Review by Adam M on January 23, 2018.

Barren Earth performs a style of metal that is very influenced by Amorphis and this is readily apparent on Curse of the Red River. The band’s first album proper does a good job of mimicking that band’s sound, but there is enough new on display to make for an entirely interesting listen.

The music here has a folk element, but one that is slightly different than the one that Amorphis applies. Instead of the one seen on Elegy, for example, the band employs their own traditional style to the music to give it a character all it’s own. The songs are bombastic in their folk element and add a lot of guitar layering to the mix.   This can be seen from the track Our Twilight which features clean and harsh singing in equal measure and makes for a good early album highlight. The album continues to march along at a nice pace and puts the folk influence strongly in the tracks. The music is something to be uplifted by and very nice overall. It is melodic, yet features a nice dual interplay between styles and vocal types to add diversity and dynamics to the mix. The melodic portions are strong and really make an impact on the listener. This is felt through the guitars, which have a nice presence and are one of the better portions of the musicianship. The equally powerful vocals soar above the music and give it a nice character. The drumming finishes the musicianship elements and though it isn’t as strong as the guitars, it does a nice job providing the backbone to the tracks. The overall instruments and vocals of the album are stellar.

It is the song-writing which is slightly more suspect. The band bested the songs of this album on their very next album and though they are extremely solid, it comes up a bit short of that effort. This is still a very powerful album of folk influenced metal.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10

Review by Felix on October 26, 2020.

It’s a serious tragedy, but as long as my ass produces only shit instead of gold, I must work and do not have the time to listen to each and every more or less promising thrash album. I am therefore not familiar with the entire catalogue of my German compatriots, but what I can say is that Revenge of the Beast avoids the significant weaknesses of their first two albums. The triple strike at the beginning of the beast’s revenge holds more memorable sequences than their early works together. Maybe even the opener alone has more catchy moments than the 15 tracks of the debut and Apocalyptic Nightmare in total. In addition, the powerful, transparent and offensive production puts the strengths of the individual tracks in the right light. Especially 'Haunted' is a dynamic, sharp riffing crusher. Volker Fredrich, the God of stamina and frustration tolerance, and his companions prove that they are able to perform cool, fresh yet tradition-conscious thrash with a huge portion of belligerence and a solid chorus – and that’s a good finding. Moreover, they demonstrate in 'Warfare' their skills in combining silent sections and double bass driven sequences smoothly.

I have highlighted the first three pieces, but this is not to say that the remaining songs are significantly weaker. Of course, neither Necronomicon nor any other formation can really recreate the original thrash spirit of the early days of this metallic revolution. Furthermore, it’s slightly sad that the band slows down the tempo during some tracks. However, it makes fun to bang the head to the riffs and rhythms of straight and relatively catchy songs such as 'On Pain of Death', because the music spreads lively and energetic vibes. Additionally, it does not lack pressure and so the album is free from severe defects. Of course, maybe the band would have been well advised to streamline the configuration. 10 songs with a playtime of 40 minutes would have been a satisfying shape as well and simultaneously a more compact one. 'Refugee', for example, is neither bad nor necessary, a kind of thrash metal ballad with a tinge of world-weariness. Anyway, these details do not hurt the positive overall impression. Naturally the four-piece does not redefine the subgenre, but it knows how to make good use of its evergreen song formula.

'Commit Suicide' is a late highlight which attracts by its menacing atmosphere and all in all, Necronomicon took care that no half-baked pieces crept in. The entire release has a solid flow and it does not matter if the skip button of the CD player does not work. Real downers do not appear, but a surprisingly big number of crunchy thrash sequences. I am just surprised that the ballad at the end of the tracklist has stolen the lyrics of Satan’s “Avalanche of a Million Hearts”. There are so many literal overlaps – I cannot believe that it is just a coincidence. Maybe Necronomicon wants to give us the advice to listen to “Suspended Sentence” from time to time? Good idea, but it is also not bad to start a second spin of Revenge of the Beast.

Rating: 7.4 out of 10