Unsigned and Unholy: Barishi

Reader suggestion e-mails are hit-or-miss; often, the sender is just a person trying to get his or her buddies heard. But yesterday, I was lucky enough to open a reader e-mail suggesting that we at MetalSucks check out Vermont band Barishi, and man, was I blown away.

I love assigning imagery to metal songs — tanks rolling over skulls, sabres slicing through the air, zombies spewing bile onto orphans — but Barishi don’t make it easy. They really just sound like Barishi playing a show in some sweltering beer pit, really. Their style of bristling misanthropic metal doesn’t fall easily into a subgenre, and therefore isn’t conducive to simple descriptions. Off the top of my head, I’d say they play…dynamic sludgecore? Think of, I don’t know, an eviler Wetnurse, or a more kinetic Mutilation Rites. Whatever it is, it’s fucking compelling, and has a strung-out yearning to it that gets you right in the gut of your heart.

Barishi’s new EP, Endless Howl, came out in January, and is quickly rising in my Best Of 2015 rankings. You can get it at their Bandcamp and Facebook. The band is touring this month, so check them out at one of the dates below:

09/24 Allentown, PA – Good Weekend
09/25 Chesapeake, VA – Riffhouse Pub
09/26 Raleigh, NC – The Maywood
09/27 Charlotte, NC – Tremont Music Hall
09/28 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
09/29 Nashville, TN – The End
09/30 St. Louis, MO – Fubar
10/01 Madison, WI – Willy Street Bar and Grill
10/02 Chicago, IL – Reggie’s Rock Club
10/03 TBA (get in touch: [email protected])
10/04 Rochester, NY – Bug Jar
10/05 Burlington, VT – Nectar’s
10/06 Allston, MA – O’Brien’s Pub
10/07 Brooklyn, NY – Saint Vitus Bar