Barren Earth - The Devil's Resolve (2012)

Barren Earth's 2010 debut, 'Curse of the Red River' made an extraordinary impression on me, as well seeing and meeting some of the guys from the band during my journey to Finland last year really made me a fan for life that quickly. However, all new bands eventually have to release a follow-up, which sometimes either makes or breaks a band. So, do these Finnish all-stars square up on, 'The Devil's Resolve?' Well, keep on reading.

I think the most profound aspect of this release is that its a progressive band actually progressing and adding new elements to their music and refining their already highly enjoyable sound. At its core its still very much progressive melodic death metal, which bares a lot of similarity to old Amorphis releases like, 'Elegy' & 'Tuonela,' which is no surprise since ex-Amorphis bassist, Olli-Pekka Laine, is the founder and main song writer of the band. What you can expect on this release though is greater keyboard wizardry and overall depth, tons of killer and catchy riffs and solos from the hands of Janne and Sami, as well a superb vocal delivery of both clear passionate singing and low guttural bawls from Mikko all mixed together in a well composed, progressive and exciting package.

The albums absolute highlight and my favorite song the past couple of weeks, namely, 'As it is Written' is a progressive death wet dream come true. At seven and a half minutes there's so much in this song; a bag pipe intro, piano solos, tripped out groovy keyboard and breathtaking guitar work spread throughout and amazingly memorable chorus' lines and vocals, which just force you to play the song again and again. 'The Dead Exiles' stands out because it almost sounds like progressive doom/death metal, if you can imagine such a thing, plus the Peter Steele-ish sounding vocals near the beginning are cool too. Other songs, such as, 'Oriental Pyre' or 'Where all Stories End' are also impressive with just everything that makes this band so special, as well, 'The Rains Begin' is probably the catchiest song on the album after, 'As it is Written.' Oh, and I've got a bit of a thing for, 'Passing Of The Crimson Shadows' since its one of the songs I saw live last summer months before the album was even out. That's pretty cool.

All in all, 'The Devil's Resolve' is a superb record, but does it top the debut? Hard to say, but I can honestly say this album will be getting many, many more plays from me during the coming months. In the end though, if you dig any sort of progressive melodic death metal with lots of late 60's/early 70's proggy keyboard doodles, exciting guitar work, fantastic vocals and just overall memorable and fantastic song writing then you're going to want to check out this one out.