Band:	Barren Earth
Album:	On Lonely Towers
Style:	Melodic death metal, Progressive metal
Release date:	March 24, 2015
A review by:	R'Vannith

01. From The Depths Of Spring
02. Howl
03. Frozen Processions
04. A Shapeless Derelict
05. Set Alight
06. On Lonely Towers
07. Chaos The Songs Within
08. Sirens Of Oblivion [Limited edition bonus]
09. The Vault

Considering Barren Earth as a supergroup has never been necessitated. It's true that the musicians in question are already noteworthy for efforts elsewhere and currently lead busy lives in other bands. However, status external to Barren Earth no longer solely upholds the name, as the name has come to uphold itself with a tenable style their own. A third effort, On Lonely Towers, represents the band's continued development and change.

After 2012's The Devil's Resolve, it becomes clear as their latest album pans out that Barren Earth have a significantly different approach in mind this time, as their sound is more expansive in its scope and less derivative in its aims. Only a third of the track list is shorter than seven minutes and, at its most prolonged in the title track, the composition nearly reaches twelve. What we witness is Barren Earth taking an ambitious stretch away from the conciseness of preceding efforts, and into lengthier and more progressive measures that effectively lessen any direct comparisons to Amorphis. Such comparisons will always remain inevitable and valid, as is still the case in various moments throughout this album, particularly in the shorter cuts "Howl" and "Frozen Processions," as well as the folk allusive acoustic found throughout. Kasper Mårtenson adds his usual prog rich keys to melody in the manner of Amorphis circa 1994's Tales From The Thousand Lakes, but, comparatively, such is not nearly as overstated as it was in the preceding effort. Despite Amorphis remaining an influence, the evident distance traversed in style here is notable, and the result is a band actively seeking distinction. The push for originality is this record's finest achievement.

It's also with a new voice that the band makes such a shift in style. It's appropriate that Hamferð's vocalist Jón Aldará finds an accommodating space for his delivery here, as the record adopts doom more prevalently which is not only provided by its longer track durations, melodic dirges and reduction in pace, but a more centralised and obvious placement of his distinctive clean vocal arrangements in contrast to the growls in the mix, a more forward aspect than was the case for his predecessor Mikko Kotamäki of Swallow The Sun. This new direction on the verge of doom could very well see the band making their own progressive styled transition into melodic death/doom territory on future releases to stand individually amongst others of said style such as October Tide, Rapture, Daylight Dies and, of course, Swallow The Sun. The material demonstrated here certainly possesses that potential.

These new aspirations for On Lonely Towers are evidence of the band's avoidance of playing it safe, the ground covered in the final two tracks in particular managing to close the record with Barren Earth at their most varied, the closer "The Vault" centred with prog aplenty around the midsection of its eleven minute range. Bearing in mind the spaciousness of most of the record's tracks, a repetitious aspect does seep into the sound at points, creating segments which endure beyond what the listener would be accustomed to given the band's previous albums and their melodic conciseness in death metal. The departure that this record represents is a challenging one for the band to have undertaken, as it requires significant adjustment and distancing from the format of efforts already made.

Rather than resting on their laurels, Barren Earth have continued to demonstrate their own development of style in a third effort that expands upon their prior accomplishments and confirms their status as a band with an identity of their own.