Album Review: Barrens – Corpse Lights (Pelagic Records)

A record five years in the making, ‘Corpse Lights’ is the brand-new album from Swedish post-rock and metal instrumental trop, Barrens. Out on September 12th, 2025, via Pelagic Records.

A highly anticipated release, Corpse Lights is everything we could have dreamed of, and more. Barrens delivering an emphatic and enigmatic instrumental listen that transforms a familiar post soundscape into something undeniably unique. Through the power of experimentation, they balance an array of dynamic ideas, offering up light, darkness, beauty, intensity, and so much more.

It’s special, and in my opinion, one of the best things I’ve heard all year. Where even a dramatic and cinematic intro like Memory Eraser makes me feel in unexpected ways. There’s a sadness to it, subtly so, but its power can’t be understated. It sets the scene, confirming the mindset needed to experience this album to its fullest, and leads into The Derelict perfectly. A track with a thicker and doomier edge, Barrens not just at their heaviest but at their darkest sounding, and it is another stunner.

Get used to reading that though, as I was sold on this album way before I heard the full thing, thanks to the singles released. One of which was Sorrowed, a journey of different moods, leaving one hell of an impact. Here, Barrens lay the emotion on thick, but in a wholly authentic way, transforming traditional post rock melodies into something so textured and vibrant.

It’s a favourite, but damn it, if that doesn’t apply to almost everything here. Hell, that slice of brilliance is nearly matched by the following Periastron. A dreamy and emotional melodic piece that showcases cinematic comfort and how that can transform into something unforgettably powerful. Barrens’ experimentation continuing to pay off.

Then there is Apastron, a short intermission piece made up of cold, echoing guitars. Before No Light brings back the temperamental doom-infused heavier side of Barrens with mighty aplomb. It is, of course, incredibly layered, but there is no denying, melody or not, that this one is all about suffocating darkness and it might be the most immersive track of all.

Only a band on this kind of form could deliver something so captivating, but it is just one part of something so much grander, and in context, it just makes the album so much more special. Especially when tracks like Collapsar and Remnants exist too. The former beginning with a moody synth feel driven by the bass, slowly transforming, via sharp guitar melody, into a potent post rock banger. The latter, a heart-wrenching showcase of simple melody. Two more unforgettable efforts.

…and then it’s done. Just like that, the spell is broken, and reality comes flooding back in, for better or worse. But not before Barrens leave us with one more lasting memory. It is the aptly titled A Nothing Expands, and it can best be summed up as a moody and dramatic sounding track that has a robust post rock vein running through it. However, like so much of what has been heard here, it refuses to be curtailed by the genre limitations. There are many takeaways from this album, but one of the more prevalent will be the way in which Barrens adapt the meaning of post rock and metal.

Ultimately what I will remember this album for is the way it makes me feel. Barrens really do know how to create unique sounding music that cuts right through to the soul and I love them for that.

Barrens – Corpse Lights Track Listing:

1. Memory Eraser
2. The Derelict
3. Sorrowed
4. Periastron
5. Apastron
6. No Light
7. Collapsar
8. Remnants
9. A Nothing Expands

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