Don’t be sad, Barabbas is back.
Created in 2007 in France, the band composed of Saint Rodolphe (vocals), Saint Stéphane (guitar), Saint Jean-Christophe (drums), Saint Thomas (guitar, Northwinds) and Saint Alexandre (bass), whose name is inspired by a character from the Gospels, announces eight years after its predecessor the release of La Mort Appelle Tous Les Vivants, its second album, on Sleeping Church Records.
The album opens with La mort appelle tous les vivants, a short but very disturbing introduction which brutally drops us on Je suis mort depuis bien longtemps, a composition infused with Old School Stoner/Doom roots which lets hoarse French vocals mesmerize us along with mysterious leads. We feel the track’s both darkness and quietness on this heavy and gloomy track whose heady rhythmic drives us to the most energetic Le saint riff rédempteur and its epic tones. Some choirs accompany this haunting and sometimes threatening voice which creates a hypnotic contrast with the thick sounds which also know how to be majestic on this final which leads us to De la viande, a much more brutal and aggressive track. The atmosphere of this song is clearly oppressive, just like when the band plays it live, multiplying the religious references before the melancholic Le cimetière des rêves brisés. The softer tones make the track quite accessible, creating a kind of alchemy between the throbbing slowness, the dissonant melodies and the haunting vocals which naturally calls for the heartbreaking sounds before Sous le signe du néant offers heavier and rougher elements to feed its dark and jerky martial march. We will also find a strange sample, some saturated vocal parts and fury, which will give way to Monn crâne est une crypte (et j’y suis emmuré), a track which borrows from Funeral Doom to let its harmonics hover under this lament. The vocalist will offer us a rather diversified performance that wraps us easily under its darkness, before letting La valse funèbre bewitch us in its macabre dance completed by disturbing choirs. The slow sound becomes truly unhealthy with these enchanting lyrics and effects which give the dissonant harmonics total freedom before La mort appelle tous les vivants closes the album with occult and mystical sounds which gradually slow down to let us come out of this macabre universe.
I had already seen Barabbas on stage, and I also knew their sound. But with La Mort Appelle Tous Les Vivants, the band has definitely improved, offering a Stoner/Doom with diverse and mystical influences which perfectly suits them, giving their sound a gruesome but epic touch.
90/100
