Barriers formed in Brighton in 2017, quickly finding their own lane by blending the speed and melody of '90s skate punk with the heaviness of modern hardcore. Their debut, Through the Middle, landed in 2019, right before the pandemic brought everything to a halt.
The break forced member changes and a period of regrouping. Now, with a new lineup and their Time Crisis EP just dropping over the weekend, the band is ready to move forward.
"The origins of Barriers go back quite a way," bassist Gregg tells No Echo. "Tom (guitar) and Chris (drums) formed a punk band as high school kids back in 2002, and the three of us have been in a punk/hardcore band together ever since."
Years spent playing together gave the band a clear sense of direction by the time Barriers took shape. "The main concept of Barriers has always been to take the heavy vocal style of hardcore and mix it with punk-inspired riffs tuned to D standard to keep the heavy vibe," Gregg explains. "It's punk-hardcore rather than hardcore-punk."
That sound can be found on Time Crisis, a 5-song EP that hit streaming outlets over the weekend:
Barriers has always balanced punk and hardcore, but vocalist Andy—who stepped into the position in 2023—sees the current lineup as sharpening the band's focus. "We play fast hardcore in the vein of 2000s bands like Comeback Kid, Bane, This Is Hell, and Have Heart," he says. "But we add our own twist, particularly because we grew up on a healthy diet of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games and '90s skate punk."
No Echo is sure many of you already got the video game reference, but Andy says there is more to the story behind their EP's title. "It's called 'Time Crisis' because, aside from the obvious video game reference, we're all getting older," the singer explains. "There's this underlying anxiety of getting things done while we still can, and finding the balance between music and ever-increasing work and family commitments."
With Time Crisis out, Barriers are shifting their focus back to playing live. "We'll be playing a couple of release shows in September with more shows to follow," Andy says. "We'd love to hit some new places and head overseas."
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Barriers on social media: Instagram
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