There are a lot of adjectives you can use to describe Harvester’s music: filthy, violent, abrasive, aggressive, caustic, noisy, callous, corrosive, and brutal all come to mind. For newer bands, it can be difficult to establish a consistent sound and tone that feels natural to the talents and interests of its members. For Harvester, however, it only takes a few listens to their LP, Barbaric, to tell the quintet prefers their progressive metal with a dash of stomach-churning, vomit-inducing savagery. Perhaps this, and the band’s reputation for providing an energetic and tonally rich live set, is why Harvester won the reader’s pick for both Best Local Metal Act and Best Local Album in this year’s Creative Loafing Best of ATL awards.
Last week, I was able to meet with three of the band members — guitarist/vocalist Bryan Strickland, vocalist Tim Jones, and drummer Jeremy Kidd — to talk music and snap a few photos. We spoke about recording their LP, influences, choice of gear, and, of course, Slaughter Que. Featuring 16 bands across 2 stages, Atlanta’s largest local metal festival boasts not only a boatload of beer and BBQ, but also a carnival midway with classic carnival games, a full freak show, and an assortment of sideshow performances including sword swallowing, fire breathing, juggling, a contortionist, aerial acrobatics, street magicians, and stilt walkers. The festivities kick off Saturday at noon.
Is there some sort of biblical reference to the name Harvester?
Bryan Strickland: Absolutely not! [laughs] Not that it’s a bad thing, but no one in this band is religious. It sounded like a cool name honestly and we just went with it. People ask us “So what are you harvesting, weed?” and we’re like, “Hell yeah!”
Your last LP, Barbaric, has a sort of primal tone in rhythmic structure and vocal composition. Was this intentional?
BS: Nope. Honestly, the album name came way after the music, lyrics, and songs name were created. We had a different name in mind originally, but as the album became complete all we could think of was how barbaric it sounded. So it stayed.
Tim Jones: It’s a lot of fun. We bring a lot to the table in regards to music influence and personal influence between each other and what we do. The main focus or goal when Bryan and Jeremy get together is to make something crazy and something that flows naturally. Then the rest of us come in, put our pieces together and create whatever it is we create.
Barbaric borrows from a variety of metal genres. I hear elements of metalcore and progressive metal all over the album. Are bands like Job for a Cowboy and Mastodon direct influences?
BS: Mastodon for sure, obviously. Being from Atlanta most of us have been listening to Mastodon since day one. They are without a doubt one of our biggest influences next to bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Machine Head, and Every Time I Die. We all listen to a wide spectrum of music and it shows in the material we write. Job for a Cowboy specifically not so much but there are most certainly death metal aspects to some of our songs. Who doesn’t like playing heavy music fast?!
Credit: Brandon Belcher
I find the vocals of Barbaric to be particularly noteworthy, especially compared to a lot of other metal albums in the city. What was the vocal recording process like and how did the band decide on the overall lyrical approach when recording?
TJ: When it came to the vocals… Before I actually joined Harvester, I sat down with all ten songs. Bryan and he and I went through everything. We basically wrote word per word what direction we wanted things to go vocally. From there, when I went into the studio to record, I would do the high parts and the low parts and then Bryan would come “season” the low parts with his echo-ey, reverb parts.
Jeremy Kidd: We had the idea to do gang vocals in the studio. We decided that because the ending of “Crater” was such an epic, blowout experience, we felt that wanted to get some of our closer friends within the music scene — Chris Tolleson [Adharma], Ryan Patterson [Degradations], and Drake [Versus] — to come in during different sessions and add their vocal parts into the mix.
What gear do y’all use obtain such an amazing and brutal tone during live performances and recordings?
BS: Starting on guitars, Will and I both use LTD ESP. Will plays on a MH Series with the SG kind of body like an Ibanez and I play on an EC-1000, the Eclipse Series, which has the Les Paul body. Both of us playing out of EMG’s [pick ups], which most of our influences use. Those are the number one pick for metal guitarists anyway. I’m pretty sure [Will] has a 51 and an 85 in his bridge and neck, which is like the Killswitch Engage set up. My guitar has a 65 and an 85 in it, which is close to Zakk Wylde’s set up. Honestly, we’ll probably be using those guitars for a very long time! You can sweat on them, play on them as hard as you want, and they’ll hold tune really well. They feel real good in your hands and will definitely last all tour.
As far as pedals that we use to accent our sound, Will and I both have Boss chorus pedals. He has a Super Chorus and I have the regular one. We’ll leave them on the entire set with the overall level of the pedal with a lower ratio so it gives the guitars a really awesome, clear tone. No matter how heavy or how hard we’re playing, all of the notes come through really well. Machine Head coined that as a method of using a chorus pedal. It’s really cool whenever we do pinch harmonics and squeals because the overall sound comes out really bright. We both use Holy Grail Reverb [EHX] which creates our ambient soundscapes in Barbaric. If we’re ringing out or doing melodic chord patterns, both of us will turn the reverb on and give the song that atmospheric, drone-y sound. I swear by Boss pedals. Those things are durable as fuck! They will not fall apart. You can stomp on them as hard as you want and they will continue working for you.
My guitar head is a Peavey 6505. Will has the original [Peavey] 5150, which is pretty much the same head. The gain on both of those heads are pretty much the same. Neither Will nor I use any sort of distortion pedals. Even on the record, there’s no distortion pedals; we use all gain on our heads/ amps. As for cabs, I play out of a Mesa [Boogie] 412 and Will plays out of an Orange 212, which he’ll use to get more of a clear tone since he plays our leads and harmonies. My tone is a bit crunchier. He’ll have his gain typically at 3 or 4 while I’ll have mine at around 7.
I picked a lot of this gear because the records I was listening to at the time and, after doing research, saw that it was the go-to gear to generate that sound. We get complimented a ton on our tone and I think it’s only going to happen more with Barry stepping up on bass for us.
This is your fourth time playing the Slaughter Que. Is there anything you’re excited about for this year’s festival in particular?
BS: This year we are looking forward most to sharing the stage with more friends than we ever have in previous years. A full day of music and fun with our friends and family. It’s going to be one hell of a day!
Favorite cut of beef?
BS: Flank steak.
TJ: Prime rib.
JK: Flank steak.
Harvester will perform on Saturday, September 24 at Slaughter Que at the Masquerade. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.. Admission is $20.
More Info
Bandcamp: harvester.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @Harvesterband