Music Review: Barghest – Self-Titled EP

Barghest - Self-Titled EP

Rating:

I am currently deployed in Afghanistan.  My base is approximately 7,200 feet above sea level, I am surrounded by people who combine hatred and religion (sometimes this combination comes from both sides) and snowcapped mountains.  I work at night and only see an hour or two of sunlight a day. My sleep is interrupted by the explosion of rockets that are meant for me or someone just like me. This is the perfect environment for black metal.

The first sounds of Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s  Barghest’s eponymous debut are from the track “Mourning.” You immediately know it’s black metal.  There is the lo-fi recording, the amplifier hiss and just the sound of cold.  The dirge plods along repetitively until a lone bell sets it into motion.  The blast beats kick in and there is riff that seems familiar even if you haven’t heard it.  It’s familiar because it is about as traditional a black metal song as you can get.  “Mourning” leads into the hypnotic track “The Rite of Isolation,” which sets the mood for the entire album.  It’s cold and atmospheric.  It’s mean and sullen.  These are all common terms to this genre, but Barghest also has a hypnotic, entrancing, quality that I have not heard since Lurker of Chalice or Leviathan’s more instrumental releases.   There have been a few moments walking around in the middle of the night with my headphones on, digesting this album, where I just had to pull the headphones off.  You are immediately encased in these labyrinthine riffs and beats that actually get you physically lost if you are not careful.  The vocals sometimes show up midway into the song and it’s not quite clear whether or not there is one vocalist, but that really works with this sound.  They are both mid-range shrieks and groans that make any lyrics indiscernible.  The vocals compliment the sounds as another instrument and never stand too far out in front.

Referencing Lurker of Chalice is not too far off as the middle song, “Poison Meditation,” immediately recalls the amazing Lurker of Chalice and the finer parts of fellow USBM musician, Xasthur.  It’s beautiful, yet eerie.  It sounds wet and foggy.  It’s the peaceful break amidst the maelstrom, but there is still something sinister lurking in the fog.  You’re lost, but you don’t want to reach out and feel because you are afraid of what you might touch.  So many bands these days just try to out-brutal the next, but the album just becomes a mish mash of similar sounding songs.  When it’s broken up, the songs hit harder.  This totally works as it leads into my favorite song on the album, “Pain Of Days.”  It has that familiar black metal riff that teeters between being tight and catchy and spiraling out of control.  When the vocals kick in, it’s the unfamiliar low growls that set the song off.  Once again, it’s unclear if this is the work by one musician or multiple. From here on out the album just gets mean. It maintains this menacing atmosphere where you are in familiar black metal territory not entirely sure as to what is coming next.  The final track, “Reduced To Ashes,” is furious.  It leaves you wanting more as this album (disregarding the one small but welcome break) has done nothing but increase the level of disdain and misanthropy.  Not only is there the feverish pitch of the song, but there are sounds of battle interspersed throughout the final minutes of the album that add to an atmosphere of hatred and disgust.  I can honestly say I have not heard a black metal release this good in quite some time, and I am not entirely sure I will this year.

Black metal is an interesting thing because there are very few genres out there where every new band has their credibility instantly questioned.  You come correct, or you don’t come at all.  Barghest hail from Louisiana, a state not unfamiliar with metal, but rather more accustomed to the sludgy blues of Eyehategod and the absolute heaviness of Crowbar than the sounds of a frostbitten Norway.  Barghest blends the familiar sounds of Darkthrone and Mayhem while adding a USBM quality not entirely unlike Leviathan.  It’s grimy and atmospheric and short enough to leave you anxious for more.  It is also of note that Barghest also features one of the guitarists and the former drummer of the excellent Thou (who I would say started in sludge but are getting closer and closer to not being able to be affiliated with a specific genre).  While they may not share much in common with Thou’s sound, the musical chops and creativity is very apparent.  Keep an eye on Barghest. Great things seem to be on the horizon.