(Progressive Melodic Death / Doom Metal) [CD] Barren Earth - On Lonely Towers (Limited Edition) - 2015, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Jón Aldará - Vocals: Olli-Pekka Laine - Bass: Marko Tarvonen - Drums:
Sami Yli-Sirniö - Guitars: Kasper Mårtenson - Keyboards:
Janne Perttilä - Guitars: Barren Earth is a damn good band that really deserves to make a big name for themselves in the metal scene, and hopefully with their third full length album “On Lonely Towers” they can do just that. When these musicians come together from their respective main bands the result is always a masterpiece of melodic death with doom, symphonic, folk and progressive sounds mixed in. This latest album is no exception.
New to Barren Earth is vocalist Jón Aldárá, taking over from Mikko Kotamaki. I must admit that I was very skeptical of how Jón would do. Mikko is one of my all time favourite vocalists so the bar was set very high. I can honestly say that the band chose an excellent replacement. While I am still very sad to see Mikko gone, Jón delivers a performance perfectly suiting the music. He is a natural fit for this band. His growls are similar to Mikko, so there are no worries there. His singing has some similarities, insofar as they also have a deep, rich quality to it. But what is really lovely and sets him apart is the dramatic, almost operatic flair that he has. He also has a higher range, which makes for some really nice melodies, such as in the chorus of the first full song Howl. I can see him doing a great job singing the older material.
The rest of the band is in fine form, as always. Guitarists Janne Perttilä and Sami Yli-Sirniö deliver crushing, melodic and beautiful riffs and passages and the leads are always impressive. Kasper Mårtenson is one of my favourite keyboardists for his use of synth, moog and traditional piano in atmosphere, leads and melodies. Marko Tarvonen is a great drummer and there are plenty of technical and tasteful beats and fills to be found. His drums and cymbals sound excellent. Oppu Laine is a good bass player and I believe he writes the majority of the music. While I wouldn’t say his bass playing is much of a highlight in Barren Earth compared to the other musicians, he is always reliably good. No real complaints here. The production on everyone’s instruments is good and I have no real complaints about the mix.
In terms of the music itself, all the core elements of Barren Earth’s sound are still on display here. For new listeners, essentially you can expect melodic/symphonic death metal driven by lead guitar and keyboard work, progressive structures/playing and a mix of growls/singing. In terms of new elements, as I mentioned Jón’s singing brings a new colour to the bands palette. Any time he sings, it just sounds grandiose. There are a couple songs coming in at over 11 minutes, expanding the band’s progressive sound. They certainly succeeded, as nothing sounds stuffy or boring. Other little new additions are a minute and a half standalone instrumental opening song (entitled From the Depths of Spring), a rock vibe in the verse of Frozen Processions, and Marko does some blast beats in Howl. Overall, this is a nice expansion of the band’s style rather than a drastic departure. It is probably too early to tell what my definite favourite songs are on here, but so far Howl, Set Alight and On Lonely Towers are my stand out tracks.
In conclusion, I urge anyone that is into this kind of music to give this album and band a try. They really are great musicians and song writers who deserve all the acclaim and new fans they can get.
Review written by stallan for www.metal-archives.com
Links:
http://www.barrenearth.com/
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Barren_Earth/3540294014