Barbarian – Reek of God (Dark Fantasy Death Speed Thrash with a Dash of Eldritch Heavy Metal)
Dying Victims Productions has been a favorite label of mine recently. I can’t remember when I first encountered dude’s stellar line-up, but over time it more and more brings a smile to my face when I see a promo come in with the logo because I know I’m in for some basement-dweller metal (of various types). At any rate, we got some crazy, raw, old school Italians here bringing us death speed thrash with a complete lack of shame, and a little dose of heavy metal that makes you want to rip into Savage Sword again. I’m still not sure how serious they are about their approach, and it’s probably best that way. I’d rather not know. But once you get past the possibly unironic anti-Christian spoken-word intro (careful now, they might “spit on your cross”), Barbarian gets into the sound they’ve built for over a decade. The real core is hardly the message, it’s the eldritch, decaying dark fantasy magazine style.
Reek of God presents the retrograde sound for which the band has become known. In fact, there’s quite a bit of oldness in here including everything from traditional heavy metal to speed, and since they’re so adamant about referring to themselves as such, we have no choice. Plus, after a few minutes, you’ll find it rather hard to define what exactly they’re doing by a single genre, or even two, making Barbarian something of their own subgenre. The raspy, blood-spattered vocals echo the crude sound of the music that plays as a soundtrack to digging through 1970s comic book bins with Red Sonya firing up your loins, yet the unyielding pace refuses to give the listener any air, much like being caught in a flurry of steel and horse vomit mid-battle. But of particular note is the eldritch fantasy quality to the atmosphere, dabbling in mid-1980s spikes and leather while crushing softness with an axe. What they may occasionally lack in variety they more than make up for in controlled, dark mythos, giving them a style truly self-aware.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Barbarian – Reek of God
Dying Victims Productions
Cover Art: Claudio Elias Scialabba
4.2 / 5
