Barishi
Blood from the Lion’s Mouth
(Season of Mist)
The idea of a progressive band recalling past legends feels counter-intuitive, but that’s exactly what Vermont-based progressive metal group Barishi have done with their astounding Season of Mist debut. Blood from the Lion’s Mouth is elegantly gritty, hypnotically melodic, and more than a little psychedelic. Their style recalls Mastodon, Led Zeppelin, and Kvelertak in some form, but much of the album will give listeners images of the ancients, chanting away at arcane spells.
Barishi’s sound feels both strikingly familiar and gloriously unique, and a lot of it has to do with the band’s songwriting techniques. Guitarist Graham Brooks wrote much of the music on an acoustic guitar while spinning a lot of Led Zeppelin records, and that led to an emphasis on chord-based progressions over traditional riffs and leads. That process allows a song like “Master Crossroads, Baron Cemetery”, a blackened, blast beat-powered beast, to feel connected to the rest of the album, just with a greater sense of urgency. This songwriting decision does mean that some of the record blends together; however, the sonic unity mostly works in the band’s favor. This is a progressive album that isn’t particularly interested in prog wankery, and that was a wise decision on the band’s part. Songs like “Grave of the Creator” and the title track display a beautiful, sludgy dichotomy, with a haunting melodicism swirling underneath. If there’s an issue, it’s that the formula wears down a bit by the end, but Barishi are such tight songwriters that it isn’t a major issue.
This Vermont group is onto something special here, with their label debut. Rarely does a band with such a honed in vision execute it this well, to the point of near majesty. I do wonder if indulging their prog sensibilities would’ve allowed this to be one of the all-time great albums (by adding some added sonic diversity), but there’s nothing wrong with settling for one of the year’s best metal albums.
Purchase Blood from the Lion’s Mouth here.
