Harvest - Years of Defiance review and pre-order

If my last.fm charts from the last month are any indication, the new "Years of Defiance. Years of Disgust" 7 inch from Harvest is hard to put away.  In the few weeks that I've had it, the tracks have received well over 100 plays on my computer, phone and in the car.
With this new 7", Harvest were presented with a bit of a challenge.  Members of the band live in Minneapolis, Toronto, and Sau Paolo, Brazil, which means that each member had to complete their tracks and then forward them along the line so that another member could complete their tracks.  Given the years that Harvest spent playing together in the 90s, the chemistry still shines through in this recording despite the challenge presented to them.
The record kicks off with two brand new songs that build upon the sound Harvest became synonymous with during their tenure in the heyday of metallic staccato rhythms.  One of those tracks, "Our Legacy", can be heard over at NoiseCreep.  None of the instruments take up too much space in the mix, yet the songs still remain heavily guitar driven.  The bass sounds fluid and smooth, but still presents the right amount of grit to keep it a little dirty.  Dave's vocals are in a more raw form than of most previous Harvest recordings, and I'm a big fan of them.  I always tend to be disappointed when a singer's voice is buried under studio effects, and much prefer to hear a representation closer to live show vocals, which is how they sound on this 7 inch.
Following the two new songs is a track that Harvest had written and played live just prior to breaking up, called "Torture Inhibition."  Although it was written over 11 years ago, it fits in perfectly with the new songs that Harvest has crafted, and also provides a perfect bridge to the songs that follow.  In the 90s, Harvest appeared on a few compilations with songs that were recorded on a 4 track, and two of them have been re-recorded to round out "Years of Defiance. Years of Disgust".  First is "Soul Burn", which originally appeared on The Difference Between Us cd comp on Goodfellow Records.  Following it on the digital version only is a re-recording of "Conditioned", which can originally be found on the Twin Cities Hardcore 7" comp, and of course, the Transitions cd on Trustkill.  Although I loved the power of the original recordings for those two songs, it's great to hear them achieve their full potential with a crisp recording.
Overall, this is as solid of a comeback record as one could possibly hope for.  Although most of their contemporaries have gotten softer over the years, Harvest return as angry as ever with a powerful burst of metallic hardcore.

Pre-orders are currently available for "Years of Defiance. Years of Disgust" via Goodfight Entertainment, which includes a 7"/t-shirt bundle, or the 7" on its own.

http://goodfightentertainment.merchnow.com/search/?q=harvest

There is also a show exclusive color for the vinyl version that will be available at Harvest's comeback show, which also serves as the final show for Disembodied on July 16th in Minneapolis.  Harvest also have several other shows coming up on the West and East Coasts, and you can get information about them on their Facebook page.