."
Truthfully, In a Dark Tongue has no weak tracks and quite simply is good for just tossing on the stereo whenever because the sounds and compositions have so much variation (without being unfocused) that there is always some new or interesting sound or music coming through the speakers or headphones. I thoroughly enjoy this record and recommend it to anyone into mostly instrumental music (some tracks have vocals); one who fits that description would be hard pressed to not find some enjoyment in this album. I will certainly have to pay more attention to any future releases from Harvestman because it is that good.
