Barren Earth
Encyclopedia
Barren Earth is a Finnish progressive death metal band from Helsinki
, and was formed in 2007. The group's music is said to be a combination of death metal
, progressive rock
and even folk music
, pulling influence from the different groups each member is associated with. Forming from the members of such well-known groups in Finland, Barren Earth is sometimes referred to as a "supergroup
". Since their formation, the band has released one EP and two full-length albums.
was becoming less active. He also started to have some musical ideas not quite fitting Mannhai's stoner rock
style of music. He tempted drummer Marko Tarvonen with death metal
ideas which was easy, as Tarvonen was eager to team up with Laine, and guitarist Janne Perttilä. Together they explained the new idea to keyboardist Kasper Mårtenson, who joined the group after a week's contemplation. Laine and guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö had been planning to establish an "authentic" prog rock band. Barren Earth was not exactly or solely that, but nevertheless Yli-Sirniö agreed to step on board. The band still was short of a lead singer. They went into the studio and came out with an instrumental demo. Now Marko Tarvonen came up with an idea of asking Mikko Kotamäki, who he had toured with, to take the vocal responsibilities.
Barren Earth was prepared to play some pure serious death metal at the first place. This, however, was not the outcome, because of Kasper Mårtenson. According to Laine, their death metal was to be "some straight growling and sawing", but after Mårtenson had demonstrated his first Barren Earth song (along with the growls and all) to the rest of the band, they decided that Mårtenson's keyboard melodies should become an essential part of the sound. That song was "Forlorn Waves" which ended up to their debut album.
The original plan was not followed in the vocal duties, either. Kotamäki was known for his death grunting, but in Barren Earth he sang clean, clear vocals as well. Almost everyone gives a vocal input to the band. Sami Yli-Sirviö does a great deal on arranging the vocals and harmonies and takes care of a lot of vocal leads alongside Kotamäki. If Mårtenson had a major effect on music becoming more melodic than what it was supposed to, the way of arranging the vocal duties by the band adds to it.
The band was signed to the British record company Peaceville Records
. Laine had sent a link to the band's Myspace
site to many companies and one of the companies that replied was Peaceville. Peaceville was particularly interested in the band, as they had been looking for a Finnish metal group to sign. Rehearsals began immediately, and by the summer of 2008, Barren Earth found themselves in the studio, recording the four first songs they had put together.
, called New Moon. Some people noticed a connection to Stephenie Meyer
's Twilight saga of vampires, her novels being Twilight
and New Moon
. When Laine was asked about that, he said he'd never heard of these vampire movies or books. Shortly after the EP had been issued, Barren Earth performed its first gig, in the club Dante's Highlight in Helsinki
. However, the LP coming up on March 2010, most of the festivals had already been booked bands for the summer 2010. Barren Earth had a gig on Tuska Open Air Metal Festival
, though.
In February 2011 Barren Earth played a five week tour in North America under the name "Finnish Metal Tour 2011", alongside other Finnish bands including Finntroll
, Ensiferum
and Rotten Sound
, gathering support for their album that would officially be released around two months later. On March 31st of 2010, the group issued their debut album, Curse of the Red River
. One of its nine songs was the title song of the previous EP, "Our Twilight". The album was received very positive reviews. The band went on to receive the title of "Newcomer of the year" in 2011 at the Finnish Metal Awards
, and "Best debut album" at the Metal Storm Awards 2010.
According to various websites dedicated to metal bands, Barren Earth's second album will be called The Devil's Resolve
, and will be released on Peaceville Records once again. The album will contain nine songs, and is due to be released on November 8, 2011. The Devil's Resolve is said to contain even more 70’s prog influences while keeping the brutality associated with the band. On their website, the band stated that, originally, twelve songs were written.
The backgrounds of the members bring experience to the band, and having known each other for a long time created an atmosphere of trust. It has been possible for every member to bring different influences and versatile elements to the music, whilst all of the members have taken duties on composing and/or writing lyrics.
The group has its focus on song writing and publishing albums, because the other bands the members participate in are top priority when it comes to doing gigs and going on tours. Members of Barren Earth are or have been engaged to several bands among the years, including: Mikko Kotamäki – Swallow the Sun
, Alghazanth; Olli-Pekka Laine – Amorphis
, Mannhai
, Chaosbreed; Kasper Mårtenson – Amorphis
, Mannhai
; Janne Perttilä – Rytmihäiriö, Circus of Flesh; Marko Tarvonen – Moonsorrow
, Chaosbreed; Sami Yli-Sirniö – Kreator
, Waltari
.
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, and was formed in 2007. The group's music is said to be a combination of death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
, progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
and even folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, pulling influence from the different groups each member is associated with. Forming from the members of such well-known groups in Finland, Barren Earth is sometimes referred to as a "supergroup
SuperGroup
SuperGroup is a 2006 reality show on VH1 that follows five well-known hard rock and heavy metal musicians over a 12-day period where they live together in a Las Vegas mansion in order to create, plan and perform a live show together...
". Since their formation, the band has released one EP and two full-length albums.
Formation (2007-2008)
The prime mover in the creation of Barren Earth was bass player Olli-Pekka Laine. In 2007 his then current band MannhaiMannhai
Mannhai is a Finnish stoner rock / stoner metal band from Helsinki. The band was formed in the end of 1999 by bass player Olli-Pekka "Oppu" Laine and guitarist Ilkka "Ile" Laaksomaa. Soon they were accompanied by a young drummer Mikko "Junior" Pietinen and the following year by lead singer Jani...
was becoming less active. He also started to have some musical ideas not quite fitting Mannhai's stoner rock
Stoner rock
Stoner rock or stoner metal is a subgenre of heavy metal, combining elements of psychedelic rock, blues rock, traditional heavy metal and doom metal. Stoner rock is typically slow-to-mid tempo and features a bass-heavy sound, melodic vocals, and 'retro' production...
style of music. He tempted drummer Marko Tarvonen with death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
ideas which was easy, as Tarvonen was eager to team up with Laine, and guitarist Janne Perttilä. Together they explained the new idea to keyboardist Kasper Mårtenson, who joined the group after a week's contemplation. Laine and guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö had been planning to establish an "authentic" prog rock band. Barren Earth was not exactly or solely that, but nevertheless Yli-Sirniö agreed to step on board. The band still was short of a lead singer. They went into the studio and came out with an instrumental demo. Now Marko Tarvonen came up with an idea of asking Mikko Kotamäki, who he had toured with, to take the vocal responsibilities.
Barren Earth was prepared to play some pure serious death metal at the first place. This, however, was not the outcome, because of Kasper Mårtenson. According to Laine, their death metal was to be "some straight growling and sawing", but after Mårtenson had demonstrated his first Barren Earth song (along with the growls and all) to the rest of the band, they decided that Mårtenson's keyboard melodies should become an essential part of the sound. That song was "Forlorn Waves" which ended up to their debut album.
The original plan was not followed in the vocal duties, either. Kotamäki was known for his death grunting, but in Barren Earth he sang clean, clear vocals as well. Almost everyone gives a vocal input to the band. Sami Yli-Sirviö does a great deal on arranging the vocals and harmonies and takes care of a lot of vocal leads alongside Kotamäki. If Mårtenson had a major effect on music becoming more melodic than what it was supposed to, the way of arranging the vocal duties by the band adds to it.
The band was signed to the British record company Peaceville Records
Peaceville Records
Peaceville Records is a British independent metal-oriented record label. The label was founded by Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw in 1987, in Dewsbury, England...
. Laine had sent a link to the band's Myspace
Myspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
site to many companies and one of the companies that replied was Peaceville. Peaceville was particularly interested in the band, as they had been looking for a Finnish metal group to sign. Rehearsals began immediately, and by the summer of 2008, Barren Earth found themselves in the studio, recording the four first songs they had put together.
Our Twilight and Curse of the Red River (2009 onwards)
In November 2009, the EP Our Twilight was issued, and included four songs. Strangely enough, the same year came out an album by another Finnish band Swallow the SunSwallow the Sun
Swallow the Sun is a Finnish melodic death / doom metal band.- Biography :Swallow the Sun was formed in early 2000 by Juha Raivio, joined soon by Pasi Pasanen came along . They rehearsed a couple of songs, one of them being "Through Her Silvery Body" which would end up on their first demo,Out of...
, called New Moon. Some people noticed a connection to Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer is an American author known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies globally, with translations into 37 different languages...
's Twilight saga of vampires, her novels being Twilight
Twilight (novel)
Twilight is a young-adult vampire-romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. It is the first book of the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire,...
and New Moon
New Moon (novel)
New Moon is a romantic fantasy novel by author Stephenie Meyer, and is the second novel in the Twilight series. The novel continues the story of Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen's relationship. When Edward leaves Bella after his brother attacks her, she is left heartbroken and depressed for...
. When Laine was asked about that, he said he'd never heard of these vampire movies or books. Shortly after the EP had been issued, Barren Earth performed its first gig, in the club Dante's Highlight in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. However, the LP coming up on March 2010, most of the festivals had already been booked bands for the summer 2010. Barren Earth had a gig on Tuska Open Air Metal Festival
Tuska Open Air Metal Festival
Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, shortly Tuska , is the largest music festival dedicated only to metal and related styles of music in the Nordic countries. The history of Tuska began in 1998 and it has grown larger every year. The location of the festival has been in Kaisaniemi park in the middle of...
, though.
In February 2011 Barren Earth played a five week tour in North America under the name "Finnish Metal Tour 2011", alongside other Finnish bands including Finntroll
Finntroll
Finntroll is a folk metal band from Helsinki, Finland. They combine elements of black metal and folk metal. Finntroll's lyrics are mostly in Swedish, the only exception being the song "Madon Laulu" on Visor Om Slutet...
, Ensiferum
Ensiferum
Ensiferum is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "heroic folk metal." Since their formation, Ensiferum has released four full-length albums, one EP, one compilation, three singles, and three demo albums and one unreleased album.-Musical...
and Rotten Sound
Rotten Sound
Rotten Sound is a grindcore band from Vaasa, Finland, formed in 1993. The band comprises vocalist Keijo Niinimaa, guitarist Mika Aalto, bassist Kristian Toivainen and drummer Sami Latva...
, gathering support for their album that would officially be released around two months later. On March 31st of 2010, the group issued their debut album, Curse of the Red River
Curse of the Red River
Curse of the Red River is the debut studio album of the Finnish progressive death metal band Barren Earth. It was released on March 31, 2010, through Peaceville Records...
. One of its nine songs was the title song of the previous EP, "Our Twilight". The album was received very positive reviews. The band went on to receive the title of "Newcomer of the year" in 2011 at the Finnish Metal Awards
Finnish Metal Expo
Finnish Metal Expo is a heavy metal fair and festival held annually at Kaapelitehdas in Ruoholahti, Helsinki, Finland since 2005. The Finnish Metal Awards, different kind of clinics, interview sessions, signing sessions and competitions are also part of the happening.-2009...
, and "Best debut album" at the Metal Storm Awards 2010.
According to various websites dedicated to metal bands, Barren Earth's second album will be called The Devil's Resolve
The Devil's Resolve
- Band members :* Mikko Kotamäki – lead vocals* Olli-Pekka Laine – bass, backing vocals* Kasper Mårtenson – keyboards, backing vocals* Janne Perttilä – guitar, backing vocals* Marko Tarvonen – drums* Sami Yli-Sirniö – guitar, backing vocals- Production :...
, and will be released on Peaceville Records once again. The album will contain nine songs, and is due to be released on November 8, 2011. The Devil's Resolve is said to contain even more 70’s prog influences while keeping the brutality associated with the band. On their website, the band stated that, originally, twelve songs were written.
Line-up
Members of the band have known each other for different connections and bands for a long time. The Finnish media has been quite eager to hold a thought of a "superband" when referring to Barren Earth. That's probably because each member is connected to, either currently or in the past, notable metal bands from Finland. But after all, Barren Earth isn't the number one priority band for all of its members for their engagement to other bands. However, this gives an opportunity to the members to express such a musical passion or vibrations not quite fitting to their number one priority bands at the time. Barren Earth is making music out of its own reasons and ambitions, not much paying attention to any bias whatsoever coming from outside their own thoughts.The backgrounds of the members bring experience to the band, and having known each other for a long time created an atmosphere of trust. It has been possible for every member to bring different influences and versatile elements to the music, whilst all of the members have taken duties on composing and/or writing lyrics.
The group has its focus on song writing and publishing albums, because the other bands the members participate in are top priority when it comes to doing gigs and going on tours. Members of Barren Earth are or have been engaged to several bands among the years, including: Mikko Kotamäki – Swallow the Sun
Swallow the Sun
Swallow the Sun is a Finnish melodic death / doom metal band.- Biography :Swallow the Sun was formed in early 2000 by Juha Raivio, joined soon by Pasi Pasanen came along . They rehearsed a couple of songs, one of them being "Through Her Silvery Body" which would end up on their first demo,Out of...
, Alghazanth; Olli-Pekka Laine – Amorphis
Amorphis
Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band started by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other types of genres, which include heavy metal, progressive metal, and folk metal...
, Mannhai
Mannhai
Mannhai is a Finnish stoner rock / stoner metal band from Helsinki. The band was formed in the end of 1999 by bass player Olli-Pekka "Oppu" Laine and guitarist Ilkka "Ile" Laaksomaa. Soon they were accompanied by a young drummer Mikko "Junior" Pietinen and the following year by lead singer Jani...
, Chaosbreed; Kasper Mårtenson – Amorphis
Amorphis
Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band started by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other types of genres, which include heavy metal, progressive metal, and folk metal...
, Mannhai
Mannhai
Mannhai is a Finnish stoner rock / stoner metal band from Helsinki. The band was formed in the end of 1999 by bass player Olli-Pekka "Oppu" Laine and guitarist Ilkka "Ile" Laaksomaa. Soon they were accompanied by a young drummer Mikko "Junior" Pietinen and the following year by lead singer Jani...
; Janne Perttilä – Rytmihäiriö, Circus of Flesh; Marko Tarvonen – Moonsorrow
Moonsorrow
Moonsorrow is a pagan metal band formed in Helsinki, Finland, in 1995. Musically, the band incorporates elements of black metal and folk metal in their sound...
, Chaosbreed; Sami Yli-Sirniö – Kreator
Kreator
Kreator is a thrash metal band from Essen, Germany, formed in 1978, but formalized in 1982 under the name Tormentor. They originally performed a speed metal style with Venom influences. Their style of music is similar to their compatriots Destruction and Sodom, the other two big German thrash metal...
, Waltari
Waltari
Waltari is a band from Finland, known for its diversity and combination of music styles, frequently combining alternative metal, progressive metal, death metal, hard rock, heavy metal, hip hop, industrial, pop, punk, rap, symphonic metal, techno and thrash metal.Most of the band's music is written...
.
Members
- Mikko Kotamäki – lead vocals
- Olli-Pekka Laine – bass, backing vocals
- Kasper Mårtenson – keyboards, backing vocals
- Janne Perttilä – guitar, backing vocals
- Marko Tarvonen – drums
- Sami Yli-SirniöSami Yli-SirniöSami Yli-Sirniö is a Finnish guitarist who plays rock and metal. He spent part of his life in Germany and thus has strong ties with the German metal scene...
– guitar, backing vocals