Duels - The Barbarians Move In
[This Is Fake DIY Records]

Even though Duels’ second album has been available digitally for a couple of months now, it is excellent to see the record get a physical release. It would be fair to say that previous critical acclaim aimed at the Leeds band has never really been translated into sales, but there is no doubt that this latest offering has the potential to put pay to that trend.

The songwriting process for ‘The Barbarians Move In’ has clearly had the group on a mission to think big and aim high. ‘The Furies’ opens with a pounding rhythm section and the hostile yelps of Katherine Botterill to kick things off, alongside a guitar lick suitable for an intimidating after-dark western. It’s an attention-grabbing start, with Jim Foulger’s vocals instantaneously as poignant and potent as they’ve ever been. ‘Sleeping Giants’ consolidates the mood very effectively, standing out for its brooding intro and sinister atmosphere which terraform into a ferociously layered barrage of noise, recalling the likes of Radiohead during their ‘Amnesiac’ period.

With the album’s title and subject matter in mind, the political force of the recent single Regeneration is undeniable. The lyrics make mention of a “new world boarded up”, while the cries of “Save what you can! (We’re Regenerating!)” in the chorus are no small indication of the standpoint being mooted here. Many of the key moments in the song also see grubby guitar riffs juxtaposed with Botterill’s tuneful, anthemic chanting, a process perhaps designed to lay down a sonic allusion to the ever-familiar (“post”-war) reality that dirty tricks have become the unshakable bedfellow of attractive ceremony.

‘The Healing’ is another highlight, with its piano-dominated spine punctuated by Jim’s wounded statements of intent, which for all their confidence still appear to mask a feeling of frailty which permeates from the album’s core. The backing vocals have a hypnotic quality about them, exuding a sense of frightened vitality (think of ‘Sympathy For The Devil’-style cries of “whoo-whoo” being voiced by the possessed) for the majority of the song’s compelling four minutes. This intensity is matched on the LP’s title track, whose sombre introductory strings encapsulate the fragile nature of any aftermath. Their brevity however, coupled with the steady rise in volume and anger as the album draws to a close, suggests that the title track is by no means the closing chapter of this story, but instead a premonition of the struggle which lies ahead.

Duels have composed a magnificent series of tracks centred around a relevant concept, writing the album as if their lives depended on it. The result is a captivating piece of work, full of eeriness, emotion and longevity.

The Barbarians Move In Tracklisting:

1. The Furies
2. Sleeping Giants
3. Regeneration
4. Perimeter Fence
5. The Healing
6. Wolvesland
7. The Wild Hunt
8. This Year’s Man
9. Forgotten Babies
10. The First Time/The Last Time
11. The Barbarians Move In