I think that there are two reasons to use vintage gear in a digital world; either a band has run out of ideas and want a gimmick to tie to their lameass music or the band wants a particular sound that works better with their music than the modern digital fx and amps. Thankfully Shaman’s Harvest are in the latter camp. This is classic hard rock with a full-on power blast and all the better for their introduction of the kind of sound that many bands have been mis-using in the last couple of years.
Shaman’s Harvest have always had a dark side to their music, along with a fine sense of melody and a wide palette of sounds but this album sees them seemingly at their most settled for a couple of years and the music has breadth as well as darkness. . The sense of scale and wonderment is all through the album but there is still that wicked Missouri humour in their sound. Musically, they scale the genres from hard and dirty rock of ‘Off The Tracks’ through to the slow and moody opening title track – heavy drum beats under a droning vocal with an almost folk like vibe to it.
The bassline that opens ‘Broken Runs’ shows just why they went for the analog sound and when it breaks into the main song there is a sense of scale you just can’t get digitally.
Individually the band are all able musicians – Nathan Hunt’s vocals and bassplayer Matt Fisher really standing out but Derrick Shipp (lead guitar), Josh Hamler (rhythm guitar) and Adam Zemanek (drums) are no slouches either.
"We didn't want to use anything digital. So to get certain effects, we made stuff. For instance, we used an old rotary telephone implanted into microphones for the outro of ‘Scavengers.’ Keith helped us think outside the box," says Matt Fisher. Adds Hamler, "We had been so stuck in our way of writing and recording, but Keith had a different, more interesting approach to coming up with that sound. He really helped us find a fresh new creative path."
It is classic rock but the sense of freshness is enlivening and production by Keith Armstrong seems to have given them a visceral energy. Fine album.
