Grand Harvest - Consummatum Est

“Consummatum Est” is the debut from Sweden’s death doom group Grand Harvest. Shrouded in despair and anonymity with most of the members only have initials for their names, listeners should expect a healthy mix of slow, drawn out melancholy and faster, heavier pummeling death metal that will appeal to those who enjoy groups anywhere from Novembers Doom to Tribulation. The big highlight for Grand Harvest is their dumming; thick, plodding, and yet clear, it feels like a dark atmosphere from Summoning with their epic tones which goes well with the mix of black and death metal styled guitars and vocals. Deep throaty roars and a bit of mid toned shriek, the doom metal style here is pretty stripped down; not much room for keyboards or female vocals though the group does throw in some choir style vocal cleans to mix things up which goes very well with the overall tone of the music that balances between heavy and dark. Other tracks like ‘The Harrow’ are faster but still doom laden; one can definitely hear the Novembers Doom influence here (minus the melancholic clean vocals); think more ‘Rain’ here from “The Novella Reservoir.” ‘No Paler a Horse’ straddles the line between death and doom with some grim spoken word clean vocals among the growling which will definitely appeal to those who like groups such as Draconian.

Other tracks like ‘As The Vultures Descend’ follows suite just like ‘No Paler a Horse’ but it tends to fall a little short due to the lack of variety between the sound of the tracks. Still very doom death laden much like Novembers Doom, but the impact is less and doesn’t quite help Grand Harvest stand on their own, opposite of the first track. ‘Crowns To Ashes’ really picks up the pace and one gets their first full length death metal track. It hits hard with very little traces of melancholy and is sure to be a pit favorite at live shows. ‘My Desolate Sea’ is the album’s highlight with the backing choir style female vocals, the slow plodding drums, and overall the excellent quality of doom the band presents. It doesn’t do anything wildly progressive or new that hasn’t been heard before, but for an album’s expectation of death doom, this hits the spot perfectly. For those who feel it is too slow or drawn out, ‘Fatehammer’ brings things back to death metal style with just vocals, guitars, bass and drums and little atmospheric elements save for the rather eastern solo they throw in.

‘In Memoriam’ serves as an intro the closing title track, but with its barely 30 second length, it could have just been added to the start of the track in the first place. Much like ‘The Harrow’ the title track is devoid of any choirs or clean vocals- this is mostly a death metal piece with some doom elements. It trudges right along with a nice balance between death and doom- fans will either love or hate it for the balance. Overall, this is a strong album that takes a rather basic approach to death doom but holds its own. Listeners will appreciate the weight of the music without feeling their drowning in distortion or tracks that drag on forever. Grand Harvest do a great job of showcasing both doom and death metal genres with their track lengths and clear production that is sure to become a staple name in the genre in the future.

4 / 5 STARS


1. Sol Maledictor
2. The Harrow
3. No Paler A Horse
4. As The Vultures Descend
5. Crowns To Ashes- Thrones To Dust
6. My Desolate Sea
7. Fatehammer
8. In Memoriam- Magnus Invictus
9. Consummatum Est


Messor Grandis Productions
Band: https://www.facebook.com/grandharvest.band
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Mar 14, 2022
Next review: Fumigation - Structural Extermination

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