Barren Path – Grieving (Traumatic Deathgrind with Brevity)

 

See that? That’s a band from Japan. What’s that mean? Guaranteed goodness. I mean they’re already killing it with the cover, but musically Barren Path is more intuitive than expected. Meaning, their sense of style is impeccable, and possibly inborn. Its deathgrind, of course, so it’s going to be intense, hopefully punishing, and if it plays its themes right, definitely cathartic. But combining death and grind? We want ferocity! The energy, we need it relentless and bone-snapping! Chaos with precision! We want Grieving!

   

With every song less than two minutes, we got that brevity, folks; songs so fast they’re over before you’ve read their titles. Hell, some are less than half a minute! And that’s risky business, because it often all sounds the same. Barren Path, however, challenge with their complexity to such a degree you haven’t realized you listened to it three times before something sounds even vaguely familiar. In spite of the short length, these guys provide the detail a funeral doom band covers in an hour. Grieving features transitions that keep the listener attentive to the existential dread that permeates the album’s themes, including vocals that dabble in spoken word. Loss, emotional trauma, and utter despair are the new boundaries of the genre. With the variety of layers, each with their own complexity to discover, Barren Path impart a musically clear atmosphere with subtle gradations that reward as much as they destroy.

 

Barren Path Official Instagram

Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls

Barren Path – Grieving
Willowtip Records
Cover Art: Hide Takakura a
4.3 / 5