You might have been introduced to Season of Mist’s Barishi while they were on tour with labelmates Weedeater and Tombs, or maybe you’ve seen them on one of their own, more intimate shows. They’ve been known to place pizza shops in their early years – if only I was so lucky to see them then! If you have seen them, you probably know that these guys are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to that deep low end of the sound spectrum. If you haven’t, and you’re into the sludge and the doom, Barishi is a band you most definitely want to check out.
“The Silent Circle” is this bass-ey, riff heavy monster of a song with lots of frigid coldness and a powerful, yet bleak vocal. Turn this up in your apartment while you’re home social distancing to make sure all your neighbors know the end is coming!
“Entombed in Gold” forever is a bit faster with a higher-pitched vocal. But it sounds just as – if not even more – desolate than “The Silent Circle.” The disharmony here and there in the cut results in this song making the listener feel even more uncomfortable. The recurring riffs beginning about two minutes in are really well crafted and add some really nice texture to the track. And check out the animations in this video…. or don’t because you might not be ready for this…I’m not sure I was:
“Blood Aurora” is another crushing track. Angry, vile and unrelenting. Barishi has this sound that is so much more than the “stoner” label they seem to have themselves in with their earlier work. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a definite stoner vibe here, but that label is just far, far too simplistic for these compositions. Songs like “Blood Aurora” stick with you long after you’re done listening to it. And once you start listening to songs like this, you don’t really want to move on to anything else. It’s like “stick to your ribs” metal.
No doubt you’re going to hear much more about this band. Get on the bandwagon now before the word gets out and watch your street cred increase exponentially. Unless you just moved to an expensive apartment in Brooklyn Heights from Ohio. Then you don’t really have any hope of street cred.
Old Smoke releases April 24, 2020 via Season of Mist. Check out there webshop here for all things Barishi.
