Reviews list for Barshasketh - Antinomian Asceticism (2025)

Six years ago, Barshasketh released their fourth full length album (s/t) and I sat looking at it everytime it played, unable to fathom why I kept coming back.  A few critical listens later (three years worth to be precise) and I finally settled on a four star rating for the Mgla influenced melodicism and Sargeist-like chaos of the album.  Come 2025 and Barshasketh have me in pretty much the same position with album number five.  I have been listening to Antinomian Asceticism for about three weeks in all (even plugging in some earphones for some rare close time with it) and will be the first to admit that I am very much on the fence with it still.  It is not like there is not much to like here, even during the first track I am already reminded of Aosoth (one of my favourite French bm bands).  As the album goes on, those Sargeist vibes are strong again and I even get a hint of Akhlys in the music here (one of my all time favourite bm acts).

Despite these pleasing outliers, I still have all these splinters in my buttocks from this fence.  Whilst there are most definitely bits that I do not like (those chants are a little too verbose for me - bordering on over-demented, if such a term exists), Antinomian Asceticism has some absolute bangers also with the likes of Lebenswelt Below and Charnel Quietism both doing a superb job of ensuring that the middle section of the record is a real high point.  Yet, it lacks any memorability for me.  Spectral Wound do a far better job of letting melodicism rule the day and write better songs as a result of it for me.  In a way, whilst I acknowledge that Barshasketh overall is a very different band in style and approach, they are still a bit lost on me I am sorry to say

When the album finishes, I have no desire to revisit it; almost as if it is too arcane in nature for me to justify the reward for the effort I put in to try and figure it out.  As tightly played as it is (these guys know how to play) and as meaty as the production job makes it sound this time around, iteration number five of Barshasketh still presents a challenge for me.  In many ways, I want to like it a lot more than I do and maybe the repeated plays throughout the next few years that I dedicated to their previous album will eventually glean a similar outcome in terms of the rating, however for now I just cannot fully get to grips with Antinomian Asceticism.

Barshasketh originated in New Zealand in 2007 and was comprised of multi-instrumentalist, Krigeist (Bròn, Belliciste, Sluagh) and drummer Maldoror. Sometime after the release of their debut album, Defying the Bonds of Cosmic Thraldom, Krigeist relocated to Edinburgh in Scotland, recruiting Cnoc an Tursa drummer, Bryan Hamilton, into the ranks and adding a second guitarist in Haar's Guillaume Martin. The lineup is nowadays a four-piece, Hamilton having moved on, with current drummer, Finland's Mika Kallio, of Seal of Beleth, also contributing vocals and keyboards and Falloch's Ben Brown on bass. I was quite the fan of the band's previous, self-titled, album released in 2019 with it's no-nonsense approach and resistance to any genre hybridisation that has plagued black metal in recent times, so was looking forward to a new release. Thankfully Barshasketh have delivered and may have produced their best release to date.

The first point of particular note is the more muscular production job which has boosted the bottom end and thickened the band's sound when compared to previous releases. I like how it adds power and heft to the tracks, although there may be some backlash from fans against the loss of the more typically thin and trebley sound of yore. Not to fear, the tremolo riffing is all still present and correct, but the rhythm section has definitely benefitted from the meatier production job and truly provide the roaring velocity behind the individual tracks.

Songwriting-wise, Antinomian Asceticism is quite a busy affair, with multiple tempo changes that sees the band switching into crawling doom metal mode on several occasions in amongst the swarming savagery of the tremolo riffs and withering salvos of blastbeats. Many of the riffs are fairly memorable and even, dare I say, melodic at times, but this is offset by a penchant for quite dissonant guitar leads that introduce some jaggedness into proceedings and prevents the tracks from becoming too catchy. This dichotomy at the heart of Antinomian Asceticism is further bolstered by the vocal performances. The main vocals are a harsh, gurgling shriek which are occasionally accompanied by solemn, chant-like cleans, providing a contrast to the aggressive harshness of the lead vocals and imparting emotional tension between peaceful, ritualistic reverence on one hand and chaotic aggression on the other.

Whilst still flying under the radar to some extent, Bashasketh are undoubtedly proving themselves to be a very tight unit. They are technically proficient, as well as being efficient songwriters with a consummate skill for producing high quality, uncompromising black metal, yet which embraces a modern sound that marks them out as more than mere 1990's copyists. Hopefully this new album will see the band emerging from out of the shadow of lesser lights and gaining the respect that their quality deserves.