Barren Earth

Things You Might have Missed 2013: Kuolemanlaakso – Musta Aurinko Nousee

By Steel Druhm on December 10, 2013 in 2013, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Finnish Metal, Svart Records, Things You Might Have Missed 2013, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 3 comments

“Since all my “Things You Might Have Missed” this year came from the doom genre, I thought I’d shake things up with… some doom/death! Yes I know, not a very big shake up, but worthwhile metal is worthwhile. Anywho, Kuolemanlaakso is a Finnish doom/death act with an insanely complicated name, composed of members from Swallow the Sun and Chaosweaver and they rock a rather simple, but very effective style of death/doom that somehow remains accessible.” This is a release Steel Druhm was supposed to review last month, but he was too overworked (he’s essentially an indentured servant with an iPod and a keyboard). Since he liked this quite a bit, he wanted to be sure you didn’t miss it and feel remorse later. You can thank him with beer.

In Vain – Ænigma Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 6, 2013 in 2013, 3.5, Death Metal, Indie Recordings, Melodic Death Metal, Norwegian Metal, Progressive Death, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 19 comments

In Vain hails from Norway, famous for its black metal, its fjords, its oil, its social democracy, but certainly not its progressive death metal. It’s actually a little strange that the land that brought us Borknagar, Enslaved, Ulver, and Solefald has never really produced its own Opeth or In Mourning, instead outsourcing that to its less affluent and pampered neighbor to the east (that’d be Sweden for the geographically challenged). Without getting too much into regional politics, it’s safe to say that given how high on the hog these Norwegians live—exploiting their Swedish workers and guzzling crude oil at the state’s expense—it’s surprising that none of them have wandered into the melodic, progressive death metal genre. They certainly have access to enough subsidies for the arts to do so if they wanted to.

Some Quick Hits

By Angry Metal Guy on March 16, 2012 in 2.0, 2012, 3.0, 4.0, American Metal, Death Metal, Dutch Metal, Folk Metal, Heavy Metal, Napalm Records, Peaceville, Relapse, Swedish Metal, NWOBHM, 5 comments

Alright, we’ve been out a while and need to maintain a strict publishing schedule, which means I’m going to nail some quick hits to the wall and then you’re not going to get to hear much more about these records.

Swallow the Sun – Emerald Forest and the Black Bird Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 1, 2012 in 2012, 3.0, Doom Metal, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Spinefarm, Doom Metal, 7 comments

Finnish doom sensations Swallow the Sun are back. The morose Finns (that’s redundant) have returned in 2012 with their fifth full length record and most gargantuan release to date. Indeed, having discovered that all their music is put out on compact disc, Swallow the Sun has embarked on a quest to fill the whole damn thing with their plodding, thick doom metal. Unwilling to edit themselves, they instead have produced 67 minutes worth of new doom for the consumption of their adoring fanbase. This massive work, entitled Emerald Forest and the Black Bird has spent a long time in my Review Gestation Chamber™ due to being so much music that I have been incapable of listening to it in a single go.

Omnium Gatherum – New World Shadows Review

By Angry Metal Guy on February 4, 2011 in 2011, 4.5, Death Metal, Finnish Metal, Lifeforce Records, Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 24 comments

There was a time when melodic death metal was every breath I took. While it’s been a long time since that was the case, I certainly can say that I spent the late 90s and early 00s listening to my fair share of melodic Swedish death metal and loving it. But since then melodic death metal has kinda fallen off a cliff. This is partially due to the dawning of metalcore and the co-opting of Swedish thrash and death metal by hardcore kids, but I think it’s mainly because just like every scene after a while you start growing tired of the sound. Every new album that gets released gets a “Yeah, well, I’ve heard this before.” While there have been some notable melodic death metal records in the last couple of years, Barren Earth and Be’lakor come to mind, only the former has really stuck out as truly remarkable. That is until I checked out New World Shadows from Omnium Gatherum.

Angry Metal Guy’s Top 10(ish) of 2010

By Angry Metal Guy on December 13, 2010 in 2010, 2011, Blog Posts, Reviews, 24 comments

2010. Wow, man. 2010. We’re counting months now until we all die in 2012. So how do you think it’s going to happen? Do you think that terrorists will get a nuke and fuck up the world? Or do you think that a meteor will hit? Or should I wait until the end of 2011 to ask that question?

October Falls – A Collapse of Faith Review

By Angry Metal Guy on June 1, 2010 in 2010, 3.0, Black Metal, Debemur Morti, Finnish Metal, Folk Metal, Progressive Death, Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Folk Metal, 0 comments

Depressed Finns are really no surprise in metal these days. It seems like Finns are a pretty morose bunch in general. A country famous for bands like Poisonblack, H.I.M., Sentenced, Insomnium, Black Sun Aeon and Swallow the Sun, it shouldn’t be terribly surprising that some pretty bleak and depressing stuff comes out of Finland. And let me be clear, that’s not even naming huge groups of bands that I’m sure others could probably come up with. But October Falls isn’t your standard “depressed metal” band from Finland. There are no silly ESL lyrics about being buried in a plastic bag or any of that jazz. Instead, October Falls is a “depressive” black metal band with folk sensibilities.

Akerfeldt, Wilson and Portnoy

By Angry Metal Guy on May 12, 2010 in Blog Posts, Progressive Rock, 4 comments

So the question is whether or not I should be excited or worried… To be totally frank I’m not the biggest Porcupine Tree fan and I really have strong distaste for Dream Theater, so the only guy in the band that I really seem to enjoy consistently is Akerfeldt. But, this could be really good because they’re all great at what they do. Or, it could be really, really bad. In case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, Steve Wilson just said in an interview that was posted on the 3rd of May from Chordstruck Magazine that he’s started writing with Akerfeldt and Portnoy.

Barren Earth – Curse of the Red River Review

By Angry Metal Guy on March 31, 2010 in 2010, 4.5, Death Metal, Progressive Death, Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 5 comments

Barren Earth took me completely by surprise. As a rule I do not post reviews of records from labels that do not send me promos of them. I think it’s a disincentive for them to do so and generally bands don’t deserve the promotion. However, sometimes bands come onto the radar that I can’t ignore, as is what happened when I picked up this new Barren Earth record on a total whim. In fact, I didn’t even know that this band had ex-members from Amorphis, the drummer from Moonsorrow, the guitarist from Kreator or the vocalist from Swallow the Sun involved, or that it was mixed by Dan Swano. I guess I should have expected that this would be a great record…