Barren Earth - 'Our Twilight'

Progressive death…without the prog.

By all accounts, Barren Earth’s Our Twilight debut should be a lil’ bit more badass than it is, given the band’s pedigree. With a lineup which consists of members from such metal notables as Swallow The Sun, Moonsorrow and Kreator, the Barren Earth dudes are attempting to try their hands at something sonically different, yet the end result really doesn’t sound to dissimilar to their main bands.

While the project’s press release touts Barren Earth as a melodic death/prog rock hybrid, the progressive influences never really push themselves enough to the forefront, or at least not enough to make a sufficient impact. This isn’t to say that Our Twilight doesn’t rock, because it does, and decently hard, indeed. It’s just that beyond the bit of moog which rears its grey mane now and again, the instrumentation here lends itself more towards that of a sullen folk/death than anything mildly progressive.

Treading similar waters as their Finnish countrymen Amorphis did on their Tales From A Thousand Lakes opus, Barren Earth’s sound is a promising one, though not quite ready enough for the big leagues, despite the impressive list of talent which dwells within their ranks. I wouldn’t count the band out for the count, however; particularly if they can rein in the gloomy melodicism which lurks within their songwriting and temper it with a little speed/energy on their forthcoming full length. If that happens, then we might truly have the makings of said “supergroup” on our hands.