From Bandcamp, "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. 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."

"Rift" is first. Clean tones lead off the song, seemingly nice, but the riffs that follow are full, thick, and even ominous. The vocals are prototypical Black Metal, with tortured screams that seem to fill the entire sky, but the music is from a different planet, with steady pulses of electronica at times. It creates a monumental feeling for me, like I am witnessing history in the making. "Miasmic Lull" moves slower, but the sounds is still very rich. It feels like a bevy of various smells and flavors that enter your mouth with the first bite. The clean passage that follows is marked with lush keyboards and the sound of rain gently falling. The firmer sound returns again, but the melody holds on like a tapeworm. "Vitiated Atmosphere" is more about the aggressive side of the album, and you can feel the pain in the vocals. Vitiated means "to have spoiled, impaired, or weakened the quality." Oddly, there is nothing watered down about this song.

"Effluvial Pools" has expansive tones that make it feel regal, worldly, even majestic. The vocals rage with the intensity of a tsunami, but there is something vulnerable about the music…something lamenting even. "The Plague Cloud" is the final song, and it clocks in at just under nine minutes. Crunchy guitar notes lead the way, with steady drumming, vocal screams, and some backing melody from the synth notes. Heading to the halfway point it nearly dies, but it makes a triumphant return that feels like you are on the edge of a decision, and it weighs heavily. You are also running low on time, so you make the only choice you can and hope for the best. The rain at the end tells you either you made the right decision, or you didn't, and it's up to the listener to decide.

One of the best parts of the album is tension created by the never-ending struggle between melody and aggression. The cliffhanger it ends on seems almost anti-climactic, and that's the personal nature of the songs that come out in the music. At times fierce and aggressive, and at other times gentler and clean, the combination of styles keeps the listener engaged at all times.