Ocrilim – “Anoint”
for release by I and Ear on March 23
Ocrilim is the latest project from legendary guitarist Mick Barr. Admirers of Mick’s previous work with Orthrelm, Octis, and Crom Tech, will recognize his unmistakable sound, a virtuosic welding of metal-guitar expertise with influences as diverse as late-era Coltrane and Master Musicians of Joujouka. But it won’t take long to realize that “Anoint” shows a new side of Mick Barr. Though still seriously heavy, the songs on “Anoint” have a more deliberate compositional component. Themes and variations recur throughout the album, giving the complexity of Mick’s guitar work a new level of harmonic depth, like an extended suite of string duos. The record ends up sounding like the improbable, awesome child of Beethoven, black metal, and drone-pioneer Giacinto Scelsi.
“Anoint” is a masterpiece of avant-metal and experimental composition. Each song on the album layers multiple tracks of Mick’s Gibson SG (the same guitar he’s played for the past 12 years; he doesn’t even own an amp): three guitar tracks play the lead riffs and two more play bass riffs. The results are splintering, revelatory, and totally devastating.
Mick Barr currently lives in San Francisco, where he recorded “Anoint” last summer, though he has been somewhat of a nomad in the past several years, spending time in New York, DC, and Connecticut. In addition to his workwith Orthrelm, Octis, and Crom Tech, Mick also plays with other groups like Quix*o*tic (2001-2002), Angelblood (2003), and the Flying Luttenbachers (2005-present).
"I think this kid Mick who plays guitar in Orthrelm, I feel like he is Coltrane. He’s on another level. Most people don’t understand what he’s doing but that’s a good sign."
- Ian MacKaye
"Mick Barr is the most focused and uncompromising composer in the current rock underground." - Weasel Walter
"Mick Barr … should probably be inducted into the Mad Chops Hall of Fame."
-Pitchfork
"Barr's bionic guitar work is the furthest extreme yet in the ongoing cybermetal sweepstakes of the past decade."
- San Francisco Bay Guardian
