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Green Desert Water Premiere “Too Many Wizards” Video From Black Harvest

Posted in Bootleg Theater, Reviews on December 9th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Green Desert Water (Photo by Ossobuko)

Oviedo, Spain, heavy rockers Green Desert Water released their third album, Black Harvest, last month on Small Stone Records and Kozmik Artifactz, celebrating fuzzy songcraft and a vision of groove that manages to sound like “nothin’ too fancy” while bridging decades of influence as only quality heavy can. In their ’70s-meets’90s riff-driven heavy blues vibe, they are the quintessential Small Stone act; it is an international stock and trade the label has engaged since Halfway to Gone and Dixie Witch roamed the land — not to mention Kozmik Artifactz with more than a decade under its belt in Europe — and certainly Green Desert Water‘s 2018 offering, The Deepest Sea (review here), fit that bill as well. If anything, the steady AC/DC roll of “The Whale” and the catchier hook of “Too Many Wizards” (video premiering below) and the too-clearheaded-in-structure-to-be-psychedelic-but-still-kind-of-trippy pairing of “Sacred Tree” and “Dead Sacred Tree” at the record’s outset only show the trip of guitarist/vocalist Kike Sanchís, bassist Juan Arias García and drummer Dani Barcena as having refined their approach and songwriting.

That’s true of Black Harvest‘s shorter and longer songs alike. In total, the album runs seven tracks and 38 minutes — a tidy LP length — but it divides that almost on a Green Desert Water Black Harvestper-track basis between longer and shorter pieces, gradually evening out as side B closes. “Sacred Tree” and “Dead Sacred Tree” — which run directly one into the other — are both about four minutes long, but if one takes them as a single entity as they’d essentially be on vinyl, then the shift to “Too Many Wizards” becomes even more striking, even though “Dead Sacred Tree” works just fine on its own anyhow, bringing its weighted riff to a post-Sabbath shuffle with organic ’70s shove. “Too Many Wizards” is the shortest inclusion at 3:36, but has fuzz and swagger both in supply to last much longer, and gives itself over to the more methodical title-track, which tops seven minutes and caps side A with due ebbs and flows, a guest-spot on guitar from Wo Fat‘s Kent Stump doing nothing to hurt their deceptively patient cause.

“The Whale,” “Shelter of Guru” and “Soul Blind” — five, eight and six minutes long, respectively — continue the pattern somewhat, but by the time the first of them picks up from the drop at the end of “Black Harvest,” Green Desert Water are long since locked into the full-album flow that carries them through the remainder of the outing. Without making a show of largesse, “The Whale” brings a plodding first half into a shuffling second marked by highlight basswork from García beneath Sanchís‘ guitar and a quick flash of cowbell from Barcena snuck in there as well. The drums begin “Shelter of Guru” as well, but it’s the riff that ultimately leads the procession into its nod and extended solo section, finding gallop late but making the speed count for something in selling the energy built up over the course of the song prior, leaving “Soul Blind” a natural place to start mellow and work its way into its own thrusts of volume, one, then another, before closing out the proceedings with a last lick of guitar and some residual lower hum.

Which is as fitting as anything, because like the rest of Black Harvest before it, “Soul Blind” makes complex songwriting ideas sound easy. Some bands just know how to put together a record. Green Desert Water sound utterly natural doing so, as if it could not and would not be something other than it is. All the more fortunate, then, for anyone who’d take the record on.

The clip for “Too Many Wizards” premieres below, and the full album stream for Black Harvest is down near the bottom of the post. You’ll find it above all the copious links. You know the way.

Enjoy:

Green Desert Water, “Too Many Wizards” video premiere

“Too Many Wizards” is the third track from Green Desert Water’s 2021 LP called Black Harvest.

Black Harvest is available on CD and digital formats via Small Stone and limited edition LP (deluxe gatefold) via Kozmik Artifactz. Find ordering options HERE where the record can be streamed in full: https://smallstone.bandcamp.com/album/black-harvest

GREEN DESERT WATER:
Juan Arias García – fuzz bass
Dani Barcena – drums, percussion
Kike Sanchís – guitars, vocals

Guests:
Kent Stump – additional guitar on “Black Harvest”
Alvaro Barcena – backing vocals

Green Desert Water, Black Harvest (2021)

Green Desert Water on Facebook

Green Desert Water on Instagram

Green Desert Water on Twitter

Small Stone Records website

Small Stone Records on Facebook

Small Stone Records on Twitter

Small Stone Records on Instagram

Kozmik Artifactz website

Kozmik Artifactz on Facebook

Kozmik Artifactz on Instagram

Kozmik Artifactz on Twitter

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Green Lung Announce European Tour Dates

Posted in Whathaveyou on November 10th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Now that their new full-length, Black Harvest (review here), has been released amid a flurry of (due) praise, London’s Green Lung have announced initial plans to take their gospel of British-countryside cultism to the people of the United Kingdom and beyond. If you missed them amid the many, many others included in the lineup announcement for Roadburn 2022 in the Netherlands, they’ll be there doing Black Harvest in full, which is pretty fancy, and they had previously been confirmed for Desertfest London 2022 as well, which should account nicely for that April 30 date at the Underworld in Camden Town. I would be greatly surprised if those two represented the only festivals the band will play in 2022. There’s a lot of year still to unfold. Like, all of it.

With the assumption then of more to come, the following dates might be looked at as a first round but for the fact that Green Lung have already tested UK waters to support the album, and who the hell knows, they may yet sneak in more gigs before the first batch of these comes around in February. They’re calling the run ‘Folklore, Riffs and Legends of Britain’ and they’ll be out with King Witch, which, yes, is a righteous pairing indeed. Kudos to whoever put that one together. It’s gonna be a big-sounding show.

From the (guess I’ll go live on the) internet:

green lung tour

GREEN LUNG – FOLKLORE, RIFFS AND LEGENDS OF BRITAIN

Friends, we are delighted to announce a tour of northern Europe in April 2022, en route to Roadburn Festival, with very special guests KING WITCH. Tickets for all shows available now, as ever, you can find links at the Echelon Talent Agency website: http://echelontalent.agency/tour-dates/

02/11/22 The Craufurd Arms Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
02/12/22 The Waterfront Norwich
02/13/22 O2 Academy Birmingham Birmingham, England
02/25/22 Corporation Sheffield
02/26/22 Rough Trade Nottingham Nottingham
02/27/22 Clwb Ifor Bach Cardiff
03/26/22 The National Stadium Dublin, D
04/15/22 La Zone Liège, Wallonie
04/16/22 Poppodium Twente | Metropool Enschede, OV
04/18/22 VORTEX Music Club Siegen, NRW
04/19/22 Lux Club Linden Hannover, NDS
04/20/22 Stengade København
04/21/22 Cassiopeia Berlin
04/22/22 Rosis Amüsierlokal Dresden, SN
04/24/22 Roadburn Festival Tilburg, NL
04/30/22 The Underworld London, England
06/03/22 Mystic Festival Minoga, Małopolskie

GREEN LUNG is:
Tom Templar – Vocals
Scott Masson – Guitar
Andrew Cave – Bass
Matt Wiseman – Drums
John Wright – Organ

https://www.facebook.com/greenlungband
https://www.instagram.com/greenlungband/
http://www.greenlung.co.uk/
https://greenlung.bandcamp.com/
www.svartrecords.com
www.facebook.com/svartrecords

Green Lung, “Graveyard Sun” official video

Green Lung, Black Harvest (2021)

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Green Desert Water Announce Nov. 5 Release for Black Harvest

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 30th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

Spanish heavy psych blues rockers Green Desert Water have set a Nov. 5 release for their new album, Black Harvest. To herald the opening of preorders, Small Stone is streaming “Too Many Wizards” from the record now, which will also see vinyl release in Kozmik Artifactz in the continuing partnership between the two labels. Not to be confused with the Green Lung record of the same name due in October on Svart, this Black Harvest is the follow-up to the band’s 2018 offering, Solar Plexus (review here), and rocks in an entirely different way.

“Too Many Wizards” has more in common sonically with All Them Witches, for example, and you know there’s nothing wrong with that either, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you. Note also the guest appearance on the record from Kent Stump of Small Stone alums Wo Fat, should you require further enticement.

The PR wire sent the following the other day and I’m late on it because I suck at this, even though I did the update for the band’s bio:

Green Desert Water Black Harvest

GREEN DESERT WATER: Black Harvest Full-Length From Spanish Psychedelic Blues Rock Trio To See Release November 5th Via Small Stone Records; “Too Many Wizards” Now Playing + Preorders Available

Oviedo, Spain-based psychedelic blues rock trio GREEN DESERT WATER will release their third full-length, Black Harvest, on November 5th via Small Stone Records!

Black Harvest is inarguably the band’s most cohesive, classic, and vibe-ready work yet. With the introduction of new drummer Dani Barcena, guitarist/vocalist Kike Sanchís and bassist Juan Arias García unite in classic power trio fashion, building upon the significant accomplishments of 2018’s Solar Plexus with even more flash of heavy blues, psychedelia, and weighted riffery. Can you hang? Of course you can!

Wo Fat’s own Kent Stump sits in on the title-track, which is a fitting centerpiece rife with AC/DC-vs.- Sabbath vitality, following behind the opening salvo of “Sacred Tree” and “Dead Sacred Tree,” which set a tone figuratively and literally for what follows with a focus on melody and songwriting – the catchy “Too Many Wizards” could easily be a state-of-the-union for the heavy rock underground – tempos no less comfortable careening than they are crashing, and a classic sensibility filtered through modern production that leaves the songs full and engaging for the most fickle of attention spans. Later, to be snared by “Shelter Of Guru” is to take a ride in a traditionalist caravan, and both journey and destination satisfy ahead of the capper boogie in “Soul Blind.” Rest assured, you’re about to spend 38 minutes in the presence of masters. Roll with it and be glad you did.

In advance of the release of Black Harvest, GREEN DESERT WATER is streaming “Too Many Wizards” noting, “when the old masters speak, the apprentice wizards must shup up, close their eyes, and open their minds…”

Black Harvest will be available on CD and digital formats via Small Stone and limited edition LP (deluxe gatefold) via Kozmik Artifactz.

Find preorders HERE: https://smallstone.bandcamp.com/album/black-harvest

Black Harvest Track Listing:
1. Sacred Tree
2. Dead Sacred Tree
3. Too Many Wizards
4. Black Harvest
5. The Whale
6. Shelter Of Guru
7. Soul Blind

GREEN DESERT WATER:
Juan Arias García – fuzz bass
Dani Barcena – drums, percussion
Kike Sanchís – guitars, vocals

Guests:
Kent Stump – additional guitar
Alvaro Barcena – backing vocals

http://www.facebook.com/greendesertrock
http://www.instagram.com/greendesertwater
http://twitter.com/greendesertrock
http://www.smallstone.com
http://www.facebook.com/smallstonerecords
http://twitter.com/SSRecordings
http://www.instagram.com/smallstonerecords
http://kozmik-artifactz.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kozmikartifactz
https://www.instagram.com/kozmikartifactz/
https://twitter.com/kozmikartifactz

Green Desert Water, Black Harvest (2021)

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Green Lung Post “Graveyard Sun” Video

Posted in Bootleg Theater on September 27th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

green lung (Photo by Andy Ford)

Pay close enough attention and you might notice we’re creeping ever closer to the Oct. 22 release of Green Lung‘s new full-length, Black Harvest (review here). As their new video for “Graveyard Sun” readily reminds, it’s also coming on autumn. In the interview recently posted with guitarist Scott Black and vocalist Tom Templar — who in the clip play an unruly youth and a priest, respectively — the latter talks about Black Harvest as a Fall album. In addition to accounting for any and all Type O Negative comparisons one might want to make, this applies particularly to “Graveyard Sun” even among the rest of the included tracks on the offering. The lyrics are not only conscious and blatantly expressive of it, but they seem to derive that direction from the instruments behind.

The video itself stars actor Julian Firth, whom one might recognize from any number of films and/or television appearances throughout the last 40-plus years. He was already on Call the Midwife this year and has a string of very-British credits to his name, including having been a maester on Game of Thrones. If “Graveyard Sun” is the cult horror flick, he might be the Peter Cushing more than the Christopher Lee — his character, as it happens, is named Lee Cushing — but the vibe the band are going for is unmistakable and he helps them readily pull it off. Likewise the font of what might otherwise be closed captioning for a voiceover. Like Green Lung‘s songwriting, it all ties together toward an aesthetic purpose that pulls individuality out of familiar elements and makes its own memorable impression therefrom.

I don’t know where the hype is at for Black Harvest at this point. To be honest, I reviewed the thing, interviewed the band early ahead of the release, and I’ve been so relieved ever since that I could just enjoy the album instead of trying to imagine sentence phrasing in my head that I haven’t paid much attention. But we’re inside the less-than-a-month mark at this point, and this is a great song to unveil for these chilly mornings and cooling evenings. Fall is my favorite season.

Enjoy:

Green Lung, “Graveyard Sun” official video

A MESSAGE TO THE COVEN:

We are pleased to share some long-lost paranormal investigation footage discovered in the depths of Highgate Cemetery, meticulously restored by director Billy Howard Price and featuring yours truly… watch it if you dare…

Song taken from the album Black Harvest, out October 22nd 2021 on Svart Records

https://www.greenlung.co.uk/

Order Green Lung – Black Harvest here: https://svartrecords.com/product/greenlung-black-harvestalbum/

GREEN LUNG is:
Tom Templar – Vocals
Scott Masson – Guitar
Andrew Cave – Bass
Matt Wiseman – Drums
John Wright – Organ

Green Lung, Black Harvest (2021)

Green Lung on Facebook

Green Lung on Instagram

Green Lung website

Green Lung on Bandcamp

Svart Records website

Svart Records on Facebook

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Video Interview: Tom Templar & Scott Black of Green Lung on Black Harvest, Bloodstock & More

Posted in Bootleg Theater, Features on August 24th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

green lung (Photo by Andy Ford)

Given the unenviable task of crafting a follow-up to their 2019 debut, Woodland Rites (review here), Green Lung have gone big. Continuing their collaboration with producer Wayne Adams, the band has surged forward in their awareness of who they want to be as a band. Guitarist Scott Black, still reeling from the band’s performance on the Sophie Lancaster Stage at the massive Bloodstock Festival in the UK, describes it as going from Brian May meets Black Sabbath to ‘evil-Boston.’ Vocalist Tom Templar describes their second LP as their autumnal album, part perhaps of an informal quadrilogy already in progress.

Both are right. Black Harvest (review here) has both arena-ready hooks and a vibe like cool evening air coming through the window, light tinted an orange that’s just impossible any other time of the year. Tracks like lead singles “Leaders of the Blind” and “Reaper’s Scythe” green lung tour datesbalance their own massive intention with organic roots and countryside-folkloric themes. In songwriting and performance, Black Harvest is the to-date apotheosis of the work they’ve done since their outset, but don’t skip the “to-date” in that, because while they may be hitting their stride in terms of craft — doubly impressive as their usual dudes-in-a-room process was upended by pandemic lockdown; they might think of passing files back and forth as a supplement to the rehearsal space going forward, as it clearly worked this time — they still also sound like a band growing into themselves. And yes, that is a compliment. They brim with potential even as they realize it on Black Harvest.

Already confirmed for Desertfest London 2022 — and so help me gawd, if it happens, I will be there to see it. — and coming off of the packed-house gig at BloodstockGreen Lung will head out on two short UK tours beginning next month to herald the arrival of Black Harvest. The second is set for early next year, but the first begins Sept. 1 with a hometown London show that’s also being livestreamed. More information on that is here. From there, the group completed by bassist Joseph Ghast, drummer Matt Wiseman and organist/keyboardist John Wright make their way north into Scotland before looping back down through Bristol. They’ll be out again in February, circumstances permitting, and one assumes the discussions for future plans are already underway, even as they’ve already begun putting together material for their next LP. Some trains you don’t stop.

It is an exciting time and they are an exciting band, and I very much appreciated the chance to talk with Templar and Black about what they do.

Enjoy:

Green Lung, Black Harvest Interview with Scott Black & Tom Templar, Aug. 17, 2021

Green Lung release Black Harvest through Svart Records on Oct. 22. More info and preorders, etc., at the links.

Green Lung, Black Harvest (2021)

Green Lung on Facebook

Green Lung on Instagram

Green Lung website

Green Lung on Bandcamp

Svart Records website

Svart Records on Facebook

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Review & Track Premiere: Green Lung, Black Harvest

Posted in audiObelisk on July 28th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

green lung black harvest

[Click play above to stream the premiere of ‘Reaper’s Scythe’ by Green Lung. Black Harvest is available to preorder here.]

Green Lung on “Reaper’s Scythe”:

Some key elements of ‘Reaper’s Scythe’ were actually written when we were putting together our first EP Free the Witch, but we couldn’t quite find a way to bring them together. Soon after Woodland Rites came out we were playing around in our studio and added a sinister intro and an epic King Diamond-esque middle 8, and suddenly it all clicked. It’s the first song we’ve written with that old school Maiden gallop, and horror fans will spot lots of references in the lyrics, from the familiar (Stephen King’s Children of the Corn) to the obscure (Thomas Tryon’s Harvest Home). It’s fast becoming our favourite song to play in the practice space. We can’t wait to unleash it live!

London’s Green Lung return on Oct. 22 with Black Harvest, their second full-length and label-debut for Svart Records. It is an especially pivotal moment for the UK five-piece, arriving after pandemic-delay as the follow-up to 2019’s Woodland Rites (review here), which was the finest debut album released that year, fueled by massive choruses and an underlying classicism of approach blending organ and guitar lines, thoughtful melodies and arrangements, and an on-the-beat vitality that spoke of the live experience even through the clarity and fullness of its studio presentation. Black Harvest, in that regard, does not attempt to fix the unbroken in Green Lung‘s approach.

The band — guitarist Scott Black, vocalist Tom Templar, bassist Joseph Ghast (who steps in following the departure of Andrew Cave), organist John Wright and drummer Matt Wiseman — continue in this crisp 10-song/43-minute collection their collaboration with Wayne Adams as producer, and the overarching presentation they concoct together builds on what they began to offer with 2018’s Free the Witch EP (review here), digging into various metals and heavier rocks such that Black‘s solo in “Leaders of the Blind” can soar like, suitably enough, Blind Guardian, even as Tom Templar‘s vocals find their way into a post-Sabbathian niche while feeding into the semi-cult, goth-tinged atmosphere and horror/folk-derived themes. An October release is only appropriate for a record of such rich, earthy hues and dappled light, and across two clearly delineated sides, Green Lung not only justify the hype that’s surrounded them since before their first record, but demonstrate their readiness to push themselves as songwriters and performers in order to best serve their songs.

Even on a record that boasts hooks like those of “Old Gods,” “Reaper’s Scythe,” “You Bear the Mark” and “Doomsayer” — see also: the rest — atmosphere plays a central role in Green Lung‘s craft. Each half of the LP begins with an intro, with the call-to-ritual “The Harrowing” jumping headfirst into organ-led theatrics at the outset met by side B’s foreboding chant in “Black Harvest,” which gives way to a momentary shred-fest surge before receding again into softer spaces ahead of “Upon the Altar.” This balance, between Black on guitar and Wright on organ, is crucial to Black Harvest and to Green Lung‘s execution of their songs overall. Within solidified structures of verses, choruses — have I mentioned the choruses yet? good — solos, etc., the back and forth dance between guitar and keys becomes a central defining factor no less than Templar‘s vocals.

That would seem to put Ghast and Wiseman in supporting roles on bass and drums, but the classic truth of heavy rock holds firm as “Old Gods” unfurls its first thuds, crashes, and thickened groove; heavy is born in the low end and the punctuation is its essence and its volume. “Old Gods” is a well-chosen post-intro opener — everything here is well-chosen, and the mix is gorgeous — and as the band builds Jerusalem on English ground, there’s boogie and momentum immediately on their side, the sing-along-ready hook just the first of more to come as “Leaders of the Blind,” “Reaper’s Scythe” and “Graveyard Sun” follow on the first half of Black Harvest, with the last of them seeming to acknowledge its own autumnal nature, in conversation with mid-period and later Type O Negative without trying to sound like that band or anything so much as itself, again adjusting that balance between guitar and organ to get there as it reaches toward 5:42, the longest cut on the record.

green lung (Photo by Ester Segarra Photography)

“Doomsayer” and “Born to a Dying World” likewise top five minutes, and like so much else throughout Black Harvest, that would seem to be by design in terms of their serving as a formidable closing pair, which they do. Before they get there, though, Green Lung answer the momentary shove of the title-track with “Upon the Altar,” a worthy companion-piece to “Old Gods” in theme and delivery alike, with a festival-ready payoff in its second half bringing on “You Bear the Mark” in one of several one-sided conversations with a lyrical “girl,” as in, “Girl, you bear the mark” or the “autumn girl” from “Graveyard Sun.” So be it.

Speedier than the song before it, “You Bear the Mark” is a beginning point for the outward journey the band make with their final tracks, a grounding that shifts into the longer-and-still-maddeningly-catchy “Doomsayer” and the broader-reaching “Born to a Dying World,” still memorable in both its burst of life and its quieter stretches, but making the conscious choice to pull back from trying to give a grand finale in its last moments as so many of Black Harvest‘s tracks have done to this point, instead letting its concluding minute-plus resolve in soft organ and vocal, folkish if not hymnal, raising the question if nature is the church, is there really a difference between the two? Given the largesse of “Doomsayer” — that stretch before it loops back around to the chorus — and, for that matter, any number of other stretches throughout, the decision to end atmospheric makes a bookend with how they started on “The Harrowing,” and that too would seem to be something of which Green Lung are cognizant.

Given that and the level of work they’ve done in the constructing and recording of this material, it’s hard to think of Black Harvest as anything other than masterful. It has a grandiose instrumental sensibility, to be sure, but still manages to offset that with its organic style and themes, and it engages the audience without capitulating to genre-based expectation, outdoing its predecessor while reaffirming the band’s strengths and forward potential to continue to develop these textures, atmospheres, and to toy with the balances at the core of their sound. From here, they wouldn’t be any more out of place in acoustic-based English folk than in full-on traditional doom riffing or psychedelic expanse. That they’ve chosen most to embody an aesthetic of their own, born of familiar elements and shaped as they will it, is perhaps an even greater strength than their songwriting. It has helped make Black Harvest one of 2021’s finest releases.

Green Lung, Black Harvest (2021)

Green Lung on Facebook

Green Lung on Instagram

Green Lung website

Green Lung on Bandcamp

Svart Records website

Svart Records on Facebook

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Green Lung Announce New Album Black Harvest Available to Preorder; Out Oct. 22

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 21st, 2021 by JJ Koczan

If you, like me, have been waiting for news of the follow-up to Green Lung‘s 2019 debut, Woodland Rites (review here), pretty much since the needle stopped on that record, today’s the day. The Londoners will make release their second album and first for Svart Records, titled Black Harvest, later this year, and preorders are up as of today. The band has deluxe, signed vinyl and all that good stuff, and Svart has the CD and whatnot. It’s out Oct. 22.

Green Lung have tour dates currently booked that have already been rescheduled once or twice, but you’ll find those below, along with the album info, which comes courtesy of the label, along with the cover art by Richard Wells. Oh and there’s a streaming track too, because, you know.

I feel like it goes without saying I’m hoping to have more to come on this ahead of the release. I don’t think I’m cool enough to do a premiere at this point if I ever was — nothing against anyone, I know my place; that’s not something I say with bitterness — but I’ll probably ask anyhow. In any case, the sooner I hear it, the better.

Info follows:

green lung black harvest

Green Lung – Black Harvest

In four short years of existence, Green Lung have risen from the murk of the UK heavy underground to become a true cult band with a devoted following. Debut album Woodland Rites, released independently in early 2019, quickly garnered attention, resulting in a single being named ‘Track of the Week’ in the Guardian, plays on Daniel P. Carter’s Radio One Rock Show, a tour with fellow UK heavies Puppy and festival appearances across Europe.

This brought the band to the attention of the wider music industry, and after multiple offers from a variety of labels, the band decided to stay true to their roots and sign with the Finnish audio wizards at Svart Records, home to several of their doomy inspirations including Reverend Bizarre and Warning. Svart’s deluxe reissue of the album, and the preceding EP Free the Witch, sold out several pressings.

Two years later, the folk horror-obsessed fivesome have re-emerged from their mulchy catacombs armed with dozens of freshly-whittled riffs. Black Harvest, the sequel to Woodland Rites, is a more colourful reimagining of the band’s sound – Dawn of the Dead to green lung tourits predecessor’s Night of the Living Dead.

Recorded at Giant Wafer Studios in rural mid-Wales over the course of two weeks with longtime producer Wayne Adams (Petbrick, Big Lad), it’s a more expansive and textured record than anything the band have done before, boasting a cinematic quality and more attention to detail. All samples were sourced from the local countryside and from instruments found in the studio, including the haunting opening vocal of ‘The Harrowing’ which was recorded on a whim after the band broke into the local church (the organ can be heard creaking in the background). The album was recorded in late autumn, and the seasonal atmosphere seeped into the music, which is redolent of mists, falling leaves, and the crumbling glory of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries of London, the city the band call home.

The album also soaks in new sonics beyond the ‘Black Sabbath meets Brian May’ blueprint of what went before. ‘The Harrowing’ takes the band’s tradition of instrumental opening tracks to dizzy new heights, like Atomic Rooster jamming with Boston, while ballad ‘Graveyard Sun’, based on the folklore around the ‘Highgate Vampire’, adds gothic synth lines that would give Type O Negative pangs of jealousy. That’s not to say the hooks n’ heaviness approach that made the band’s name isn’t here in abundance, as the Sabbath-meets-Purple chug and groove of revolutionary lead single ‘Leaders of the Blind’ and the Hammer Horror riff frenzy of ‘Upon the Altar’ prove. Closer ‘Born to a Dying World’ is unlike anything the band have written before; an endtimes ballad with an almost gospel feel, tying the band’s omnipresent nature themes to the Anthropocene.

Mastered by John Davis at Metropolis (Led Zeppelin, Royal Blood), Black Harvest comes packaged in stained glass artwork by renowned artist Richard Wells (Doctor Who, Dracula, Ben Wheatley’s In the Earth), and is available in gatefold vinyl and CD formats.

Tracklisting:
The Harrowing
Old Gods
Leaders Of The Blind
Reaper’s Scythe
Graveyard Sun
Black Harvest
Upon The Altar
You Bear The Mark
Doomsayer
Born To A Dying World

GREEN LUNG is:
Tom Templar – Vocals
Scott Masson – Guitar
Andrew Cave – Bass
Matt Wiseman – Drums
John Wright – Organ

https://www.facebook.com/greenlungband
https://www.instagram.com/greenlungband/
http://www.greenlung.co.uk/
https://greenlung.bandcamp.com/
www.svartrecords.com
www.facebook.com/svartrecords

Green Lung, Black Harvest (2021)

Green Lung, Woodland Rites (2019)

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