Release
date: June 09th 2017. Label: Undergroove Records. Format: CD/DD
Barrabus
– S/T – Tracklisting
My Nightmare As A
Reality TV Contestant
The Trials Of Joseph
Merrick
Master Of Disguise
Porn!
Kleptomania
Behind Closed Doors
Preop
In League With Vader
This Is The End
Band
Members:
Paul
Catten (Vox / Electronics / Theremin)
Mark
Seddon (Vox / Guitars / Noise)
Matt
Keen (Vox / Bass )
Adam
Evans (Vox / Drums)
Review
I can't lie to you. I'm
a HUGE fan of pretty much anything Paul Catten is involved in. I all
but stalked Murder One back in the day, and The Sontaran Experiment
is another favourite of mine. That said I missed out on Barrabus the
first time round for whatever reason so I was more than a little
pleased when this turned up for me to review.
There were some little
teaser videos doing the rounds about a month ago featuring no more
than 30 seconds of music (which turns out to be roughly half of my
favourite song on the record) which nicely whetted my appetite for
more...
Opening track "My
Nightmare As A Reality TV Contestant" starts of with a nice
percussive riff with vocals that sound like they're going through a
megaphone, before the song fully bursts into life just past the
minute mark. It effortlessly lurches from one frenetic section to the
next before it's closing and repeated vocal refrain "This show
will be the death of me..."
Next up we get the 1.19
"The Trails Of Joseph Merrick" the song from the teaser
video. I'll be honest when I first saw the video I was hooked. Again
it switches through styles and aggression levels as it violently
propels itself towards its conclusion. Special mention for the
fucking feral vocals at the 0.29 second mark. Every time I hear it I
immediately want to lose my shit to it.
In a genre (though I'm
not sure this is technically a "sludge" record) were there
are few very distinctive vocalists surely Paul Catten has to be
amongst the greats. Morrow and Mike IX essentially...
The rest of the record
thematically follows suit. Songs come and go never outstaying their
welcome, moving through tempo, style and ferocity as the mood takes
them. All in all this great self titled record is a fantastic
release, chock full of excellent musicianship, a great production and
a refreshing approach to songwriting as there are no generic
formula's followed here.
A must have record.
Words
by Simon Ross Williams
Thanks
to Simon at I Like Press for the promo. Barrabus – S/T will be available to buy on
CD/DD via Undergroove Records from June 9th
2017.
Links:
