This is the third album by Los Angeles-based Barrows, and depicts the experience of a man who is abducted from earth and brought to Obsidion, a place where dimension is indefinable and the boundaries of human consciousness cease to exist. The band claim that their cinematic, instrumental rock organically and seamlessly blends elements of prog, space, kraut, and psych, citing influences of early King Crimson and Pink Floyd to John Carpenter and Goblin, and they may just be right. Formed in Syracuse by Jim Leonard and Richy Epolito, before the two relocated to Los Angeles, where they recruited guitarist Ryo Higuchi and bassist Brock Haltiwanger to flesh out the live line-up. But this album, as with the others, was recorded by just the original duo.
Musically this is all over the place, as they take influences from wherever seems most suitable and then blend it together. That they should be called “progressive” is never in doubt, but here in the truest sense of the word as opposed to sitting within one particular sub-genre or another. This is music that does need to be sat and listened to intently, as otherwise there is a real risk that it can just fall into the background and not be fully appreciated, and that would be quite the wrong thing to do, as this is quite an impressive piece of work. Cinematic, yet also touching on ambient, it really does feel like an organic beast it gently moves through different passages, somehow bringing together quite different styles of music. There are many times when the guitar is notable by its absence, and then others when it sounds very Gilmour-like, and has a major impact. The only way to fully appreciate this is by hearing it, and as well as being released on vinyl by Tonzonen the band have also made it available on Bandcamp as a “name your price”, https://barrowstheband.bandcamp.com/album/obsidion so what have you got to lose?
