Review Summary: A standout in the genre fusion of post-rock and screamo.
Every now and then you’ll come across a band that sounds nothing like anything you’ve heard before - a perfect mix of genres and influences that had never quite been combined in such a fashion before. Post-rock/screamo is hardly unexplored territory, but Barrow blends the two, along with post-hardcore, regular ol emo, and plenty of other elements so seamlessly that you wonder how exactly it hadn’t come together like this in the past. If I seem too hung up on genres and labels, It’s merely because I revere them so much for the dynamic qualities on this album.
Being Without is a beautiful, emotional, calculated, and compelling experience, devoid of artificiality and brimming with originality. Every song has a completely dynamic structure. They move seamlessly between post-hardcore, screamo, post-rock without seeming unfocused or cluttered. The band manages to do something that is truly amazing – they switch from screamed vocals to cleans without sounding corny or overly poppy or saccharine. You’ve heard it before, in any number of generic metalcore songs, but Barrow does it right. It doesn’t feel forced, it makes sense within the song’s structure. We've all got different thresholds for this phenomenon, and for me the music is in perfect synchronicity with the vocals. The result is moving, gut-wrenching
Musically, the band is incredibly talented. They are truly at their best during the slow, post-rock passages (like An Absent Crown, My Diadem) in my opinion, but they’re no slouches when intensity picks up and the inevitable build-up comes to fruition and things pick up. It may sound inaccessible and overwhelming, but I think if you just give them a listen you’ll understand. These guys are criminally underrated in my opinion, and it’s insane that this is only their first effort.
It’s been in heavy rotation since I found out about it and there are no signs of that changing.
