Black Lotus - Harvest Of Seasons (CD)

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Lately there seems to be a trend to mix various concepts and genres into Black Metal. I won't be surprised if I get a promo claiming to be some Japanese Karaoke Dance Black Metal from the eastern regions of Bangladesh, recorded at Easter Island. This time it's a Canadian band called Black Lotus, their album is released from a Chinese record label and they play folk-influenced, environmentally sensitive Black Metal. Right…
Harvest of Seasons is half decent, but it really doesn't bring anything original to the world of Metal. The production has no major flaws, the music consists of typical riffs and sounds you'd find in the more melodic Black Metal genre mixed with folk elements, acoustic instruments and a few ambient sounds. There are typical Black Metal vocals and clean vocals in the fashion of DIMMU BORGIR but in no way can they even get near to that level. Even though the grunts are decent, the clean vocals sound extremely out of place and there's always a feeling that the singer tries too hard.
This is one of the albums that isn't a torture to listen to but you'll hardly find yourself giving it more than a handful of listening sessions. There are definitely some people who will appreciate it more, especially if the words environmental, folk and Black Metal somehow all click together for them. It's a half-decent effort that will soon be forgotten due to major lack of originality and any elements that would have you coming back to it, but it does show some raw talent and spark for the future.