Sound: A bevy of talented musicians within the Finnish death metal community have come together to form the promising outfit entitled Barren Earth. There’s actually more of a progressive and/or neo-classical quality to the four tracks on the new EP Our Twilight, and the emphasis on genres other than the straightforward death metal arena should perhaps make for a bigger audience in the long run. Members of Swallow The Sun, Kreator, Moonsorrow, as well as former members of Amorphis, have combined their skills for Barren Earth, a band that stands on its own and never sounds like a carbon copy any of musicians’ past output.
Opening the CD is the title track, which features a powerful underlying melody that strikes a fairly good balance with Mikko Kotamäki’s death vocals. While there are several varying sections throughout, the overall arrangement is a restrained one that rarely enters into an aggressive feel. The band does integrate clean, melodic vocals within “Our Twilight,” as is the case with pretty much every track. The clean and death singing styles, which almost have a hushed quality to them, have been mixed in seamlessly by Dan Swanö (Opeth, Katatonia), who never allows the vocals to take over the actual instrumentation.
In terms of being heavy, without a doubt the highlight comes in the sludgy riff work of “The Flame of Serenity.” Although the metal aspect of Barren Earth is usually present, the classically driven side of the band is usually what creates the wow factor. Guitarists Janne Perttilä (Rytmihäiriö) and Sami Yli-Sirniö (Kreator, Waltari) always manage to work in almost a Yngwie vibe into the arrangement. The execution of the solos and riffs are absolutely beautiful and usually steal the show. When you add in moments like the compelling piano intro in “Jewel,” Our Twilight enters into the “epic” zone. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: There’s certainly a darkly dramatic tone to every song on Our Twilight, and the lyrical themes usually make for a good fit to the music. The grandiose nature of the arrangements almost require songs that throw out descriptions such as, “Benighted stillness; elusive daylight; A brimful chalice” (“Our Twilight”) or “Through the seventh gate; I rose; And on the throne I sat” (The Flame of Serenity”). Even the construction has a poetic free-verse aspect to it, which again, works well for the moody musicality of the songs. // 8
Impression: Our Twilight does only include four songs, but the selections accomplish one huge goal: They make you want to hear more. Barren Earth never really unleashes a truly aggressive side, but in the end it allows the musicality to have the spotlight. This is a group who know it’s not such a terrible thing to let the core melody have listeners’ focus/attention. That means that Our Twilight is not necessarily the most in-your-face metal CD and may alienate death metal purists, but Barren Earth finds creative ways to keep the “heavy” factor consistent throughout. // 9
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Anyway, this EP is great. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Coincidence, it just came on my iPod.