Gridlink is dead, long live Barren Path!
Following the planned breakup of their band, Takafumi Matsubara (guitar) and Bryan Fajardo (drums) called on Mitchell Luna (vocals), Mauro Cordoba (bass), and Rory Kobzina (guitar) to bring Grieving, this new project’s first album, to life.
When you know which project Barren Path rose from the ashes of, it’s no surprise to expect both violence and slightly crazy patterns, all under the umbrella of the only style that allows for that: Grindcore. These twelve tracks (the longest clocking in at one minute and forty-three seconds) offer a good quarter of an hour of madness, abrasive sound, and controlled screams—whether massive growls or high-pitched shrieks—but also an impressive mastery of staccato riffs starting with Whimpering Echo, the first track. Every moment is dedicated to relentless hammering, and the only moments of respite are the short seconds between tracks, making it probably unbearable for a novice listener, but for me it’s a little delight that showcases the musicians’ true talent! The rhythm keeps changing, as on No Geneva and Relinquish, making it impossible to get used to, but the band still manages to surprise us, as on Celestial Bleeding, which serves as an anguished interlude, mixing dissonance and a disturbing vocal sample. The furious riffing obviously resurfaces for the last three tracks, and the album ends with In the End, the Gift is Death, the last composition that follows the rules set out above to the letter and offers us one last moment of musical violence.
If Gridlink fans felt that something was missing, they will be satisfied with Barren Path! Grieving has the same weapons as its big brothers to assault us continuously, and it will not hesitate to do so as soon as we start listening.
80/100