Ian Christe is a heavy metal renaissance man. Not only has he written for everyone from Spin to Metal Maniacs, he's also released music as Dark Noerd and in 2007 he launched his own book publishing house called Bazillion Points. Since then he released Daniel Ekeroth's 'Swedish Death Metal,' the unofficial bible for the beloved scene...
Guitar, bass and drums are the conventional instrumentation for nearly all heavy metal. Some bands have also used organs or synthesizers, and throughout the history of the genre, a select few have utilized the Mellotron, a magnetic-tape keyboard originally invented as the Chamberlin organ in a California garage in the late 1940s...
While the name Barren Earth might suggest desolation and destruction, this Finnish band is growing like a finely watered metallic plant. And their name doesn't have any super deep meaning about the future of man and the planet he calls home...