This is a quirky album. It is its own best friend. Some parts are super fucking depressing, parts where you’ll boogie till you puke, and then parts where you just feel alive. So, how is it a Black Metal album? I’ll speculate on that in a second.

It’s Punky as fuck on the opening track “Space Heater”, like Reverend Horton Heat on meth. Hyper as an un-medicated child with ADHD, it’s bold and brash and doesn’t give a shit what your mom thinks. “Ærlig Talt” reminds me of Björk and her vocals with the Sugarcubes; hell, even on her own, she’s an angel. The song has a sense of whimsy and positivity (they could be singing about slaughtering kittens for all I know; it’s in Norwegian).

“Stellar Suicide” is a perky Goth chick in a sundress, but when Twin Serpent goes dark, they go pitch fucking black. So the song jangles and bangles along all the while begging for your attention. It’s also the single from True Norwegian Blackgrass, oh, the wonders of insanity! “Freak Flag” is one of my favorite tracks, “come join the dark side, come to the cool side”! I fucking love it, and it’s all delivered in this delicious homage to American Bluegrass.

But this is ‘True Norwegian Blackgrass’… how is this album, with no blast beats whatsoever, barely any distortion, and absolutely zero mention of Satan; how can this be a Black Metal album? Very carefully, if you understand the core beliefs of the Black Metal movement. These are lyrics about love and loss (“Ain’t Home No More”), the epic breakup song where the guy coldly states, “you’ll die alone”. Fucking heartbreaking and savage as hell. “Hundromshelvete” is just fun as fuck, like the whole album is fantastic but it’s little bits like an electrified banjo pulling off some deadly solo licks that get the redneck in me doing something like dancing.

“Tusen Takk” is this drawly, lazy as fuck until the 1:13 when the song sits up and yells at its kids to shut the fuck up. “Radiophobia” has this apocalyptic Nick Cave vibe to it, and that’s another reason why I like this album so much. It has that Tom Waits awkward and off-kilter time signatures that laugh in the face of all convention, and that, goddammit, is what makes this a Black Metal album.

There’s songs that give me the willies. “Forventninger” is just wilding with itself. Around the 1:40 point, there’s a badass little break, blink, and you’ll miss it, but it’s killer. “Holy Ghost” has a revival spirit to it, a bit of Nick Cave once again leaks in, giving it a confidence boost. “Kipu Kivi” is a haunting track. Creepy banjo against these almost chanted vocals, Hanna Fauske has moments where she sounds like Björk, and this is one of those times.

Closer “Anti-Nation Blues” erupts in spurts (clean out your minds, ya pervs) at times being quiet and resistant to hysterics, but a second later it’s just fucking chaos and the baby is out with the bathwater.

Final verdict is that I fuck heavily with this album, I became friends with it, we smoked bowls together, and cuddly shit like that. If you think this is up your tree, it just might be. Especially if you’re a fan of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Tom Waits, and Roy fucking Clark. Get this album and line dance in your front yard just to piss off your HOA!

This is probably as close to reviewing a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds record as I’ll ever get, unless I started writing for NME or Rolling fucking Stone, and that’s not likely to happen.

What’s so Metal about an Americana/ Folk/Gothic album anyway? There’s no blasting, no guttural vocals… Yet these songs about serial killers and Frontier violence are as disturbing as a Dying Fetus song, just not as fast. They’re from Athens, Greece. Not Athens, Georgia. GREECE.

Starting with “Down to hell (Black Cat Bar)”, its prominent banjos and guitar are there for the world to hear. It’s not a long song, just 2:41 minutes, but it dutifully sets the menacing tone of the album.

It’s followed by the raucous “Knoxville Girl” with the fantastic lyrics “go down, go down! Knoxville Girl! With dark and rolling eyes (I hope I got the lyric right)! Go down! Go down, Knoxville Girl you’ll never be my wife” and then he fucking drowns her in the river! If I had to compare this to a Nick Cave album, it would be his seminal Murder Ballads full-length… maybe also Let Love In.

“Kingdom of the Corn” is presented in live form and in studio for,m and it’s a killer song, plus that title, too! It’s got this huge chorus that is breathtaking, with these ethereal violins punctuating the air with unholy malice.

“Born Dead” is depressing as fuck. It’s about this guy trying to explain why he kills and the chorus “I was… born dead” is a self-realization is soul-crushing, as is the frontier-style breakdown at the end. Hoooo doggie!

“GG Allin” is the psychotic tribute to the late shock rocker, and it’s one of the fastest songs on The Harvest. Not in terms of blast beats or thrashing guitars but in a more feral, animalistic sort of way. This isn’t a Death Metal Country album like VHS tried to do with For a Few Riffs More. This has more in common with a stripped-down to its core Gothic My Dying Bride, I mean, there is a violin at play here.

The production is as big as the Montana sky, and it is hard to believe they’re from Greece, but they are. I guess prior to this album, they were doing Industrial music with hammers and anvils and shit, and then they performed European Folk under a different name altogether… Défilé des Âmes. Their first album Zombie Horses, is one I haven’t listened to yet, so I plan on checking it out as well.

“Gold is the Metal” is a mellow track, meandering like a river through the dark recesses of your mind, while “Trouble was her Name” is more of a violent whirlwind about familial distress, and it reminds me of “Song of Joy” from Nick Cave‘s Murder Ballads.

There are tales of biblical-level destruction with “Old Testament” followed by another album favorite in “Hail to the King.” This fucker breaks down and just grooves the way home at the end.

That will be the end of the album unless you get the CD, then you’ll get a live version of “Kingdom of the Corn” I love that title so much and another track called “St. James Infirmary.” It’s part of the reason why you should get the physical release! Because of cool shit like that!

I suppose I could compare this to the previously mentioned Me and That Man and call it a day. I’m not going to do that because this is also spirited with Tom Waites and Hank 3, as well as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. I bet you’re going to like it even if you don’t think you will.