BARREN EARTH — On Lonely Towers (review)

BARREN EARTH — On Lonely Towers album cover Album · 2015 · Melodic Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"On Lonely Towers" is the third full-length studio album by Finnish death/doom metal act Barren Earth. The album was released through Century Media Records in March 2015. It´s the successor to "The Devil's Resolve" from March 2012 and features one lineup change since the preceding album as lead vocalist Mikko Kotamäki has been replaced by the Faroe Islands born Jón Aldará.

Stylistically the material on "On Lonely Towers" is still progressive death metal like the preceding releases by Barren Earth, but both the sound production values and the addition of Aldará have great impact on the sound of the album and direction of the songwriting. The previous Barren Earth releases can be described as a combination of Opeth and Amorphis...well roughly, but there is definitely strong ties to the sound of both artists on those releases. A bit surprisingly at least the Amorphis influence is not that strong anymore on "On Lonely Towers" and I initially thought that keyboard player Kasper Mårtenson had left, but it turns out that´s not the case. So there´s obviously been a conscious songwriting choice that Barren Earth wanted to disassociate themselves from some of the members past in Amorphis.

Aldará brings a diverse set of vocal styles to the table, as he is able to sing both clean semi-operatic vocals (which appear almost too dramatic and epic at times), growling vocals, and snarling blackened vocals. He is arguably a skilled vocalist and his contributions are great to this release. Otherwise this is pretty much what you expect from Barren Earth. Heavy riffs, plenty of harmony guitar riffs and leads, 70s influenced keyboards, a death-doom metal basis style combined with 70s hard rock and progressive rock influences. It´s all performed by seasoned and skilled musicians, and the material is packed in a well sounding production. so upon conclusion "On Lonely Towers" is a continuation of the high quality releases which preceded it, and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
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