Progressive death metal supergroup Barren Earth are set to begin a short tour of their native Finland tomorrow, May 12, in support of their debut full-length, Curse of the Red River (review here), which follows the Our Twilight EP (review here), from the title track of which the above headline comes.

But, to hear bassist Olli-Pekka “Oppu” Laine tell it, that’s kind of how the band came together as well. Disparate players involved in separate bands, each trickling in the direction of what would become Barren Earth. As the central organizing force, Laine — formerly of Amorphis and Finnish stoner rockers Mannhai — had the task of bringing everyone together — and with members of acts as far-reaching as Kreator and Moonsorrow, it couldn’t have been easy.

The complete lineup of Barren Earth includes Laine, vocalist Mikko Kotamäki of Swallow the Sun, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö of Kreator, guitarist Janne Perttilä of thrashers Rytmihäiriö (also live Moonsorrow), keyboardist Kasper Mårtenson who was also in Amorphis and Mannhai, and drummer Marko Tarvonen of Moonsorrow. If you didn’t follow all of that, here’s what it boils down to: a lot of talented players and a lot of crowded schedules.

Nonetheless, in the short three-year time Barren Earth has been together, the level of output has displayed a cohesiveness that goes well beyond having players on the same page. Not only is the band tight, they’re productive, and as Laine explains in the following interview, it’s a common influence ranging from ’90s death metal to ’70s prog that unites them and makes them able to compose material as diverse as that on Curse of the Red River.

Whether or not you’re in Finland and can catch them in the next couple days — they’ll be playing Turku, Kuopio, Jyväskylä and Oulu — please enjoy the Q&A to be found, as always, after the jump.

Read more »

As an admitted and unrepentant Amorphis geek, I was thrilled last year to find former bassist Olli-Pekka “Oppu” Laine (in the band from 1990-2000; inarguably their best and most influential years) resurfacing in progressive death metal outfit Barren Earth. Laine, who’d found the stoner rock leanings of prior outfit Mannhai limiting, wanted a return to deathly heaviness, and with the Our Twilight EP, released through Peaceville, he found it, accompanied by such Finnish luminaries as vocalist Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow the Sun), guitarists Janne Perttilä (Rytmihäiriö) and Sami Yli-Sirniö (Kreator) and drummer Marko Tarvonen (Moonsorrow) in an underground supergroup of devastating musical heft.

Inevitability dictates there must be a full-length to follow-up a debut EP, and Barren Earth have theirs in the form of Curse of the Red River (still Peaceville), which, like Our Twilight, boasts a cover strictly adhered to an old school mid-’90s European death/doom aesthetic, even as the music finds itself in a different niche entirely, veering away from the Paradise Lost-worship suggested by the visuals in favor of a thoroughly modern progressive death approach. Opeth was a sticking point comparison to the EP and the same holds true for Curse of the Red River, Kotamäki’s multi-layered vocals moving gracefully between throaty growling and clean melodies. The title track of the EP shows up here as well, and fits in well enough with the rest of the material, which on “Forlorn Waves” puts keyboardist Kasper Mårtenson, also ex-Mannhai and Amorphis, to work on a track that recalls Elegy’s masterful blend of folk-inspired beauty and wrenching metallic crunch.

Read more »

One can?t help but be reminded of Paradise Lost?s Gothic when looking at the artwork for Finnish progressive death metal supergroup Barren Earth?s debut EP, Our Twilight. Even their logo as it?s presented on the cover has an early ?90s Peaceville feel to it, and the script in which the album title as well. The four-song outing fits into the label?s legacy for more reasons than just the superficial, sonically bridging the gap between early Opeth, mid-period Amorphis and Katatonia, but there?s no denying this was meant to look like a Peaceville release, and so it does.

When a record label like Peaceville tells you a band?s sound is ?fusing death metal with progressive rock and folk elements,? your mind is justified in immediately flashing to Opeth as a comparison point. Barren Earth do have some Opethian moments, in their structures perhaps even more than their riffs or style, but as noted above, it?s more than just ?kerfeldt-style playing and singing going on. With Kreator guitarist Sami Yli-Sirni?, Moonsorrow drummer Marko Tarvonen, Swallow the Sun vocalist Mikko Kotam?ki and former Amorphis bassist Olli-Pekka “Oppu” Laine in the lineup, there is bound to be a number of influences on display.

Read more »