When you find yourself upon a new and handsome plain, it is all too easy to overlook the folly.  For when all the desirable elements are there and seep with a delectable exoticism of adventurous adhesion, the lacklustre reality of their composition may indeed be overshadowed by their novelty.

Sometimes you can have all of the right ingredients and still fuck it all up. Things can look good, and even be fundamentally predisposed for greatness, but still end up in shambles after the first gaze of judgment.

With music it is very much the same. A given record can have all the characteristics of a solid opus - the influences can shine, the performances can blitz and blaze and the production can glaze your over - and yet it may still deserve a place at the bottom of the pile. With ambitious, progressive records this is especially true, yet on "The Harvester", the German Symphonic/Gothic collective ENVINYA attempt to avoid such fates and build a legacy with their sophomore effort...whilst fervently trying to keep it from falling into shambles.

I must admit...this record discouraged me at first. For after an intriguing albeit bland intro, the band steps into the overzealous messiness of "Bewitched". Whilst the opener may appeal to some, it excessive blend of electronics, thinly Death Metal-influenced tremolo picking and thrashing riffs tends to reek of slight desperation; for it just seems that they are trying to cram as possible into a single offering.  However, it is the vocals of the leading track that truly make you reconsider listening to the rest. The light, almost J-Pop tones of Mery Diaz Serrano seem out of place, out of time, and frankly, out of range.

Ok, now before you condemn me for being overly harsh, things do improve as we move onto "Nightdweller". Here the band seem to regain their faculties and get hold of a consistent compositional approach, leading into a finely assembled, mid-tempo, mildly Symphonic number that is simple yet adequate. The vocals find their tone, the band their pace, and ENVYNIA confidently move on further down the track list and offer some quite interesting numbers inspired by the progressive theatricality of outfits like DEATHLESS LEGACY.

Tracks like "The Harvester" go on to combine the stable rhythmic properties of symphonic Metal whilst cutting into them with electrnicore-tinged breakdowns, all the while "Storm Chaser" taps into rockabilly and throws the listener off with some quite commendable experimentation. Further offerings like "Valiant" and "Outsider" should also get a mention, for the former's light Death Metal edge (done right this time) and the latter's eastern concepts truly seem to give this record a generous touch of intrigue.

That being said, "The Harvester" still sounds rather feeble at its core. The tracks may strive for grandeur but are unfortunately let down by underdeveloped, 2 dimensional sections and absence of a consistent theme. The production too, whilst crisp and finely mixed, is a touch too compressed for such musical aspirations and thus ends up further contributing to the brittleness of the record.

Overall - "The Harvester" is shiny and exotic, but its essence is ultimately a meretricious one.  ENVINYA make a solid effort to join the ranks of such Gothic/Symphonic collectives as the aforementioned DEATHLESS LEGACY, but their latest opus unfortunately fails to deliver enough magic to do so.