A Virulent Stream

“All founders and smelters of brass or copper observe a virulent steam to arise, which entering the lungs with the breath, introduces its seminal impressions, occasioning inflammations and a tendency to malign eruptions and the plague sores called pox." - "A New Digester of Fevers" by John Cotta (1612) Barren Canyon, the reclusive Canadian act formed by the mysterious duo of multi-instrumentalists Maikan and Absent, re-emerge with A Virulent Steam, their second release for Avantgarde Music after eight years of silence. Whereas 2018’s World of Wounds contrasted bursts of metal with cold ambient passages, Barren Canyon now return transformed, melding their influences into a tempered miasmic haze. Warmer synth tones drift and swell like a toxic fog, diffusing into harsher textures. Taking the idea of “atmospheric metal” seriously and literally, A Virulent Stream draws both musically and lyrically upon themes of noxious air, suffocation, and the airborne contaminants of industrial society. The very cover picture is a statement in itself, as the band chose “Smoke from the continuously operating steel plants gives Birmingham its spectacular nighttime red-orange glow” by Leroy Woodson to visually introduce their opus. Avantgarde Music will release Barren Canyon new studio album on CD and digital on May 22nd, 2026.