Consummatum Est with Grand Harvest
Original art: Antonio Rizzi
Cover art: Misanthropic-Art
Stemming from numerous previous bands and originating in Malmö, Sweden, early attempts in the form of various collaborations between F. S. (lead guitar), R. M. (drums), and Dr Häll (vocals) were seeing the light of day. The band eventually became Grand Harvest around 2017 after adding M.G. (Guitars, RIP 1979-2018) and N. N. (bass guitar). In late 2018, A.L. stepped in to take over guitar duties after M.G.’s passing.
The band recorded a five-track EP in May 2018, although they decided not to release it and instead focus on further refining the material. Work on their debut album started in 2019, along with trying out the material in front of a live audience, to date the band has shared stages with Necrophobic, Sinmara, Svartidauði, Voodus, Naglfar etc., as well as toured with Mayhem. This was notably picked up by Martin Carlsson, editor of Sweden Rock Magazine (arguably the biggest metal magazine in Sweden at the time), who mentioned them in a major Swedish podcast as ‘the most underrated Swedish metal band at the moment’.
The band released their debut album’ Consummatum Est’ on March 25, 2022. Tore Stjerna mixes the album at NBS/Necromorbus and promises to be one of the great metal releases in 2022. They are also heavily pursuing doing more live performances. A new EP with two songs in Swedish will be released in 2023.
It’s always a challenge to describe your art. We prefer to let people make up their minds about our music. That said, genres are important within the metal scene, so we usually call our music blackened death/doom metal when asked. As for the meaning of our music to us as individuals and as a band, it differs. For some of us, it’s a type of emotional ventilation, a tool of spiritual development and simply a way of creative expression. As a band, we emphasise the material’s feel and atmosphere. The idea is to carry and present the lyrics as closely as possible with the music; they are two components that need to work together to become a Grand Harvest composition.
Referring to our debut album, which was released over a year ago, it truly was a product of blood, sweat and a few tears. The songs are a collection of material written over several years, like debut albums often are. The material is still collected enough to present a unified version of what we sounded like during the album’s release. During the work, we lost a band member to the grand harvester himself, gained a new one and wrote material that reflected both the hardships of existence and the blessings of death, darkness and spiritual transition.
They most certainly do. Stemming from the thoughts and revelations of our singer and lyricist Dr Häll—reflect a deep resentment of the misery and tyranny congenital to sentient beings in general and humanity in particular. Luciferian gnosis of Death, cast in the language of mystical eschatology, personal trials, and a peculiar brand of misanthropic empathy, led to a certain lyrical main theme: the blissful end of all things.
What inspires you to write your lyrics? Spiritual work, poetry, philosophy, mythology, writings about magic, folklore, history and so on are all part of the lyrical inspiration. Dr Häll is a scholar and writer in his own right and has walked the path of the left hand for over two decades. Musical influences can also be found in other bands; some of these are Warning, Watain, Mgla, Vanhelgd, Asphyx, Bolt Thrower, Mephorash, Necrophobic, Dissection, The Devil’s Blood, Candlemass and Emperor, among many others.
Although all band members are not esoteric practitioners, Grand Harvest is, in all aspects of the words, a spiritual and esoteric band. We greatly respect the energies represented and projected through our musical and lyrical work. A Luciferian, and as of late a heavily Necrosophic, charge is ever present in our work and constant development as the work continues and deepens.
That story differs for all of us. We all have broad and eclectic musical tastes, from lo-fi electronics via country music and goth/post-punk, rock, classical music and AOR to black and death metal. We all share a specifically warm preference towards extreme metal of the more atmospheric/spiritual/emotional kind. Music can be both spiritual and entertainment. What differs is how you charge the music with lyrical content and spirit. One is not better/worse than the other, just different sides of the same coin. Entertainment music can be very fulfilling at the moment. The spiritually charged music is what stays with you longer, though. The thing that hits hard digs deep and opens your mind to a new line of thought. In that sense, music can be something very holy. Music has been a part of religious work, of all beliefs, for millennia and probably will for as long as humans walk this pestered world.
www.grandharvestband.com
