I'm having a really hard time describing this one. All I know was that I had to have it. I mean, it's a little bit like Cobalt, but with a little more alternative feel. You get a band called Barishi from Brattleboro, Vermont in your mailbox, and you’re bound to check it out. At Name Your Price, I didn’t even bother contacting the band about a promo. It was straight to the itunes playlist or bust.
From the very first track, “In the Hour of the Wolf,” you get a taste of the righteous, sporadic changes of pace. Chugging, squealing death metal riffs will give way to soothing alternative rock and post-metal passages. The vocals alternate between various degrees of black and death. This is mood music...it just can’t decide what mood it’s in. One minute you’re crushing skulls, the next you’re floating through the clouds.
”Smoke from the Earth” is a cathartic barrage of drums and atmospheric chords. That’s not to mention the goosebumps-inducing screams. Hooks and patterns are extremely catchy without ever becoming cliché. And despite the extreme qualities of the music it all flows together perfectly. Each song became my favorite song...until I heard the next song. And that solo in “Endless Howl?” Forget about it.
Some music defies genre labeling. Barishi fits into that nicheless niche. Blackish, doomy, a little alternative. Whatever it is, Endless Howl is wholly satisfying from start to finish, and another must-listen for the year. It’ll be brief at only 4 songs, but I challenge you to listen to them without reaching for your wallet. Check it out on bandcamp, tell ‘em Flight sent ya.