Review by Tomek on November 22, 2016.

Being in charge of editing and cleaning up the interview we had with Barus was my first encounter with the band. I haven’t heard the music yet back then, but just reading about the processes and seeing how involved they are made me very interested in what they have to offer. Time has passed and now having the EP in physical form in my hands and having listened to it numerous times, I figured it’s time to let more people know about Barus from France.

EP has only four songs on it and even though it seems like it isn’t much, there is so much going on that it overwhelms at first. Barus comes at you with massive wall of sounds letting know from the first riffs that they don’t take prisoners. Speed intertwined with groove, doom metal parts changing into technical riffing then to introduce post metal elements just to change into relentless pounding. To top off that melting pot we have vocals ranging from deep guttural growl to black metal shrieks, spoken passages and maniacal screams and even some actual clean singing.

Albums with such variation are hard to come by and if you can find one that is also recorded well – it’s a real treat. Finding out, listening and re-listening to all the levels that this album possesses was like an experiment that simultaneously torments you and gives you extreme pleasure to bring you to the end only if you are willing to give yourself as an offering. Barus says that the music they play is death metal but there is way more to what those two words mean when it comes to what they delivered.

Managing to mix the styles so effortlessly and keeping it interesting is a very strong start of a very promising beginning. It may take more than few spins for some (I know it did for me) but once it clicks and all the levels will open I can promise you that this little EP will not get out of your mind and your player for a long time. Experience it yourselves.

Rating: 8 out of 10