Conditio Humana is the long awaited (well for me at least) follow up to the band's confidential debut album "The Withered Leaves", released on Reaping Horde. Those of you who are familiar with this Portuguese label will be relieved to discover that Holzrûna, the band's own label, has also decided to use a special presentation for this limited (300 copies) release: a black ring-binder.
As indicated by the title, 'Conditio Humana' is inspired by the various aspects of the human existence that ultimately lead to the final condition, death. Like the previous album the music is based on acoustic guitar, keyboards, a drum machine and various synthetic instrumental sounds. The result is a pleasant mixture of bombastic neofolk and 80's cold wave influences that create a dark yet tranquil atmosphere over which lingers a delicate feeling of melancholy. Once A Barge have taken their time to develop their own sound and the wait is well worth the result as the nine songs show the maturity of their compositions and form a coherent and homogeneous whole.