BARREN EARTH — A Complex Of Cages (review)

BARREN EARTH — A Complex Of Cages album cover Album · 2018 · Melodic Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"A Complex Of Cages" is the fourth full-length studio album by death/doom metal act Barren Earth. The album was released through Century Media Records in March 2018, almost to the day three years down the line from the release of Barren Earth´s third full-length studio album "On Lonely Towers" from March 2015. There has been one lineup change since "On Lonely Towers" as keyboard player and founding member Kasper Mårtenson has left and has been replaced by Antti Myllynen.

Stylistically the change on the keyboard player position hasn´t meant much for the overall sound of Barren Earth (and that´s despite Mårtenson being one of the main composers of the band on the past releases), as the material on "A Complex Of Cages" is a continuation of the progressive death/doom metal sound of the band´s past releases. Opeth is the most valid and immediate reference point, as Barren Earth have a similar love for 70s progressive rock and the occasional nod or two towards ethnic Scandinavian folk, but Barren Earth still have a sound of their own with more melodic death metal leanings and more use of keyboards. Faroe Island born lead vocalist Jón Aldará has a commanding brutal growl but he also sings a lot of semi-operatic clean vocals throughout the album, and to my ears his vocals are now a much more integrated part of the band´s sound, compared to the way they worked with the music on "On Lonely Towers". This probabaly has something to do with the fact that Aldará wrote almost all lyrics on "A Complex Of Cages" and also contributed vocal melodies to a lot of the material.

So, this more collaborative approach to the songwriting (while bassist Olli-Pekka Laine is still the main composer, some of the other band members picked up the torch after Mårtenson left, and has also contributed material) has paid off and "A Complex Of Cages" features memorable and effective songwriting which is both heavy and brutal, but also sophisticated and clever. Add to that a powerful, organic, and detailed sound production, and some high quality musicianship, and "A Complex Of Cages" is as a result a high quality progressive death/doom metal release. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.
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