TOP 5
05
Harvester of Sorrow
“Harvester of Sorrow” is from Metallica’s fourth album ...And Justice for All. Multiple songs appear in this list from this album because it “reveals some of Metallica's best material. It also reveals the band's determination to pull out all the compositional stops, throwing in extra sections, odd-numbered time signatures, and dense webs of guitar arpeggios and harmonized leads” (Huey, “...And Justice”). As many metal songs like to follow, this song is in E minor and plays at a surprisingly slow tempo of 96 beats per minute.
This song follows a man who goes mad after constant childhood torment from his family.
My life suffocates
Planting seeds of hate
I've loved, turned to hate
Trapped far beyond my fate
I give, You take
This life that I forsake
Been cheated of my youth
You turned this lie to truth
As seen in many other songs from Metallica, James Hetfield writes the lyrics of struggle with his past in mind. In like manner, the timbre of the song is far from happy and is dark, energetic, and aggressive. Next is the rhythm of “Harvester of Sorrow” which is slower than average, but holds a more complex marching beat to it. Notes in this song are observed to have larger spaces in between, but the solo requires finger tapping and grows in complexity as it continues on the three-minute and forty-nine-second mark. This song is on the list as it is able to maintain the listener's attention to the rhythm playing from the guitars while still being able to listen to the tracks of drums laid behind it. The dynamics of the piece are loud and do not have any changes in softness. This can be expected especially in the album ...And Justice for All which was created during a time of frustration for the band. Finally, the texture is mainly monophonic with the main melody being played throughout all the instruments with no other counterparts accompanying. This main melody being played first is heard when the band goes into the riff at one minute and nineteen seconds.
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