Mimi Barks will be joined by Raven Gray, the Queen Of The Damned, for her This Is Doom Trap album release tour in October 2024. Fresh from her appearance at this year’s Bloodstock Festival, these October dates are the last chance to see Barks in 2024.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life to come to the UK,” Raven Gray said. “I manifested this experience, and I am honoured to be alongside Mimi on this tour. It’s going to be epic. Not only is Mimi my friend, I admire her, and I’m a huge fan of her work. 𝖂𝖊𝖑𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕹𝖊𝖘𝖙.”
Wormgirl was the recent single that marked the melding of Barks and Gray, with Mimi declaring, “Let the carnage begin” ahead of the tour. A laugh and a declaration begins this chainsaw of a collab. Wormgirl is a demand for respect for this goth girl clique and their audio viscera. It is a warning to those who would underestimate or undermine Mimi Barks or Raven Grey.
Mimi Bark’s vicious industrial roar pairs well with Raven’s cleaner tones in the first half of the track. I have heard laughing at the start of a Mimi Barks track before and it works again on this occasion. It is a bitter laugh, shot through with pained experience. Raven’s verse is regret and sadness dashed with an electronic tremolo, which sounds like the edge of tears.
The bridge into the pre-chorus is a classic Mimi growl. “Suck my clit,” is the lyric that sticks. A subversion of the usual patriarchal expression of contempt. The track is both an affirmation of rage against those men who have wronged the pair, and a challenge to those who dare try. In Mimi Bark’s own words, “Here’s what you’ve created; The worm enclosed to an angel of vengeance.”
A reference to the “Ghost in the Shell” brings to mind the Cyberpunk themes that cut through a lot of Mimi Bark’s work. I am reminded of Love, Death and Robot’s excellent adaptation of Peter F. Hamilton’s Sonnie’s Edge. The rage, the violence and the fucking big shining, teeth.
The outro with the final words, “I’m a DEADGIRL Bitch pay your fucking respect,” is both a nod to previous work and reinforcement of my interpretation of this track. It is a declaration of intent, the final chugging, smirking preview to her album “THIS IS DOOM TRAP”.
If this is how they intend to go on, I look forward to the rest with bated breath.
With Mimi Barks confirming Raven Grey as support for her upcoming tour, if you want to hear this live, it is probably a good idea to be there.
Tour tickets are available from here. Mimi Barks’ debut album, This Is Doom Trap, is out on 26 September 2024 via Silent Cult.
