BARREN CANYON - A Virulent Steam
BARREN CANYON began in 2014 as a self-described "spa metal" project, taking atmospheric black metal and attempting to place it in literally atmospheric context: the hot steam, vapors, and scented smoke of the nordic spa. Twelve years later and our world itself is increasingly resembling the environment of the spa, but with a sinister toxicity and no chance for relief. Whereas the spa could once provide a exhilarating moment of extreme heat in the sauna, or brief and cleansing blanketing of dense steam, we now find ourselves inescapably suffocated by these atmospheric conditions in our daily lives. Healing inclusions like eucalyptus and cedar are replaced with industrial exhaust and forest fire smog. And so, BARREN CANYON has followed this dense atmosphere out of the spa and into the wider world where rather than respite and relaxation, it brings us death and sickness. A Virulent Steam the context and origins of these oppressive atmospheres that our polluting industries and consequent climate change have wrought.
Musically, A Virulent Steam is much more synth-driven than the 2018 release World of Wounds which sounds much closer to a guitar-driven black metal project you'd expect from one of the founders of ENSORCELOR, CIRCLE OF SALT and SPECTRAL WOUND (before he quit and the rest of the band kept playing his songs against his wishes). On A Virulent Steam you can barely hear the guitars (or perhaps you just think you can hear them), instead a synth-heavy influence is draw from contemporary darksynth/synthwave (think of some of the vibier tracks from early PERTURBATOR).
Most atmospheric black metal is best enjoyed cold, being associated with long and dark winters, cold rain, blizzards, the bottom of the ocean, or the vacuum of space. By contrast, A Virulent Steam is meant for the 40 °C humidex heatwave I've been suffering this past week in Montreal, and which it seems we all deign to suffer more year-by-year.
Released by Avant Garde. Listen here: https://avantgardemusic.bandcamp.com/album/a-virulent-steam
Dave Aftandilian