This is the latest from US Depressive Black/Post-Metal band Barbelith.
Their first EP was a corker, so I was looking forward to what this 2 track release would bring.
As with their previous release the band enshroud themselves in bleakness and woe, with anguished, tortured vocals lashing out at an uncaring world and a fate undeserved.
Barbelith manage to combine a mournful atmosphere with a style of Blackened Hardcore for the first track Caverns of the Mind. It’s interesting as the song seems to gain and lose momentum multiple times during its 6 minute length, switching between Depressive Black Metal and Blackened Hardcore as if it’s never sure whether it wants to end it all now or persevere for one final, desperate lunge at life.
The second song Rebirth takes less of its cues from Hardcore and more from Post-Metal, while retaining the aura of misery and lost hope. It has somewhat of a Deinonychus feel to it and as such is swamped in negative feelings and emotions; unlike the pure-strain misery of Deinonychus however, the net result here is strangely uplifting. The addition of angelic clean vocals as a background juxtaposition is an inspired choice.
2 tracks, 12 minutes. Utterly worth it.
Wonderbox Metal 