Release:

Peaceville Records / Edel
March 2010

Picture-Downloads:

www.peaceville.com/barrenearth/promo

Info:

Sometimes like-minded artists with a strong musical past get together to create enduring, quality music with true purpose. Bloodbath’s return last year was rightly hailed by fans and critics alike as an instant classic and another band set to become more than the sum of its parts is Barren Earth.

Part of the reason for this is that Barren Earth are no hastily thrown together side project. Born from an idea hatched in late 2006, the band formed in Helsinki in the autumn of 2007. With a head full of brutal, yet melodic songs, Olli-Pekka Laine asked drummer Marko Tarvonen to form a progressive death metal group with him and things slowly fell into place from there while a full band line-up was quickly established.

With a wealth of experience from internationally renowned acts, from former members of Finnish metallers Amorphis, to current members of Swallow the Sun, Moonsorrow, and Kreator, Barren Earth presents progressive and folk textured death/doom metal of the highest order on their hotly anticipated debut album on Peaceville Records. Titled ‘Curse of the Red River’, the album combines the best elements of metal, prog, and more obscure psychedelic rock – from Opeth to Pink Floyd, and Paradise Lost to Jethro Tull.

Breaking into the metal world with the sublime ‘Our Twilight’ EP in late 2009 and gaining many accolades for their masterful composition, ‘Curse of the Red River’ takes the next step towards progressive metal bliss. With flawlessly executed epics, the album sets a new benchmark of soaring dynamics and rich atmospheric tales, with each member stamping their mark of experience all over the album. From the formidable lead-guitar of Sami Ylisirniö to Kasper Mårtenson’s rich keyboard layers all backing up Mikko Kotamäki’s unmistakable vocal presence, ‘Curse of the Red River’ is set to be a new highlight in the great history of Finnish metal.

The ‘Curse of the Red River’ recording session took place at Seawolf Studios, Helsinki (Ghost Brigade), in Summer 2009 with mixing carried out by the prolific Dan Swanö at Unisound in Sweden (Katatonia, Opeth, etc) who commented: "One of the best albums I have ever had the privilege to mix. The album is THAT good!!”

Artwork comes courtesy of Travis Smith (Opeth, Katatonia, Bloodbath).

Barren Earth recently conducted their debut live gig in Helsinki, and plan to embark upon a series of shows throughout 2010, with a performance at the renowned Summer Breeze festival already confirmed.

Line-Up:

Mikko Kotamäki – Vocals (Swallow The Sun)
Olli-Pekka Laine – Bass (Ex-Amorphis, Mannhai)
Kasper Mårtenson –Keyboards (Ex-Amorphis, Ben Granfelt Band)
Janne Perttilä – Guitar (Rytmihäiriö)
Marko Tarvonen – Drums (Moonsorrow)
Sami Ylisirniö – Guitar (Kreator, Waltari)