If Limp Bizkit and Carpenter Brut had a baby, it would sound like Mimi Barks

From Ghostemane to Scarlxrd to Backxwash, there’s been an insurgence of metal-inspired youngsters bringing fresh and exciting aggression to trap in 2020. All of them have the attitude, drive and imagery of heavy music, but newcomer Mimi Barks is outdoing all of them, blending those harsh electronic beats with breakdowns and outright nu metal riffs.

Mimi’s new single, Back Off, continues the buildup to the solo artist’s 2021 debut, wys. The two-minute snapshot is a dark, distorted rap track with all the screaming and heaviness of metal. It’s like Carpenter Brut and Limp Bizkit had a baby that’s dead-set on killing you, but all it’s armed with is a pummelling beat and raw and repeated wails of “Back the fuck off!”

Is Mimi “metal” in the traditional sense? No. Will she prove controversial? Oh, certainly. But, not only does the Londoner have this genre’s aggression and attitude, she also has the same grassroots appeal. After all, she does live in a warehouse community with 13 other people. She films music videos on an iPhone, too.

Now signed to Century Media (home of At The Gates, Napalm Death and Mayhem), Mimi’s a major testament to the ascendancy of trap-metal as a legitimate force. We can’t wait to hear more.

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.