Photo by Erika Larsson
“Provocative instrumentals possessing a well of emotional depth track after track, the hypnotic journey of Penumbra seeps in through the mind and digs down to your soul. Waves of guitars dance alongside synths to bring additional unique layers to each track.” — Ghost Cult
Stream / Share BARRENS‘ Penumbra At THIS LOCATION
Ghost Cult is currently streaming Penumbra, the entrancing debut full-length from Gothenburg, Sweden-based post-rock trio BARRENS. The premiere comes on the eve of the record’s official release via Pelagic Records.
Featuring members of long-running alternative/experimental indie rock unit Scraps Of Tape, BARRENS develops their own idiosyncratic sound on Penumbra. Driven as much by synths as guitars, Penumbra oscillates between the dark and bright sides of post-rock. Conceptually, the record centers itself on the topics of change, metamorphosis, and transformation, “especially movement into, through, out of shadows, and back again,” notes guitarist Johan G. Winther. “Being both lost in darkness yet finding comfort there. Seeking it. Afloat in blinding light, suspended in darkness,” as it is etched into the vinyl.
Hails Ghost Cult of the release, “Provocative instrumentals possessing a well of emotional depth track after track, the hypnotic journey of Penumbra seeps in through the mind and digs down to your soul. Waves of guitars dance alongside synths to bring additional unique layers to each track.”
Stream Penumbra, courtesy of Ghost Cult, at THIS LOCATION.
View the band’s previously released video for “Atomos” below.
Penumbra is dense, sophisticated, deep, mature, overwhelming, minimalist, and elaborate all at the same time. It does not sound like a debut album of a new band, but more like an intuitive but also carefully reflected creation of musicians fused together by a long and strong bond. “What we all have in common is that creating music is a cathartic release. We do it not only because we want to, but just as much because we have to,” explains Winther. “This makes writing and creating something that is born out of equal amounts happiness, light, and positivity and anxiety, darkness, and negativity. It’s a constant movement through various degrees of light, of shadows, and of deep darkness. The shared bond of this has been the catalyst for what BARRENS and Penumbra is, and what it will continue to grow into and develop out of.”
BARRENS‘ Penumbra will be released on CD, LP, and digital formats April 10th. Find preordering options below. Fans Of Mono, PG.LOST, Caspian, Mogwai, This Will Destroy You, Pelican, Scraps Of Tape, God Is An Astronaut, and the like pay heed.
North America: http://bit.ly/barrensNA
Europe: http://bit.ly/barrensEU
Australia: http://bit.ly/barrensAUS
Digital: http://bit.ly/barrensDGTL
The members of BARRENS were already touring together before they were even a band. In 2018, Markku Hildén joined Scraps Of Tape, Winther and bassist Kenneth Jansson’s other band, as a live drummer for two tours of Europe and a tour of China. “Finding an immediate chemistry between us both playing and hanging out, we quickly realized we had very similar ideas regarding music and creating art together. So the outlines for what BARRENS would become were sketched out back then in vans, trains, planes, and over post-show beers at local bars,” recalls Jansson. Once back home, the newly formed band composed demos, drawing inspiration from new sources, and venturing through both well known and unknown territories. In the summer of 2019, Penumbra was recorded in Uppsala and Gothenburg, produced by the band, and mixed and mastered by Cult Of Luna’s Magnus Lindberg at Redmount Studios in Stockholm.
“Fans of cinematic instrumental post-rock a la This Will Destroy You, Pelican, Mono, Mogwai, etc. will find a whole lot to love about the band’s debut single, ‘Arc Eye,’ with an extra dose of synth-laden atmospherics that give the music an especially melancholic feel.” – MetalSucks
“Penumbra as a whole is an exercise in balancing oppression with catharsis. It hits you with a desolate landscape: a tom and snare crawl; a down-tuned riff; a malfunctioning electronic synth layer… then a cymbal crashes; a melody kicks in; the tempo triples and suddenly everything is okay, for a moment.” – Toilet Ov Hell
“Every song feels like a trip to a different state of mind, or even a dream…” – Legacy Future
“…well-constructed, deeply evocative, with a richness of textures… BARRENS create a dark and beautiful world situated somewhere between the sea and the stars…” – Everything Is Noise
http://www.facebook.com/BARRENStheband
http://www.instagram.com/barrens_official
http://www.pelagic-records.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pelagicrecords
http://www.instagram.com/pelagic_records