Growth

Growth began as a study in isolation by brothers Tristan Barnes (guitars, ex-Zhrine) and Nelson Barnes (drums, ex-Ne Obliviscaris/The Schoenberg Automaton) in Melbourne, Australia, after a decade's absence from each other, while pursuing music overseas. With the addition of L.F (vocals, ex-Jack The Stripper), the trio set out to create music that explored the human aspects of connection, trauma, despair, and the fragility of hope.

The result was the debut album The Smothering Arms Of Mercy (mixed & mastered by Fredrik Nordström), a claustrophobic narrative of total spiritual collapse written while in psychiatric care and thrown over nine suffocating acts. This marked the first part of a trilogy, detailing in honesty the extremity of recovery from mental illness. Released in December 2020 via Wild Thing Records, the album charted at #7 on the Australian Independent Record Charts, without the band ever performing live.

The line-up was soon rounded out by Ben Boyle (guitars - Vipassi, Black Lava, Hadal Maw) and Nick Rackham (bass - Black Lava, Hadal Maw). Growth are currently preparing to immerse you in the second part of their trilogy, a harrowing expression of anguish that will be released in the not too distant future.