Barshasketh - Barshasketh (2019)Release ID: 12447
Somewhere in the darkest depths of my black metal collection lurks the 2019 self-titled album by New Zealanders (now moved to Edinburgh, United Kingdom) Barshasketh. In all honesty, despite having had this album in the virtual library for three years and having listened to it numerous times in that period, I came back to this revisit unable to remember anything at all about it. Being in the middle of a music cull this made it prime recycle bin fodder, but I noticed I had still never actually settled on a rating for this record which suggested there may be more to learn. Good news is, the album stays out of the recycle bin and although not the most immediate record I have ever heard it does still manage to retain lots of props along its duration.
Played in the melodic and rich vein of Mgla with the swarming chaos of Sargeist added for good measure, this album is certainly a fluid event. The success of any good bm record can be measured how far they can cast the shroud of darkness over the duration of any release. The ones that fall short, perhaps due to running out of ideas or simply being a bit too experimental usually end up in the aforementioned virtual rubbish receptacle. Barshasketh cast their shroud over the entire track listing here and the album has a constant tension to it where the frantic pace and dank melodies meet creating a near constant sense of inner conflict within the eight tracks on offer. As a listener I feel that darkness, can taste that conflict and can hear the weight of that tension in the tremolo riffs and earthy thump of the drums.
This is mature and modern bm played by established artists (Ben Brown of Falloch fame does bass, for example) who can truly expand the affects of the record beyond the confines of the digital or physical format. This record pollutes the air around the speakers with a melancholy that breeds some sense of fondness in me that lasts long after I finish listening. And that is the key here. This record needs 100% of your attention and it is not just some cursory background music or casual listen whilst doing anything else. Put own the mobile phone, switch off the tablet/pc monitor and sit with this record, let it wash over you Embrace it.
An album of thoroughly modern, albeit old-school, black metal that explores the concept of Be’er Shachat (Pit of Corruption), the idea that we live a cyclical existence of destruction, purification and rebirth. This is a strong release that illustrates exactly what BM is about at this point of it's development, whilst still allowing it's origins to be heard.
