Red Harvest

Internal Punishment Programs

Nocturnal Art Productions 2004

 

I finally have the newest Red Harvest before me.  And personally I think this is a step backwards in their overall songwriting.  I only have the last 3 Red Harvest albums so that is the only reference I can make for their musical development.  I like Cold Dark Matter and Sick Transit Gloria Mundi a lot.  But Internal Punishment Programs is not as Dynamic as the other two releases in my opinion.  Although my favorite song I have ever heard by them is on this album.  It comes in the form of the spacey epic Symbol of Decay.  I absolutely love that eerie and distant riff.  It reminds me a lot of what V:28 did on their first album.  Also LRZ has done some amazing soundscapes in between songs.  I really wish he would just do an album of that sort of material all by itself.  That would be an interesting listen indeed.  But back to the rest of the material here.  It seems a little more mainstream sounding that the two previous albums.  Its not as harsh or obscure.  I am not sure if they were going for this or not.  Everything else is what you would come to expect from Red Harvest though.  This is a good album but not a great album even though it has its moments.  I am still a big fan of Red Harvest's and expect great things from them in the future.