Album Type:
Album
Date Released:
05th
November 2014
Label:
Self Released
Mess Pour Un Chien – Track Listing
La malédiction de
Sainte Sélène
Le couteau ou
l'abîme
Moi, le mâle omega
Judas est une femme
La beauté du diable
Priez
Le sabbat dans la
cathédrale
Messe pour un chien
Bio
Since the year of
our Lord 2007, Barabbas have been lavishing moral soothing, spiritual
peace and irreversible tinnitus on the lost metallic sheep pushing at
the doors of their Sonic Church of the Holy Redeemer Riff.
Apostles of a doom
following the traditional Holy Trinity of Black Sabbath, Saint-Vitus
and Cathedral, the french congregation have taken their time to
personalise their catechism before preaching live (and sometimes in
the desert…) and to concoct their first lead-plated communion:
33.33 minutes of monolithic canticles to redeem the sins of the new
French chanson and regain the original innocence of Adam and Eve head
banging in the garden of Eden.
Barabbas pardon
those who are offended by the clumsy heaviness of their music, their
relentless repetitiveness and their upfront refusal of subtlety. As
frontman Saint Rodolphe, wisely put it: “The music of Barabbas may
be boring to listen to, but playing it is even worse”
Members
Saint Rodolphe : la
Voix des Anges
Saint Stéphane :
les Accords du Diable
Saint Jérôme : les
Bas Instincts
Saint
Jean-Christophe : les Tambours du Sabbat
Review:
Barabbas
debut album is a strange hybrid of Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Doom Metal
and Stoner Metal. Primarily sang in French, this fearsome band has a
growing reputation within the Doom/Stoner Metal scene with their take
on all things metal. Their debut album - Messe Pour Un Chien - which
translates as – Mass For A Dog. This is an album that I had a very
hard time finding an emotional connection to. It's superbly put
together but it didn't instantly draw me in until a few listens. So
be warned that this is an album that needs your full-undivided
attention. It's good that Barabbas don't follow the same route as
other Doom/Stoner Metal bands, they forge their own path with a
startling album packed full of emotion and heavy riffs.
I
can't really compare Barabbas to any other band within the scene.
Sure, the Saint Vitus and Black Sabbath references are there but the
band has added a more distinctive NWOBHM feel to their sound. The
album runs for around 58 mins or so and there is plenty for you to
get through. The clean based vocals adds another doom and gloom
dimension to the album as lead vocalist – Saint Rodolphe - snarls
his way though almost every second that he appears. Barabbas has
kindly provided me with the English Version of the lyrics and I can
tell you they sing about some very bleak and dark things on the
record.
Hopefully
the English lyrics will appear on the Digital Download/CD Version of
the album for people to experience the full effect of the album.
Barabbas has put a lot of hard work into the lyrics no matter what
language they are sang in. One thing you can't deny is the heavy as
heck riffs they have created on their debut album. The 8 songs on the
album are equally as good as each other. They all carry the same
amount of heaviness and creativity to make this an excellent debut
album to come out with. The different vibes maybe too jarring for
some listeners but it takes a lot of guts for a band to come out with
an album such as this. There is a huge wave of psychedelic riffs to
discover as well especially towards the end of the album.
The
instrumental work is played beautifully at all times but with a
dreaded sense of danger lurking in the background as Barabbas take
you on a heavy nightmarish journey that is fuelled by epic
Doom/Stoner Metal riffs. to prove why Barabbas could be one of the
bands at the forefront of the French Doom Metal Scene. Messe Pour Un
Chien may not be to everyone's taste but if you're in the mood for a
challenging and adventurous album then this album is a must have
release. Barabbas definitely does have the potential to go very far
within the Doom Metal scene. Let’s see what they come up with next.
Words
by Steve Howe
Thanks
to Steph for sending me the promo to review. The album will be
available to buy on DD and CD from November 5th 2014.
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