Search - Barren Earth :: Curse of the Red River

Speaks Volume!!

Elton Lee | Boston, MA United States | 04/11/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am a faithful Opeth music lover. Anything that has the touch and feel of Opeth music I will love it and having said that here comes Barren Earth. I have known nothing about this band prior to this outing. Bump into them by chance from a reliable music site. Check it out and Voila!! I am indeed joyful to appreciate a new comer to the scene and I cannot get enough of Barren Earth. It is my 4th time thru and I am loving it no kidding. The blending of harsh and clean vocals, odd time signatures, long song structure, the usage of acoustic guitars and the distortion brutality from the heaviness of its twin guitars makes this album a strong introduction to the metal community around the world. It is no surprise that a talented band such as Barren Earth hails from Finland. The music is melodic, soothing at times, brutal at another and full of commendable song writings. It sounds to me as if Barren Earth has been in the scene for many years. But no this is their debut album and what a matured and powerful debut this is. I would recommend it most definitely. Do not even wait for a second."

A blessing from Finland!

misha2707 | 03/25/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"About a month ago, I listened to a couple of tracks from Barren Earth's EP and decided I wanted to grab one of their albums. As it happens, these guys had never actually released a full-length album--until now. It was well worth the wait.



Barren Earth is a Finnish supergroup consisting of members from Amorphis and other popular metal acts. One thing I dislike about supergroups is you never really know what you're going to get. While musicianship is generally very good to great, the music as a whole could turn out to be subpar because perhaps the band does not play as a team. Another thing is that supergroups hardly ever stay around for more than an album or two.



The first concern is thankfully not the case with Barren Earth. As for the second, only time will tell. On this album, musicianship is superior and each member of this band adds to the holistic goodness of the music in general.



As a matter of style, I'm still not sure who to compare Barren Earth to. At certain times in the album you do hear hints of Amorphis, but they are subtle. At other times, you get the Opeth vibe, again subtle. So exactly what kind of music do these guys play? One could say Barren Earth is a progressive death doom band. Incorporating a good amount of doom elements and matching that with an equal part of progressive death metal may seem a tall task to do and sound good at it. Barren Earth has done so masterfully.



The vocalist manages to switch from monstrous roars to harmonious clean vocals effortlessly. Time signatures often vary and change within songs. Listen to the epic closing track to see what I'm talking about. Two minutes in, you're thinking this is pure doom metal. Then, all of a sudden it switches to full-on in the face progressive death metal for most of the remainder of the song.



This is both a graceful and brutal album. If you are into metal of any variety, you owe yourself a favor to go out and get this album. It is simply incredible. Curse of the Red River washes up a fluid 4.9/5 stars.

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