Virginia Beach’s Death Harvest‘s Pale Rider EP contains three songs to preview their upcoming full-length album due in the spring of 2026. The songs are shortened versions of the full-length tracks coming later, and the EP is almost an omen of the massive riffs that will crush us in the near future.
Starting with the cheerily titled “Death Beside Me,” Death Harvest’s guitarists, Chris Bruffy and David MacArthur, pretty much set the place on fire right away. Vocalist Brett Lloyd sings / yells / growls / preaches that the Grim Reaper is always right around the corner and how he feels he already has one foot in the world beyond the veil (“I know I’ll be there when you awaken at dawn, and I know that I’m leavin’, and I’m already gone.”). The song, already heavy enough, really kicks in around the three-minute mark with Brian VanVraken‘s bass somehow hitting harder and guitar solos.
“Thousand Times” has a great underlying groove throughout it that reminds me of Soundgarden (one of their admitted influences). “I’ll pray for you to leave, I’ll beg for you to kill me,” Lloyd pleads, just wanting to either be left alone to his agony or have it end. Lloyd rage (and Jason Jacquin‘s drums) come back with another level of alternately simmering and boiling rage on “False Spring” – a term for a brief warm-up in the late months of winter or early months of spring before a return to dark, gloomy, cold days that steal your hope. It seems to a metaphor for falling back into an addiction, be it a toxic relationship or toxic pills (“I’ve become something I’m not through the years.”).
This EP is heavy, almost crushing. Like I wrote earlier, it’s an omen. Dark things are coming like the figure on the cover. Something like this can’t be stopped, so don’t bother trying. Get all Jungian and embrace your shadow with it.
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Peggy at Adrenaline PR.]