Barren Earth - Curse Of The Red River

Barren Earth are a Finnish melodic-death-metal supergroup of sorts, featuring members of Amorphis, Swallow The Sun and Moonsorrow, as well as guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö from German thrash legends Kreator. What transpires on the group's first collective recorded offering is a nine-track opus of profound complexity and devastating beauty. Wildly progressive textures and melodies conjure up the cream of the 70's crop like Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull, effortlessly blending into bouts of punishing heaviness, led into battle by Mikko Kotamäki's savage vocal. The guitar playing is otherworldly, yet rarely abused; the synths are plentiful and acceptably over the top. Hell, there's even a few flute solos for measure. Admittedly - with the shortest track running just under five minute long - it's a bit of a grueling listen, but given the time, Curse Of The Red River ultimately succeeds in its attempt to take you on a head-crushing, mind-bender of a trip. [Ryan Drever]