A TORN MIND — Barriers (review)

A TORN MIND — Barriers album cover EP · 2010 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
UMUR
Barriers is the debut release by Scottish progressive rock/ metal act A Torn Mind. It´s a 5 track 39:31 minute long EP. The EP is an entirely self-produced and self-released affair. Barriers was released on the 1st of March 2010.

The music on the EP is somewhere between progressive metal and contemporary progressive rock in style. This is not the most "metal" release you´ll ever hear but there are certainly parts that are pretty heavy. References to especially Dream Theater are very obvious but a band like Enchant and their more commercially friendly take on the progressive rock/ metal genre is also a valid reference. Most of the time A Torn Mind are not nearly as heavy as those two acts can be though. The 5 tracks on the EP show the diversity of A Torn Mind well. This is one of those eclectic progressive acts that are hard to pin down. One moment they play some technically complex Dream Theater-like instrumental runs and the next they are closer to sounding like an emotional contemporary rock act. The addition of saxophone to a couple of tracks on the EP gives the music yet another dimension. The vocals are the weak point here. While they are certainly not bad, they don´t really provide the music with that extra something that could have meant that Barriers would have risen above the average. It´s when the band play the instrumental parts that they shine IMO. And shine they do. A Torn Mind are very accomplished musicians. There are lots of tempo- and time signature changes in the songs, fast runs and just loads of great ideas that the band are fortunately accomplished enough to pull off. So right now the strength of A Torn Mind lies mostly in their great musicianship. They will have to work on their material, cut down the most obvious influences and work on the vocals too if they want to impress me with a future full-length studio album release. I think Edge of the World has the strongest memorable melodic material on the EP. More of that please.

The production is good for an independent release, but it´s not fully professional. Again it´s mostly the sound on the vocals that isn´t fully on par with the rest of the production. Overall the EP is pretty well sounding though.

Barriers is a promising first release by A Torn Mind and if they make the right decisions in the coming years I actually think they stand a chance of being discovered. I have great respect for artists with an adventurous attitude and A Torn Mind fits that description very well. A 3 star rating is warranted.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Antibeauty Hardcore Punk
SNOWING IN PERU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Mana Earth Hardcore Punk
SNOWING IN PERU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Intimate Isolation Hardcore Punk
GOOD FALL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Dark Future Sludge Metal
PAIN CHEMISTRY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Violent Delights Hardcore Punk
GALLEONS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Galleons - Electric Emotions
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 19 hours ago
Galleons - Elsewhere (Official Lyric Video)
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 19 hours ago
Galleons - Neon Dreams (Official Lyric Video)
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 19 hours ago
Galleons - I Travel East As Fievel Goes West Pt. 1 - Official Lyric Video
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 19 hours ago
FREEHOWLING - SCARS FT. AARON MATTS (TEN56.) [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]
FREEHOWLING
Bosh66· 19 hours ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed