BARREN EARTH: METAL TO BE REALLY, REALLY COLD TO

Do you enjoy Agalloch? Daylight Dies? Swallow the Sun? Insomnium? How about Katatonia or Opeth?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above, then a) you have great taste in metal, b) you really owe it to yourself to check out Barren Earth, a dark melo-doom outfit from Finland (where else?). Simply put, Barren Earth incorporate the sonic elements and textures of all of the aforementioned melo-doom bands and add an Opethian twist to fuse the music into something that’s uniquely theirs. Barren Earth certainly aren’t re-inventing the melo-doom wheel, but they’re a damn fine addition. This is gloomy, doomy, epic, melancholic metal, the kind that’s best enjoyed in the barren, dark days of winter, snuggled under a blanket on your couch with a hot cup of cocoa. Or whiskey.

Check ’em out on MySpace. Barren Earth’s new EP Our Twilight is out now via Peaceville Records.

-VN