Like many houses in the suburbs of Australia, we have the famed third draw. The third drawer is full of all sorts of things. Old pens that don’t work. One of those small tape measures that nobody has ever used. An old movie ticket stub. But every now and then, when you rummage through the mess, you find something awesome.
It could be an old watch that you forgot about or a $5 note, but either way, there’s a gem in there and you just get so excited that the next time you’re at the pub and your mate is telling you they just became engaged, you casually slip in the fact that you found 5 bucks in your third drawer.
THAT is exactly what it was like listening to Third Chamber’s Harvesting Our Decay for the first time. I noticed that on their Facebook page they say their influence is Suffocation.
I definitely hear that in there. The track Choke has ‘Suffocation’ written all over it. But, and I hate to burst their bubble, the similarities start to part after this.
There is some terrific groove in their mix, fantastic melodies and some thrashy stuff that I am a massive fan of. I can hear some of the metal purists out there might take some issue with the vocals in this realise. Its ‘hardcoreish’ vibe might not be what they think should be in an ‘old style death metal band’, but I’m not a metal elitist. And besides, I like Psycroptic, so these vocals hit a nice sweet spot for me. Mixing and mastering of this EP are spot on. In your face where they need to be and pulled back in some sections. The voice is a bit processed seeming, but that seems to be the trend for modern metal these days.
I have to be honest and say, as the first release for this band, it’s really hard to fault it. It’s metal done very very well. The only issue that I might take is that the solos are a bit on the 90s side of things (probably the fact that there are solos is a bit 90s). These guys are on my playlists and watchlists. Suitable for those who yell ‘Eureka!’ when they find that missing twisty between the couch cushions.
Release Year: 2019
Label: self-released
Category: EP
Country: Canada
Reviewed by Liam Frost-Camilleri
