In this social media era of music, where the average single doesn't come close to clocking in at three minutes, and clips of songs and brief needle drops get championed over full compositions, it feels like nothing is fresh anymore. As our beloved nu world has shown, sometimes it takes blending two or more styles together - styles that may not seem like they should work on paper, at least - and give it a go, making something that breaks new ground and brings the masses running towards it. With her signature “doom trap” style, the Berlin-based expat Mimi Barks has accomplished just this.
As much as Barks will play around in an all too familiar sandbox of nu metal, with guitar riffs, rapped verses, and the odd scream thrown in, she will not hesitate to dropkick the guidebook out the window, taking things in a completely different direction that, to the bewilderment of all observing, works. From balladry to braggadocio, Barks can do it all, as Dreamstate of Fear proves.
There is a temptation to just cherry-pick a song from the EP as an introduction to Mimi’s work, but this is a rare instance where the best practice is, in fact, to go start to finish, cover to cover with this one. “Dreamstate Of Hell” has the trap, the alt-metal, the fire that is her brand, and it is a statement in three minutes and change. It is a distillation of who she is and what she’s about. Its successor “Ophelia” plays off it well, flowing seamlessly. It’s accessible enough, without coming off as restraining or holding back. “Ophelia” feels like the most mainstream-friendly offering here, save perhaps for the following track, the power ballad “Jericho.”
If the previous two tracks are for the masses, “Power durch Verrat” is for the sickos. It is fiery from the first bar, jarring listeners who have made it this far by switching up the language to Barks’ native German, going fully hip-hop with drop-tuned guitars bringing the “doom” in her signature “doom trap” sound. The brief instrumental “Polarity” acts as a comedown before the trippy, shoegazey finale that is “Butterfly in Chains,” as the static of “States of Consciousness” sends the listener on their merry way.
In five songs and two interludes, Barks accomplished what some acts spend their decades-long careers trying to do: make something novel. Dreamstate of Fear is an achievement in the cult of the nu, standing as a statement of unflinching commitment to experimentation and authenticity. Clocking in at roughly twenty minutes in total, it is a short, sharp shock, kurz und schmerzlos, if you will, and one that we needed more than we think.
Dreamstate of Fear was released independently, and is available on July 24th.
