Amorphis - Halo (2022)

Coming off a strong stretch of albums like Under the Red Cloud and Queen of Time, I had really high hopes that Halo would ascend to the level of masterpiece Amorphis was putting out in the mid 90s. That was an unrealistic expectation, of course, and in fact this record is a step back even from its predecessors, but that's not to dump on it too hard, because Halo has all the hallmarks you've come to expect from the Finns, and it's nothing less than pleasant to experience, with some heavier material spun in there to create a good balance. In fact, this album has most of the components of an album like Elegy, which I still worship to this day. The mix of cleans and growls, the organs, the combination of prog, folk, and death metal, it's all intact, but for all the effort and professionalism, a lot of these tunes are in one ear and straight out the other.

Don't mistake me, if you want that sensation of sailing through the lakes and rivers, hair blown back as you hallucinate on Finnish myth and history, Halo, like most of the Tomi Joutsen era albums, will warm your ears. Both of his vocal styles are as strong as ever, and the guy's got a powerful projection to his timbre which fits wonderfully over the uplifting, epic nature of the music. But once you dissect the bits of this record, a lot of the chugging low end guitars are dull, the melodies with all their hippie effects seem redundant with others the band has been producing since Elegy and Tuonela, and the chorus hooks just don't have much to stand out to you, although they are always competent and easy on the soul. A lot of the proggier pieces like "The Moon" seem bog standard in tempo and structure, and even the more soothing passages like the intro to "Windmane" just seem to drift on by as mere setups for other, harder rhythms that don't deliver something I'm going to think of in 5 years (or months).

Actually, I couldn't remember a single track on this before I went back to visit it...maybe "Seven Roads Come Together" or "When the Gods Came" left a slight impression, but individual riffs or vocal lines escaped me until I was spinning the disc again, and I do feel like the middle and late tracks are more potent. The production has a great depth to it, but the songs really don't beyond the band bringing together those clean and heavier guitars, synths, etc. I like this one more than a Circle or Far from the Sun, the two Amorphis albums I never revisit, so this comes off like a stronger alternative, but even after giving it several more listens to compose my thoughts, it falls firmly into that 'decent' or 'alright' territory, there is nothing incendiary or distinct when mixed and matched against many of their past works. It's fully safe, there are no surprises to be had, no risks whatsoever waiting in its wings. Likeable enough to spend a little time with, but I wouldn't put a ring on its finger.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://amorphis.net/

Amorphis - Live at Helsinki Ice Hall (2021)

It was about the time I started listening through Live at Helsinki Ice Hall that I realized I don't think I've heard a full-length live record before from Amorphis. I've SEEN them live, a few times, sure, and I thought I could recall them putting out another live a few years before this one, but I must never have gotten around to it. It turns out that this one is quite substantial, recorded in their home turf, with two discs of tunes totaling almost 90 minutes. The caveat here is that the majority of the material is taken from the Tomi Joutsen years of the band, with a few treats for the older fans, so if you're expecting a run through of The Karelian Isthmus and Tales from the Thousand Lakes, you might come away disappointed, but this is really to be expected as they would focus on the records they're currently writing and selling.

The mix is pretty good, there's a great atmosphere created by the synthesizers and faint audience noise or feedback, so that you get this huge amphitheater-like shell of sound. Guitars sparkle along at their most melodic, but don't pack a lot of punch when they hit the lower end, but fortunately the bass and drums bulk the whole mix up. I actually think Tomi sounds off in some places, his delivery is powerful in both the cleans and growls, but especially on the later content it just sounds like he wavers a fraction off some of the desired notes, or my ears are playing tricks on me. His growling on some of the older Elegy or Tales material is pretty good though, and like I hinted, he can certainly carry the show with the pure belting he gives out. There are some nuances, effects and such here too that come off quite nice, but the album soars most when they hit upon that super atmospheric material like "The Four Wise Ones" where the synths are striking, Tomi is grunting and the leads are ringing out. Where it needs to be climactic, it delivers well enough, especially since I don't have much to compare it with!.

I'm a fan of most eras of this band, with the exception of Far from the Sun, and they seemed to have skipped that one here, as well as Circle, another that I just found mediocre. So I'm all in with the track selections, and I think they do a fairly apt job of mixing in the heaviness to remind us of their roots, especially when they take on an older number like "Into Hiding" and mix and modernize it so well alongside the more recent, progressive, mellower pieces. I don't know that Live at Helsinki Ice Hall captures the perfect Amorphis experience, or if any live recording ever could, but it's a good enough showcase to remind you of why you've enjoyed the wonderful band for three whole decades and counting.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

https://amorphis.net/

Amorphis - Queen of Time (2018)

Queen of Time might not ingratiate itself upon listeners who tuned out to Amorphis after their death and doom roots, but if you've been following the band ever since the mid-90s with enthusiasm, or had a later entry point into their catalog, then I can't imagine you'll be disappointed by how absolutely massive this thing sounds. Like it's damn fine predecessor, Under the Red Cloud, this is another album that calls upon various eras of the bands musical growth and fuses them all into a vessel worthy of sailing off into the future. The growling of their earliest years; the soaring, serious cleans of their prior vocalist Pasi Koskinen; the progressive rock influences that are cultivated through the keyboard tones; the spritely, atmospheric guitars patterns that dominated efforts like Am Universum or its predecessor Tuonela; and the sheer balancing act of grafting all those disparate ingredients into a seamless, unified structure, which they've been doing all throughout the Tomi Joutsen era to much success...

But Queen of Time offers even more than that, with lush passages of orchestration, grand pianos, church organs, dual-sex vocal choirs, saxophone, whistles, and male strippers. Perhaps these are not all entirely novel ideas for Amorphis, certainly not among the symphonic, folk or Gothic metal throngs at large; but there are clearly moments littered throughout this album when I feel like I've entered some slightly new territory, whether it's just the sound design and production values or the fact that they're testing out some new hooks here, or drugs there, or arrangements everywhere. In truth, this is possibly the most accessible of the band's albums...a truth that could likely turn out some longtime subscribers and turn in a broader audience, but that's not to say the Finns have stepped far outside of their normal comfort zone. No, most of the embellishments here, whether you'd equate them with some other big Euro symphonic Goth metal brand or not, are actually delivered with taste and elegance, molding themselves fluidly into the band's contrasts between emotional chorus swells and the divide between stomping and ethereal verse rhythms and lyrics. So the end result is really only to ADD to that formula they've been refining for the last 20+ years, and it's appreciated.

Every single song on this album is great, from the powered-up Tuonela flexing of "The Bee", through the funereal, chugging, growling drama of "Pyres on the Coast", and on into the bonus tracks, which as usual for Amorphis are just about as good as all the content on the album proper, to the point that they really seem like they're just fucking with us by even calling them 'bonus tracks'. It's hard to even choose favorites...."Golden Edge" and "Heart of the Giant" might get a slight edge, especially when Santeri and Esa trade off those synth and axe leads in the latter. Or that intro to "We Accursed", when it briefly feels like the Kalevala meets the Wild West. The lyrics rule. Tomi Joutsen is at the top of his game throughout, capable of delivering a sincere enough guttural or rasp that you can take it seriously alongside the much airier, brighter music, or those unanimously captivating cleaner lines...these guys have their 'Beauty & the Beast' down so pat that it's almost unthinkable to imagine that there are so many bands out their who make it all sound so goofy. The drums sound fantastic, even at their calmest they thunder off across the album's horizon with determination, and along with so many of the moody if traditional chord progressions, there is just never a moment on Queen of Time in which I feel that I haven't been carried off somewhere. And not dropped, thankfully. Because that would hurt.

Now, it might not attain perfection. It might not resonate with me over the next few decades like a Tales from the Thousand Lakes or an Elegy has. I might not incorporate its singles into my own pole-dancing routine (weekends in the city). But judging by the fact I've already spun this thing ten times this past week, when I've got so many life priorities in the way, or other records to check out, I have no problem hailing this as my favorite Amorphis release since that highly formative, evolutionary era. Color me absorbed.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.25/10] (when moments became eternity)

http://www.amorphis.net/

Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud (2015)

A band that has granted me such listening pleasure over the past few decades can surely be forgiven the occasional dud, and thus it wasn't that big of a deal to me when Amorphis dropped 2013's Circle, one of the few such dips I felt in their entire, extensive discography. Not because it was utter shit, nor did it stray outside the envelope of the band's now-traditional sound, but it was simply insipid, uninspired when matched against such a wealth of quality recordings they've summoned forth across the eras of all vocalists. It's not that they knock it out of the park on every album, but the only other time I can remember being that disappointed was a decade prior on Far from the Sun, which remains to me the worst thing they've ever released, bare and boring and drained free of all the creativity that defined its predecessors across their fascinating transformations away from pure death/doom. Circle was kind of like that, but for that next generation of Amorphis content.

While Under the Red Cloud suffers very sparsely from a couple of the same issues, namely a scant handful of blander chugging patterns or a few melodies that at this point felt fully aimless and rehashed, it was easily a more interesting, varied, glorious effort which reversed any delusion of shark jumping. Rhythmically and emotionally this was a more dynamic, memorable effort which balanced off the escapist folk and prog tinged melodic death metal developed through their mid-90s escalation. Even when they're going for those steadier grooves to support the synthesizer melodies, as in the intro to "Bad Blood", it's all constructed with a more textured determination, more ear candy happening on all levels of instrumentation, and a very shift between the grows and Tomi's cleans, which are as distinct and catchy as they've ever been throughout his tenure with the band, spewing a damn fine set of lyrics. Santeri Kallio's keyboards are by far the centerpiece of this entire effort, shining everywhere with pads both atmospheric and retro, but the lead guitars definitely do their vivid best to manifest those amazing melodies from the brilliant Elegy era (my favorite).

In fact, every instrument shines throughout this, from the clean and simple but compelling bass lines to the shimmery acoustics, there is just enough going on that it feels like one of their best attempts at managing all these atmospheres under one awning of atavist lyrics. Moments of relative calm are contrasted against some of the heavier, intense, percussive builds, and the leads feel carefully and tastefully implemented against the roiling keys and vocals. Some of the individual tracks here are among the best they've released in the 21st century, like "Dark Path" and "Tree of Ages", and the two bonuses "Come the Spring" and "Winter's Sleep" were well worthy of inclusion, the former giving me flashbacks to the Tuonela/Am Universum era. In fact, Amorphis doesn't really leave any of its fanbase out in the cold with the exception of those who wrote them off after Karelian Isthmus, or possibly Tales from the Thousand Lakes...you won't find any drudging death metal here with only a faint hint of melody, but rather the inverse...a brick wall of melodies with none of the old riffing to be found anywhere...only Tomi's impassioned growls vaguely, call back to that era, and in the context they are used here, probably not even those. This has long become the norm for the Finns, and it could be a lot worse, because this is glorious stuff with only a few moments which fail to live up to those surrounding them.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10] (and I bared them my heart of hearts)

http://www.amorphis.net/

Amorphis - Circle (2013)

'Were we listening to the same album?' I hate to service such a cliche, but after seeing some of the overwhelmingly positive reactions to the latest Amorphis effort, I found myself asking that same question at least a half dozen times. My own initial response to Circle was that it was a middling but tolerable affair which did little to build upon any of their considerable body of work, but nestled safely between the progressive rock and folk metal aesthetics the Finns have been flirting with since the incredible Elegy back in the mid 90s (still a favorite). Further listens have revealed that is in fact an exercise in retread tedium, and even if it avoids the status of an outrageously 'bad' disc, I find it easily the worst of the Tomi Joutsen era, and their least interesting output since Far from the Sun...perhaps it's celebrating a 10 year anniversary of that mediocrity?

The arrangements and production values of Circle are nothing to scoff at, and it really gleams through the speakers with its overabundance of melodies, but it seems that a great deal of riff writing has been sacrificed in the name of accessibility and atmosphere. The rhythm guitars are tremendously boring throughout the record. Mindless amateur chugs like the nearly nu-metal bounce opening "Hopeless Days", or laying down the foundation to the verses of "Mission", abound here, and I cannot recall a single rhythm guitar pattern over the 46 minutes of content that drew my attention. Remember when this band was capable of right hooking you with an unforgettable melody that could burn across the decades (i.e. most of the guitars on Elegy)? These are but a distant memory, replaced by the simulacra of banal grooves and background chord patterns which almost seem subservient to the vocals and brazen synthesizer melodies which strike like a dawn's early light over a grassland plain upon which nothing much is happening. Lead-like melodies are likewise ineffectual, cleaner guitars or proggy Tuonela-style picking just there to further flesh out the atmosphere rather than author some memorable note progressions.

It says a lot to me that almost any random song of Eclipse, the first Joutsen-fronted album, is greatly preferable to anything on this album, and that was hardly the pinnacle of Amorphis' creativity. Even where the band attempts to get heavier, bringing back the harsher growls, or a denser groove, or a tremolo picked guitar riff (as in "Nightbird's Song"), I was nearly bored to tears. Most of the 'folksy' melodies in tunes like "Narrowpath" seem like they were plucked off the cutting room floor of a band like Alestorm, and the various flute solos and other rural, archaic moments though the album are not themselves capable of summoning up an interesting melody to justify themselves. It's as if they were just placed on the album for a muster of the ranks. Organs? Front and center, sir! Flutes? Still got 'em, captain. Amorphis was once so excellent at weaving together the 70s rock, blues, folk instrumentation into the harder rhythm guitars and melodies, but this all seems like a phoned in par for the course, reinforced only by a pretty sweet engineering job. The bass and drums are pristine in the mix, but rarely does either do anything interesting except rock along to the rather standard riffing construction while the keys flutter through the pennants above.

As for Joutsen himself, he admittedly puts on a pretty diverse and satisfying performance, blending both the clean tones of his predecessor with some more emotional, 'heartfelt' Gothic metal twine that unfortunately makes half this album sound like it could have been written by one of their Finnish neighbors like Charon or To/Die/For. The harder growls aren't particularly convincing, and in fact the entire use of the scarce, heavier sequences on Circle seem as if they were just implemented to shut down the naysayers who think the band has entirely sold out its death metal roots. But listen to just about any comparable passage on Silent Waters or Skyforger and the quality really seems to have taken a dive, especially these terribad boring palm mute chugging elements that are about as bland as week old diet white bread. Another frustration was that every time I was mentally imagine some series of rhythm guitar chords or one of Tomi's chorus melodies reaching an expected climax, it always seemed to misfire into some vapid configuration. Completely unexciting stuff...

To be as fair as I can, a few of the later tunes like "Enchanted by the Moon" or "Into the Abyss" are fractionally catchier than the first half of Circle, but not to the degree that I'd dub them impressive. It seems as if Amorphis has chosen to rest on its laurels here, whereas in the past they were this constantly evolving, fascinating entity who I held very high standards for. A safe album, and TOO safe, if the lame lyrics to a tune like "Hopeless Days" are any indicator. 'I never wanted/I never wanted to be born/Into this cruel world/Into this cruel world I was torn'. Tomi's coverage of these was so cheesily emotional that it summoned to mind memories of Zach Stevens' miserable presence on the first two Savatage albums he was involved with. Yuck. Granted, there are traces enough from Elegy, Skyforger, Tuonela, and other works to sate those simply seeking more of the same, but none are handled quite so adeptly as they were when first introduced into the Finns' matrix of sounds. Quite a bummer, because even though I wasn't in love with their last LP The Beginning of Times, they'd been on quite a roll since acquiring Joutsen. This did nothing for me.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

http://amorphis.net/

Amorphis - The Beginning of Times (2011)

After shaking free their impulse to produce forgettable renditions of their classic material (dragging it forth unto the 'now') with newer vocalist Tomi Joutsen, Amorphis have returned to what actually matters: composing new songs that best suits the current lineup of the band. Having been well in favor of the last three albums (Eclipse, Silent Waters, and Skyforger), I found myself anticipating this much as I looked forward to each of their new releases in the 90s, but the streak seems to have hit a bump in the road with The Beginning of Times, their latest conceptual piece, and tenth studio full-length. It's hard to believe Amorphis have entered double digit albums and that it's been 15 years since I was salivating over Elegy and Tales from the Thousand Lakes, but the band has come a long way, both evolutionarily and de-evolutionarily.

To be clear, The Beginning of Times is not a disappointment of the caliber that Pasi Koskinen's swansong Far From the Sun was in 2003. The general ingredients of Skyforger are firm in place, between Joutsen's balanced singing and growling and the heightened sense for melody that the band have embarked on since the mid-90s. Unfortunately, where albums like Elegy and Skyforger wrought such melodies into glorious, potent compositions, those of this album seem to simply sail along, never offensive or well structured enough to glean the ear's affection beyond a handful of spins. Often the songs become a little too fruity or happy, like "Song of the Sage" or the vapid "Mermaid", in which both Tomi's cleans and the female guest vocals seem rather lame, and the music returns to the Tuonela era with less than astounding results. There are a few too many 'soothing' songs, like "You I Need" and "Reformation" which don't really add up to the engrossing experiences the band were churning out in the past ("My Kantele" and so forth).

On the other hand, there are some goodies lurking in the album's depths. "Beginning of Time" feels like an Elegy natural, with loads of melodic bombast in the backing vocal arches and the general thrust of the thundering rhythms into the glorious, growled chorus above the organs. "Escape" and "Crack in a Stone" are two of the most catchy songs amidst the 54+ minute length, and I only wish they'd been thrust up towards the fore in place of "Battle for Light", which isn't as compelling. The production here is on par with the past few efforts, wonderfully capturing the varied instrumentation and dynamics of crushing aggression and blissful, accessible melody so beloved in the band's current audience. Lots of synthesizer, piano, clean guitar passages, and multiple vocal styles provide for an appreciable, kinetic backdrop, and they treat their lyrics and history with the love of natural born sons, looking backward to propel forward. Ultimately, this is least impressive album with Joutsen at the helm, but it's nothing to scoff at, and earns a few needed points late in the game to squeak by.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (echoes and tones I understand)

http://amorphis.net/

Amorphis - Magic & Mayhem: Tales from the Early Years (2010)

Diving back into the glory years of your band's discography using current personnel and the advances of modern studio software seems to be all the rage these days, but not always a welcome one. Poor examples of the gesture include the recent, pathetic Exodus collection with Rob Dukes singing the classics of the Zetro/Baloff eras, and the more obscure re-release of Bethlehem's S.U.I.Z.I.D. with Niklas Kvarforth's vocals, completely unnecessary and awful. Alas, it appears our beloved Amorphis have now stepped on this train. A genuine celebration of their rich past? A cheap ploy to fetch some coin and foist another package into the marketplace? I'll leave you and the band to come to that decision while I comb over the contents with bemused nostalgia and a gas mask to guard me from the stench of discontent.

There are eleven original cuts hailing from the band's first three records, The Karelian Isthmus, Tales from the Thousand Lakes, and Elegy, in addition to the band's classic cover of the fellow Finnish brutes Abhorrence's "Vulgar Necrolatry", and a last minute cover of The Doors' "Light My Fire". Now, Elegy in particular is one of my favorite metal recordings in history, easily making it onto a 'desert isle' list and in my opinion grossly underestimated despite the praise many of us have hoisted upon its shoulders, but the first two albums follow close behind, as remarkable examples of their era that stood tall above the great metallic hibernation of the 90s. The band have not only re-recorded the songs using their newest front man Tomi Joutsen, but arranged some of the earlier material to jive better with the albums they've been releasing in the past few years, namely Skyforger and Silent Waters. Thus, the further back you go (I'm looking at you, The Karelian Isthmus), the more likely the material is to be altered.

Amorphis are a band that have had a history of strong vocalists, and Joutsen is no example. He possesses the adequate cleans and growls to fill in for his predecessor Pasi, and with him the band have had a resurgence of late, producing some of their best material since the Elegy days. But one can't help but feel that even he is overstretching it on a few of the songs here, and combined with the band's tweaking behind him, there is honestly not a single track found on Magic & Mayhem that can trump its original. They are not difficult on the ear, and in fact this is a far better stab at re-inventing the past than so many other bands have flopped through, but the individual tones and atmospheres of the band's first three albums are lost here as they are merged into some new creative whole subsisting on THIS track order, THIS recording, THIS entity borne from a womb of ages to the iTunes store. Considering that most of the band's back catalog is still readily available, it pains me to think that some deers and does, transfixed to the nearest headlights will snap this album up as dogma, robbing themselves of those finer, early recordings.

At any rate, these were all good songs when they originally poked their craniums through the uterine lining, and they remain good songs, even with a few new cards in the deck. From The Karelian Isthmus, we are given "Exile of the Sons of Uisliu" and "The Sign from the North Side", so it's arguably under-represented, and that is a pity. In all honesty, these tracks needed the most 'updating' to meet the band's 21st century material, so one wonder why they didn't just perform this autopsy on all of that 1992 album and leave the rest alone. I say this because, while tweaked, the tracks from Tales from the Thousand Lakes and Elegy don't sound different enough to warrant their metamorphosis from blissful chrysalis to angelic risks. From the first of those albums, the band has included quite a number of excavations: "Into Hiding", "Black Winter Day", "Drowned Maid", "The Castaway" and of course the compilation's title track "Magic and Mayhem".

All of these pieces still sound fairly tasteful, their primary differences coming in the added layers of ambiance that Santeri Kaillo's keys lend to the guitar lines, and Joutsen's broader vocals. The problem is that the original had such a cryptal darkness it channeled through its compositions that meshed so well with its struggling but hopeful production standards, that these cannot properly represent its initial charms. Imagine going to your local coffee hole and requesting a particular blend of dark coffee, then being told their machines are down except the one that can make you a triple-nut frothing marshmallow malt-accino? You take the new drink, suck it down and gain at least a dozen pounds, but your buds still long for the dark, smooth texture that you walked through that door to arrive at. This is the ultimate downfall of the Magic and Mayhem compilation. It's shiny and well produced, loaded with whipped cream and nutty, enticing flavors, but there is simply no reason to spin it when you can spin the genuine article and revel in the morbid tales of myth and drowned hope.

In the case of the Elegy entries "On Rich and Poor", "Against Widows", "Song of the Troubled One" and "My Kantele", the differences are so minimal between the originals and the newer versions that they merely sound like slightly shuffled live adaptations. In fact, had this album actually been a live double record with Joutsen fronting the older material, it might have been more understandable and welcome. These four tracks are all quite perfect in their original incarnations, "My Kantele" struggling behind the rest by a fraction of a fraction, and nothing Joutsen or the band has done here propels them beyond the originals with Koskinen and Koivusaari handling the vocals. On the other hand, I really did not mind the updated cover of "Vulgar Necrolatry" whatsoever. It too lacks the dark morbidity of the earlier release on the Privilege of Evil EP, but it sounds wonderful to have such an obscure Finnish gem brought into this new world of lights and sound. "Light My Fire" sounds pretty campy, more so than the original, with growls replacing Jim Morrison's brilliant lines and an attempt at creating a more haunted atmosphere during the verse, as if this were more about a haunted house than an invitation to some cutie pie to unzip and do the nasty.

To sum this up: Magic & Mayhem, Tales from the Early Years is not necessarily a poorly contrived compilation, though contrived it is. There is no impetus to hearken upon these well trodden paths any more than there exists a compulsion to ford the rivers of time and break out the timeless, flawless tones of the original Elegy, or the nearly perfect Tales from the Thousand Lakes, or the exceptional debut album The Karelian Isthmus. These are legend. They are manifest, and they forever shine from the shadows of the overarching genre's structural rubble, the 90s. Their consumption is vastly more recommended than a spin at Magic & Mayhem, but otherwise I do not have anything to complain about. This is not the case of a band soiling their past themselves as Bay Area thrashers Exodus did with Rob Dukes on Let There Be Blood. Tomi Joutsen is a good singer for this band, and he covers the older material well enough. The effort here is consistent, at least, and the worst that could be said is that it would be like choosing Arbor Mist over some early 20th century vintage: tasty enough for the ladies, probably tasty enough for the men if they'd get over themselves, but lacking the definition.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10]

http://amorphis.net/

Amorphis - Silent Waters (2007)

Of all the material Amorphis has penned in the past decade, it is Silent Waters which comes closest in style to their monumental Elegy, narrowing in lyrically on a particular chapter of the Kalevala folk epic and reaching deep into the band's arsenal of riffs to create a memorable crusher that should please fans of that 1996 effort. About the only major difference would be that Tomi Joutsen now gives voice to the poetry as opposed to Pasi Koskinen, and that a few tunes on the latter half of the album drag it down just a little from the perfect heights it would otherwise have scaled. Like the previous album Eclipse, the production work for this record is breathtaking, also recalling the glories of Elegy, and the writing is diverse, making good on all the band's diverse strengths.

"Weaving the Incantation" is a mug-swilling pummeler, weaving the archaic folk/death of Tales from the Thousand Lakes into some subtle female backing vocals and delightful melodies that ramble off across a field of acoustic guitars. The execution of the vocals is perfect, Joutsen may have been wetting his feet with Eclipse but here his delivery is so fluid that you wonder how there was ever a band before he arrived. "A Servant" gallops along at a hammer pace with more of the solemn melodic lines, Joutsen's growls echoing across the hills and heavens in triumphant confidence, while "Silent Waters" begins in a memorable flow of piano that transforms into a slow bludgeoning below clean vocals, and then the killer thick rasberry jam of the curving riff at :50. "Towards and Against" opens with an electronic pulse as the mystical Tuonela-like guitar patterns conjoin with the vocals into another AMAZING riff that chugs along below the melody before the minute mark, and later blowing into a soaring chorus vocal, proving it is one of the best tracks on the album.

By stone-shoed wanderer I am taught
my visions from fiery eyed iron-armed chanter
I know how to fight, I know how to sing
I know how to bend, I know how to break

"I of Crimson Blood" is slow to rise, but lose yourself to its shining, sanguine rivers of piano and acoustic flourish and it does engross. "Her Alone" is around 6 minutes, and feels similar to the previous track, but does features a few worthwhile vocal lines and builds a pretty solid architecture of sorrow and melody. Then the band adds "Enigma", an acoustic piece with some finely layered vocals, reminding a little of Midnight Oil's more lavish acoustic tracks. After these three tracks, the album could have used a stormer, but instead there is "Shaman", which, while cast in the Elegy mold, doesn't have much of a payoff. "The White Swan" is very evocative, with tiny melodies of both keyboard and guitar fluttering through the verse and a raging chorus slathered in growls. "Black River" is another of the slower, calming songs that dominate this half of the record, and not one of the best on the album, but the bonus track "Sign" (from the Silent Waters CD-single) does kick some ass, and I am glad it was included on the album, with its surging mysteries and powerful guitar line.

Silent Waters is a lot to write home about, an extremely pleasing effort that solidifies Amorphis' return to their prior selves, a band which could balance power and grace on the tip of its tongue. The mesh of folk, death, doom, and progressive rock here may not feel as novel as it did in 1996, but had this been released as Elegy Part II, I would not have been surprised at all. Their experimentation into a lighter sound (1999-2003) was now well past midnight, and for the better. If I were to recommend anything to a newcomer to this band, it would remain Tales from the Thousand Lakes and Elegy. But after that (and assuming you don't want to dive right back to their heavy roots in The Karelian Isthmus), Silent Waters is a very safe bet. There are 2-3 skippable songs, not bad in their own right, but not on par with everything else on the disc, but barring those you've still got 30-35 minutes of prime Amorphis.

Highlights: Weaving the Incantation, Silent Waters, Towards and Against, The White Swan

Verdict: Win [8.5/10] (a shape to his dream)

http://www.amorphis.net

Amorphis - Eclipse (2006)

After the stunning defeat of Far From the Sun three years earlier, Amorphis recouped and recruited Tomi Joutsen of Sinisthra to replace Pasi Koskinen on the vocals, and signed to Nuclear Blast. It was a good choice, because while Joutsen does have a deeper, more rock & roll edge to his tone, which took a little getting used to, he is fully capable of the range of growls and cleans of his predecessor. Eclipse was a very positive step forward (and backwards), because from the proggy, slamming keyboards and melody that open "Two Moons", the band makes it clear they are returning to their better days (Elegy in particular), without fully abandoning the 'advances' they made through the late 90s.

Now, I'm not saying this comes anything close to the quality of yesteryear, but it's at least a reasonable attempt, and the polar opposite to the stagnant Far from the Sun. This is a pleasant listen throughout, most songs featuring at least some catchy moment, and the thick broth of piano, synthesizer, raging guitar rhythms is finally back where it belongs, smack dab in the center of 1996. This is the sound of an invigorated band who have cast aside the diminishing returns of their ambitions and returned to the sunshine.

Eclipse opens with a bang in the thundering "Two Moons", with flanged, grinding guitars that transform into an escalating, melodic chorus, the band showing off the range of Tomi Joutsen right up front. He can do pretty, he can do powerful, and he can even combine the two, with a dirty undercurrent to his melodic lines as the verse crashes. "House of Sleep" would be the first single for this album, and it's got a soaring vocal chorus and adequate melody, but not too memorable. "Leaves Scar" commences with fluted grace, before a surging Viking metal moment in which Joutsen lets the growls out; the chorus is quite powerful and it's one of my particular favorites of this album. "Born from Fire" features a sad and effective melody throughout, whether on the guitar or repeated through the pianos at the mid-track breakdown, and "Under a Soil and Black Stone" is a swaggering piece which builds to an appropriate climax of choir-like organs and folk-tinged guitar lines reminiscent of tracks like "The Way" from Tuonela.

To the stars shine
Casting my eyes by the long nights
Blessed I was
To rest then

"Perkele (The God of Fire)" spices up the record with some low-end, grooving doom/death which sounds straight from Tales from the Thousand Lakes, and Joutsen truly belts forth the growls, which combine with the wahs and cruising, crushing pace of the track to create another of the more memorable tracks. "The Smoke" centers around one of those Amorphis melodies so catchy that you wonder why it was never written before (or was it?), and some more growls during the chorus. I like where this is going! Joutsen gets pretty manly and emotional in the chorus for "Same Flesh", and "Brother Moon" is the perfect theme to a Finnish Western...with spears and frost below a night sky. "Empty Opening" builds to a steady, memorable chorus with a surge of octave chords and bristling organs. If you've got the American edition of Eclipse, you will also have "Stonewoman", the b-side for the House of Sleep single, and it fit rights in, with soothing vocal dual melodies in the verse, and another strong chorus.

The tones for the album are highly fulfilling, with the best mix post-Elegy that the band had mustered. Thick bass, chugging guitars, scintillating melodies, excellent synths and organs that weave seamlessly across the rock elements. For the most part, the songs are great, with 1-2 exceptions, and it's had an opposite effect on me than some of their albums like Tuonela and Am Universum...that is to say, its appeal has only increased with age. A highly refreshing effort and the beginning to a positive new era for the Finns.

Highlights: Leaves Scar, Perkele (The God of Fire), The Smoke, Empty Opening

Verdict: Win [8.25/10] (she finally grew into her full might)

http://www.amorphis.net

Amorphis - Far from the Sun (2003)

Going into the release of Far from the Sun, the 6th album from Finland's favored sons Amorphis, I had nothing but jubilant expectations, having enjoyed their past two albums (and worshiped everything before that). It was with great disappointment that the album I purchased was essentially an Amorphis stripped of all its better qualities. The style may feel quite the same as you heard on Am Universum, hard driving folk rock with clean vocals and swerving, psychedelic guitars, but there is barely a damn lick here worth its weight in sadness or hallucinogenic bliss. This album sounds almost as if the band had given up and phoned in an effort which bore enough surface similarities to its predecessor that the label would shovel it out with nary an edit or complaint.

I kid you not, I can think of only track song on this album that I actually enjoy, and only because it evokes memories of prior songs. The riffs here are so basic and familiar that the band could not have taken more than a few minutes to compose them, layer in just enough atmosphere that they become Amorphis by default, and head down for a round of drinks as the next tour was planned, or whatever else they were busy with rather than writing good music. If someone told me this was a session of outtakes that were considered too boring to include on Am Universum, I would believe it (with the single exception). Jan Rechberger returned to the drum kit here, and it was also noticeable for being the last album with Pasi Koskinen on vocals (and though the split was amicable, you can hear why Pasi would lose a little motivation).

Reaching back to describe the music here is the pinnacle of torment, because while I can't really say anything here is terrible, or 'sucks', it's mediocre enough that I can summon only venom. What's worse, the album has become even less interesting in the years since, as the spark and novelty of simply having a new Amorphis album has rubbed off in the weather of a billion better albums (including everything this band has released since). Far from the Sun is the 'pits' of Amorphis, the album I simply don't ever want to spin in my stereo again, stealing its sole positive number and smacking it on the Am Universum instead. I remember a lack of worldwide distribution this album suffered for its released, but in retrospect that only helped fan the inevitable flames that were headed in its direction.

"Day of Your Beliefs" was the first single to the album, a dull track which squanders its chance at lavish folk atmosphere through an unmemorable notation. The primary melody plays out like a slowed shanty melody with all the vital roguish energy leeched from it. "Planetary Misfortune" is the sole quality song here that I had mentioned, a charger that functions fully because of its mystic folk rhythm (reminds me of "Greed", but faster) and the somber doom riff in the sing song chorus at 1:00 is a nice line. But after this song, I warn you...it's a fucking desert. "Evil Inside" is a plodding, downtrodden blues rock song with nothing going for it. "Mourning Soil" tries to grasp at the mystique of the prior album's somber sojourns, falling flat. "Far from the Sun" is gentle enough for gathering firewood for your mountain cabin, and watching a leaf flow by on the stream, but nothing more. The latter half is even more boring, with moody forgettables ala "Ethereal Solitude" and "Smithereens", or the half-assed stoner boogie shuffle of "Killing Goodness".

Despite the drawn out agony of its lackluster composition, Far from the Sun did mark a pretty critical turning point for the band. When Pasi left, they got a decent replacement and began to steer slowly back towards their roots. While they still haven't gotten that far, at least the band has made the decision to abandon the barren grazing grounds that Far from the Sun represents; a creative wasteland which desperately craves 'the icy water' of better days.

Highlights: Planetary Misfortune

Verdict: Indifference [5/10] (let go of the life that haunts you tonight)

http://www.amorphis.net

Amorphis - Am Universam (2001)

Am Universum, the 5th full-length album of Amorphis, does not fall far from the tree that was 1999's Tuonela. You could think of it as Tuonela II: The Meatening, because about the only comprehensible difference I notice is a beefier use of the guitars and even more radio friendly polish to the standard rock songwriting being employed. Am Universum, like its predecessor, is not a bad album, but in the past 8-9 years it has not entirely held up for me. A few of the songs still rock, quite hard, though the growls (which appeared only briefly on Tuonela) are now lost. This may also be the first time the band kept a dedicated keyboard player for two consecutive records (Santeri Kallio), but Niclas Etelävuori replaces Olli-Pekka Laine on the bass.

"Alone" was the lead-in single and also christens the album with more of the band's driving pscyedelic-rock over thumping bass rhythms. The guitars are given a popping, funk swagger in the verse and as the vocals soar for the chorus, the guitars rock out in pure chord pounding, with organs trailing behind like an mesh of Finnish folklore and a Wild West showdown. It works, but it's not the best you'll find here. The album then packs its way through two of the better songs, the thundering "Goddess (of the Sad Man)", with a powerful if predictable chorus, and more of the somber, flighty guitar spackle the band is so fond of. "The Night is Over" is like the funky, low down Southern rock gospel according to Amorphis, with curvy blues and enough trip hipness to dust off those bellbottoms and shake down. I enjoy "Shatters Within" for the means it develops its grooving bass line into a cold, wintry stream of piano and axe melody while Pasi soars almost as high as he possibly can...and then it gets even better. "Crimson Wave" features a churning rhythm that drifts into some groovy 70s rock ala The Doors, another of the best tracks the album has to offer.

She's riding on a crimson wave
Truth sat on her shoulder
Planets before melting face
The keys for the wounded

It is the latter half of this album where I often feel like tuning out (not tuning in), though "Drifting Memories" tries to belay this with a opening surge of elevated melody that almost recalls the brilliance of the band's 1996 masterpiece Elegy. The rest is rather dull. "Forever More" in an exception, sounding bright and hopeful, thanks to the soaring guitar surf and some of Pasi's best vocals on the album, but "Veil of Sin" is a forgettable drag that wouldn't even suit me if I was sitting in a Finnish bar at 1am on a winter night. "Captured State" has a pretty strong chorus, provided you are still awake at this point and can arrive at its mid motion glory. "Grieve Stricken Heart" is another jamming, hippie rocker with blues and organ, the longest track on the album, but sadly there is no money shot worth the price of admission.

As usual, Amorphis enter the studio and later emerge with a top shelf sounding album. This once again transcends the metal boundaries, but unlike many evolving acts, a lot the bands stuck to them, even as they were acquiring droves of new ones from the increased radio/commercial exposure albums like this would win them. Am Universum is Tuonela with a few new chorus hooks and a slightly more bloodied coat of paint. It's their most suitable album for jukebox play at the local drinking hole, a soundtrack to broken hearts and fist fights and drunken stupors that are all delivered through its still-present adherence to the lessons of Finnish yore. Unfortunately, 'I'll drink to that' just doesn't apply to every song on this.

Highlights: The Night is Over, Shatters Within, Crimson Wave, Forever More

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (it's a morning of misfortune)

http://www.amorphis.net/

Amorphis - Tuonela (1999)

Sometimes it is possible to have simply too much of a good idea, and Tuonela is an album that feels guilty of that flaw. On the surface, it seems a natural progression from the cleaner side of Elegy. People seemed to like that album, now let's see how far we can take this direction. Where that masterpiece still had its share of the heavier guitars and a steady use of the growled vocals, Tuonela has very little, focusing instead on the cleaner, progressive rock aspects that the band had been exploring and transforming them into morose but shining anthems. When I first heard this, 3 years after salivating myself into dessication over its predecessor, I was pretty satisfied, having expected them to travel this path. But over the years since, a lot of the lustre has flaked off its gorgeous, minimal skin. Tracks that might have once had me nodding along to their semi-catchy chorus have now become tired, and I often struggle to listen to it in its entirety.

Amorphis continued their practice of swapping out their keyboard player on each successive album. They are performed here by Santeri Kallio, but used to much the same effect. Otherwise, the lineup here is that of Elegy, and Pasi continues to sharpen his cleaner, bitter vocals. This is a 90% 'safe' record, that is to say, if you seek out the beautiful balance of growling death and doom with the progressive/folk elements, you're only getting it on one song. He might growl out certain words or phrases in other tracks, but this is the only one where they are prominent. That song also happens to be one of the best of the album, "Greed", which saunters forward at a bouncing, chugging pace before coalescing into the huge rock & roll groove ala Jimmy Page. Of the cleaner fare, album opener "The Way" has some very memorable picking patterns that blaze over the somber bass line, ever shifting into a hypnotic chorus ala Koskinen.

"Withered..." has a similar feel to "The Way", a driving psychedelic stream of mystical guitar rhythms and a vocal bridge akin to something Simon le Bon might produce. "Rusty Moon" has some excellent, trilling flutes courtesy of Sakari Kukko (who also performs sax on a few tunes here). "Shining" has a great guitar line to it which flows through the verse like the frost melting off a drumlin on an early spring morning. "Summer's End" is very moody and gothic as it drives like a family of R. tarandus fennicus against a setting season, the balance of life and death to be tested in the near endless cold ahead. "Divinity" was one of the more popular tracks on the album, with a decent chorus and occasional grunt, though it's not my favorite here.

Someday fire wipes the rain
Fears are frozen tears whisper
Things that no one hears
Cry now, cry now for me again
Tomorrows pride and pain

Those are all pretty good, but the rest of the tracks don't do a lot for me. "Morning Star" is groovy and scintillating, but doesn't ever develop a catchy sequence of notes. "Nightfall" feels busy and funky, and the saxophone works when it appears, but again I leave the track wondering where the payoff is. The title track "Tuonela" itself is perhaps my least favorite, a bluesy dirge which flushed right back out the ears through which it entered, even the use of the sax here feels a drag.

Despite my mixed feelings towards this album, I don't really intend to come across as completely negative. Certainly there are good tracks, and the mix of Tuonela is one of the best the band has had in their career. Perfectly balanced instrumentation, from the pumping bass, guitar melodies and tight drumming to the non-intrusions of the flute and saxophone. It has a great depth to it, but not all of the songs offer enough meat on the bone. I like that they've continued their lyrical approach into this morphing medium of sound, but I just never get the urge to play through it all, whereas with the last two albums I would not pass a drop of their whiskey. It's not the worst of the Amorphis albums; no, that is still several years out...

Alas, I suppose if you were ever 'turned off' by the growling excess of prior days, Tuonela was a godsend. But the blood of Ukko is not storming through this album in all its glory as it was before, and the result is something understandably less inspirational.

Highlights: The Way, Greed, Withered..., Shining

Verdict: Win [7.75/10] (on ground that bears no seed)

http://www.amorphis.net/

Amorphis - Elegy (1996)

After transforming the surly roots of The Karelian Isthmus into the dreary, downtrodden mystique of Tales from the Thousand Lakes, one had to ponder just what Amorphis would do to top themselves. It hardly seemed possible, and yet in 1996, they produced one of the most impressive offerings I have ever heard within the loose confines that comprise the metal genre... transcending that genre, in fact, into a myriad of possibilities that marks one of the most fascinating metamorphoses I have heard from a musical entity. Clearly the band had a deep love for not only the folklore of their nation, but a wealth of older musical influences from afar...a passion betrayed by the use of the moog on the previous album. But this is taken to new heights with Elegy...a masterwork of inescapable, diverse songwriting upon which every song is un fucking real, timeless and memorable, and strangely uplifting, though the echoes of the bands doomed past still poke their ugly, haunting noses through the mix.

Elegy is flawless, beautiful, and more complex than you might expect. Even my least favorite track on the album (which, coincidentally, would become its 'single' EP namesake) is brilliant. You could randomly select a dozen other, stagnant death metal bands from the mid 90s and pick their brains for weeks and they would not come up with something this impressive. And it all starts with the acquisition of Pasi Koskinen, whose nasal but infectious tones work in both clean and aggressive growling formats, married well to both reference Koivusaari's previous work and direct the band towards a new direction. Yes, the purists got all their panties in a bunch when this album arrived, because the clean vocals were no longer the simple curiosity they explored on Tales of the Thousand Lakes, but a crucial factor in this record's effectiveness. While Kim Rantala replaced Kasper Mårtenson here on the keys, organs and accordion, he too manages to streamline the transition.

"Better Unborn" may seem a subtle indoctrination into the moments that await, but in fact it makes for the perfect setting of the stage. The organ-driven tones suddenly sprout a mystic guitar rhythm, and we are treated to a full range of Pasi's vocal stylings, impressive in their clarity and brutal potential. The wah-wah of the guitars creates a folk-funk paradise over the scintillating synthesizers, as the bass steadily climbs towards each chorus crash. And then, the elfin dance that is "Against Widows" begins, humppa-like bass lines flogging each graceful step before the track explodes into a glorious surge of melody and grunting, followed with an insanely awesome verse. The heights to which this track ascends are barely containable within the human heart, as it simultaneously pulls at the strings of joy and sorrow. "The Orphan" offers you a breather, as a proggish synth rings out over the flanged, soothing acoustics, and Pasi turns in the best clean vocal performance of his career, as he belts out the gorgeous narrative of birds: The dove�s heart is cold as it pecks the village rick/But I�m colder still as I drink the icy water. When the track hits the 2:40 mark, it creates a percussive low end below the writhing guitar melody and sweltering choir synth, before the bluesy conclusion of the bridge.

As if to apologize for the sultry nature of the previous track, "On Rich and Poor" simply explodes directly onto the map, with a series of leaden melodies so fucking brilliant that they send shivers up my spine. If you cannot feel that melody after :20, then I really question whether your ears work, because it's one of the most stunning guitar lines I've ever heard, a powerful charge that seamlessly bears the weight of the growling vocal. Speaking of stunning, the way the dual bridge melody at 2:00 transforms back into that original tour de force will steal your breath away. "My Kantele" follows, and you likely all know this one, an electric ballad with enough swagger to tap your mug, horn, or lady once, twice, thrice until sodden or spent. I prefer this heavier version of the song, but if somehow can't stand the grunting on this track, you will be taken care of later. "Cares" is another scorcher, with a slamming chug rhythm that undercuts its looping, amazing melody in a way reminiscent of late 80s King Diamond. Alas, the synths are once again an escalating, incredible presence, and the rhythm created alongside the growling at :50 is another of those spine-chillers. The song takes some very interesting turns, with glimmering, astral polka and even surviving a brief techno fill as it soars to its mountainous summit and searing, funky lead.

Drag my cares away, carry off my griefs
For no horse can draw, no iron-shod jerk
Without the shaft-bow shaking off
The cares of this skinny one, the sorrows of this black bird

Lyrics and music do not often work together this well, do they? Again, Amorphis are able to transform an ancient script into a series of relevant diatribes that conjure not only history, but scenery and emotion that almost any listenere can relate to. "Song of the Troubled One" allows Rantals some room to work his various synth sounds into another tribute to majesty, as the funky guitars return behind a burning lead, and the band once again crafts one of the greatest melodies in the history of metal music after 2:00. Yeah. I don't even believe in angels, but I have to admit shit like this could only be written by such divine agents, because it is just that pretty. "Weeper on the Shore" is another folksy, flowing ballad, complete with growling, circular swinging synth lines, and a fucking killer melody shared between synth and axe at 1:00. "Elegy" itself is the dopest creation this side of the galaxy, with a mesmerizing piano pattern that gracefully ascends to its climactic, doomed mid-section, well worth the 7+ minutes of the composition. Now when I say doom, I mean 3:15 of "Elegy" is what DOOM should fucking sound like. Eternal, crushing like the weight of a thousand suns as they lower you into your casket with careful, burning hands. This is excellence on par with the best of anything Candlemass or Paradise Lost have ever written.

This is actually the climax of the album, but Amorphis still have a few goodies in mind for you, beginning with the Hawkwind-like space-folk psychedelics of the instrumental "Relief", and then the acoustic vocal version of "My Kantele". It goes without saying that both are extremely song, and while I myself might favor the heavier vocals with "My Kantele", I am sure there are a great many in the audience that prefer its mellow counterpart. And thus, we have it arrived at the end of nearly an hour of balanced, unflinching, unforgettable songwriting. It must be time to press repeat!

Elegy is like a vortex where psychedelia, history and melodic death metal were fused into an expression so natural that you wonder how its components were ever separate to begin with. Every note is so carefully gathered into its overarching rhythm, that with a fine-tooth I could not comb over this album and find a single awkward selection. Certainly this is not the type of album we had grown accustomed to by the year of 1996, and while it's not the only career defining masterpiece of this year (Samael's pendulous, cosmic, drum machined masterpiece Passage is comparable), its originality, grace and grasp of superb, memorable craftsmanship has given me 15 straight years of enjoyment with no signs of ever ending. Yes, I still shiver when I think of how much impact this album had on me as I entered the third decade of my life, and I still blush when sharing it with someone new for the first time. It's like taking someone's virginity...they have heard music before, but not quite like this, and you need to ease them in to. Unless you like it rough, then just blast "On Rich and Poor" in their face until they relent their bad taste.

Highlights: In the 60s, man landed on the Moon. In the 70s...um, disco?! In the 80s, The Wall came down. In the 90s, Amorphis listened to disco, then wrote Elegy, and then even the Moon was worshipping it. Buy a copy for yourself, and every person you know.

Verdict: Epic Win [10/10 to the 10th power] (softer the side of a grove)

http://www.amorphis.net

Amorphis - The Karelian Isthmus (1992)

It is easy to be fooled by the rather primitive nature of Amorphis' full-length debut. The album has held up extremely well over the years and still remains among their better material, though it's crushing, doomed force was extreme enough to later polarize fans of the band, as they would choose a more accessible path, straying rather far from the realm of their roots, later to realign themselves. This is some heavy shit, but it does feel mildly tame in comparison to the vibrant aggression of the Privilege of Evil EP (which, if you bought the 2003 re-issue of this album, is included here). As far as its own influences, you will hear some Bolt Thrower, some early Death, and perhaps a more upbeat alternative to the UK death and doom legends My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost.

The Karelian Isthmus features the original 'solid' lineup of the band: Tomi Koivusaari on both growls and guitars, Esa Holopainen on guitar, Olli-Pekka Laine on bass, and Jan Rechberger handling the drums and keys. Though you will hear the melodic traces of the style they would later adapt for Tales from the Thousand Lakes, these are kept rather brooding and simple as they skirt across the bulky, thuggish chords that mire the material in cavernous grooves. Keyboards are used only in a few spots, much of the album is straight forward death metal with a few slower breeches. Yes, of any Amorphis record, this is the most likely to turn your blue skies black and wreathe you in endless sorrow. While the album is named for an important tract of land connecting Finland to Russia, the lyrics here actually do not focus solely on Finnish folklore (like later albums), but also on Celtic and Arthurian legend.

"Karelia" anoints the tracklist, a brief and brazen acoustic piece that glimmers with subtle synths touching off in the background, after which "The Gathering" rapes your ears with monolithic, booming chords and frightful, lilting melodies which feel like the shift from autumn to winter, as hope and life is drained from the very earth so that slumber may commence. At :40, the track slows even more, as the 4-chord pattern crashes and the melodies descend to their natural demise. Later in the track, the beat quickens with a riff very similar to something you might hear on Death's Leprosy. "Grail's Mysteries" jams forward into an amazing groove, with a melody of oblique origins (could recount the ages of ancient Egypt just as easily as Europe). At around 2:20, the song lurches into this slow, depressing segment which is probably responsible for half the damn nation's excess suicide rate. "Warrior's Trial" follows, with yet another of the big 4-chord Paradise Lost-style riffs that graduates into Bolt Thrower's rumbling death influence and comparable melodies. "Black Embrace" feels a trifle more reserved here than the Privilege of Evil EP, but its chunky tone suits the surrounding tracks and its moshing energy alternates from molasses to momentum.

Terror, when the darkness binds your limbs
Terror, when the fear freezes your nerves
Horror, when the pain climbs up your veins
Darkness, creeping under you skin
Moment of life, when we all have to choose,
Which way to go, and for whom to sacrifice your life

"Exile of the Sons of Uisliu" creates an uplifting motion, capped by mountainous melodies before it too walks the doomed path, this time with a pre-Medieval pattern that evokes imagery of the hardship of the warrior culture. "The Lost Name of God" is another of the album's darker, depressive cuts, slowly trudging across cold plains as it slowly castigates the Christian hysteria that destroyed (or absorbed and mutated) the rich traditions of the North folk of Europe. "The Pilgrimage", renamed here from "Pilgrimage from Darkness" on the EP, is a surge of fist pumping, dire chords and steadily marching drums, and "Misery Path" is as stark, bloodied and glorious as it is...miserable. The album's native ending comes in "The Sign from the North Side", and though it rocks like a bucket of blood being slowly poured over your head, it is not one of the stronger tracks, unless of course you value the utter chugging demons it provokes. There is a re-worked version of "Vulgar Necrolatry" as a bonus track, a good song and one of the most vicious pieces of death metal the band had written.

If you know and come to expect only the more folk rock orientation of the later Amorphis works, it is highly possible that you will not derive much entertainment from The Karelian Isthmus. For an era churning out moody death like Incantation, Anathema and Paradise Lost, it fits rather well as an extension to that early 90s collection of deep, death obscura. And by the by, this album still does kick a fair share of ass. Considering that the band has recently brought back its growling and a dash of the Elegy concoction, I often wonder at the possibility of a full-on reversion into this primal, menacing nightmare, both beautiful and bleak. Not bloody likely, but at the very least, The Karelian Isthmus was the launching pad for two siblings that rank among the greatest Finnish albums ever written, metal or otherwise.

Highlights: The Gathering, Warrior's Trial, Exile of the Sons of Uisliu, The Lost Name of God

Verdict: Win [8.5/10] (do you see my mortal agony)

http://www.amorphis.net/

Amorphis - Chapters (2003)

Ladies and gentlemen, step on board for the latest cash and grab sensation! Relapse Records, though having been parted from their Finnish cows, decided it might be best to squeeze a few more drops of juice out of the old lemon. Thus begin the Chapters, a two-disc collection, the first featuring 17 tracks of music, the latter with 5 videos. Oh man, videos! This must totally be worth it. Nuts.

Most of the material here covers the first five albums of the band, though in a sort of reverse order. In other words, The Karelian Isthmus material ("Warriors Trial", "Exile of the Suns of Uisliu", and "The Lost Name of God") is tucked away near the end; it begins with Am Universum ("Alone", "Drifting Memories"), proceeds through Tuonela ("The Way", "Summer's End"), Elegy ("Better Unborn", "My Kantele", and "Weeper on the Shore"), and then Tales from the Thousand Lakes ("Black Winter Day", "The Castaway", "Drowned Maid"). Also included are "Moon and Sun" from the Black Winter Day EP and "The Brother-Slayer" from My Kantele EP. Since this has all been released before, on a series of albums that range from essential to just okay, there is really no cause for a repressing. In fact, the only tracks the average Amorphis fan might not be familiar with are "Too Late to See" from the Alone single, and "Northern Lights" from the Divinity single. But even these are not worth shelling out any of your hard earned cash for this release.

Had Chapters been a collection of rare and unreleased material (like the single B-sides), it would hold some intrinsic value. Alas, it is pure ass-rape, and customary for a metal or independent label to pad their sales by releasing shit you already have. I have never understood the concept, not here and not 30 years ago when huge rock/pop acts had 'greatest hits' albums. You might think to yourself, 'but I want the own the videos', but hold out for that eventual DVD release. It's a cash grab.

So if you happen to be born yesterday, and you're wetting your feet in the thousand lakes for the first time, heed my advice. Let's say this disc only costs $8-10. Take that same $8-10, and go buy Elegy or Tales from the Thousand Lakes. In fact, spend $20 and buy both of them. You can thank me later.

Verdict: Epic Fail [0/10] (People like money, I get it. I like integrity. Is it really so difficult to provide one for the other?)

http://www.amorphis.net

Amorphis - My Kantele EP (1997)

Amorphis' gathering popularity in the 90s went a long way towards their record label's flexibility in releasing material outside of the norm, starting with the EPs that accompanied their early albums, and later evolving into a series of (mostly) worthless singles. My Kantele stands at a crossroads, because it's the last of this type of release from Amorphis that was actually worth buying. There is a lot in common with the previous EP, Black Winter Day. You get some cover material, a pair of related new tracks, and an album cut (in this case, the acoustic version of "My Kantele". In fact, if you were into cassettes, you may have already picked up the version of this release that featured Black Winter Day on the B-side.

Though Elegy is hands down one of my favorite metal albums ever created, for its brilliant mesh of death/doom, folk and 70s prog rock influence, "My Kantele" is surprisingly not my favorite song found there. However, it does translate extremely well into an acoustic setting, complete with Kim Rantala's organs and Pekka Kasari's percussion. Pasi Koskinen proves here how he was the best and most versatile vocalist this band ever had, with a nasal discontent that conveys the cold streams and woodlands of his own backyard into lush folk abandon. "The Brother Slayer" and its sibling "The Lost Son" sound like pieces that could not make the cut for Elegy, taking the psychedelic elements to the extreme. "The Brother Slayer" is like a mixture of Hawkwind and "My Kantele", both spaced out and endearing, though it never really busts into anything as far as heavy guitars, preferring to follow the vocal melody and crashing acoustics. "The Lost Son" is a little more freeform, with percussion and psychedelic synthesizers that cut into a cross-current of Phish and Hawkwind. Speaking of Hawkwind, Amorphis do a cover of "Levitation" on this EP, and while it fits the motif of their Elegy-era writing, it has nothing on the original. The final track on the EP is a cover of Kingston Wall's "And I Hear You Call", which is surprisingly the best non-album tune you'll find here, as it is given the full on Amorphis treatment, catchier and more powerful than any of the tracks preceding it, with some great Pasi growls that would rarely be heard again (in this band).

The My Kantele does function as a prelude to what will follow, the controversial move into pure folk/rock/metal territory that is Tuonela. But, as I'm having a hard time enjoying that album these days (with the exception of 2-3 tracks), I'm also not so fond of this release. It has a couple moments of psychedelic bliss that border on too derivative of Hawkwind, and judging by the cover of "Levitation", this was intentional. Nothing here lives up to the astounding Elegy, and though I wouldn't call it a 'money grab', you can hear why none of this material was good enough to appear elsewhere, aside from "My Kantele" itself. It was only a few bucks, and diehards and collectors all bought it, but just not something I would have listened to again had I not been writing this review.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10] (I have been watering my horse)

http://www.amorphis.net

Amorphis - Black Winter Day EP (1995)

Since most people probably own this release in its modern form, as an attachment of bonus tracks to the iconic Tales from the Thousand Lakes album, the physical product that is the Black Winter Day EP has very little independent value. However, if you are not privy to the CD release, and own the original LP, it's probably worth tracking down for the sake of completion, as the non-album material is decent enough to justify ownership. Featuring five tracks at about 17 minutes length, it's not a bad listen of its own accord.

As this EP was released post-Thousand Lakes, most people would already be familiar with the title track. "Black Winter Day" is really great, with its proggish Moog synthesizers and mix of gruff and clean vocals; circular melodies that embellish the pioneering folklish edge that the band would fully explore in its future releases. "Folk of the North" is probably meant as an intro, a brief piano piece with some percussion and guitars for atmosphere. It's not the highlight here, of course, as this duty falls to the two parts of "Moon and Sun". The former half features this amazing breakdown before :50 where the haunting organ plays as it summons back the guitars. "Moon and Sun Part II: North's Son" is longer, with a beautiful and desperate mid-pace that rocks hard through its inescapable melody and charging guitars. The cover of "Light My Fire" is almost silly, but in a strange way it actually fits Amorphis' direction towards 70s rock and folk, and it was the first guttural Jim Morrison I had heard by this point.

The bottom line for the Black Winter Day EP is that it's worth owning if you don't already have access to the "Moon and Sun" duology, a pair of great tracks that fit in well with the amazing album of the previous year. It was nice to not have to hold one's breath forever for a little more of the same...though the piano piece and Doors cover are curiosities at best.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (death opens its mouth)

http://www.amorphis.net/

Amorphis - Privilege of Evil EP (1993)

Though I'd hardly dub it a mandatory purchase, since most of the tracks within can be found elsewhere in a re-recorded state, the Privilege of Evil EP has quite an interesting background. It was originally going to be a split release with Incantation from the US, and yet it was given an independent pressing through Relapse Records, while Incantation's half remained on the back burner for 15 years...then released as Blasphemous Creation. If you're expecting the radio friendly, heavily melodic folk Amorphis of the band's later years, you may be in for a shock, as Privilege of Evil shows the band at their most primal form, playing the crushing death metal foundation that would evolve into the sounds of The Karelian Isthmus and Tales from the Thousand Lakes, sans the heavy use of keyboards and the gripping melodies.

Three of the tracks also appear on the band's debut album The Karelian Isthmus: "Pilgrimage from Darkness" (later reduced to the title "The Pilgrimage"), "Black Embrace" and "Misery Path". "Pilgrimage" sounds quite good in particular on this EP, with a beautiful raw, doomy tone to the slower guitars, choir samples and very dark feel. "Black Embrace" and "Misery Path" sound a lot like late 80s Bolt Thrower, that is they develop some serious, crushing thick grooves, and the former does have a melody to foreshadow their later work, as well as a brief, doomy acoustic foray. Rounding out the release are "Excursing from Existence", which is re-recorded from the band's 1991 demo Disment of Soul. From that same demo comes the EP title track, "Privilege of Evil", which is quite excellent, the best song here, with some engaging brutality that cedes into an atmospheric doom, as the guitars chug below the very simple keyboard line. Amorphis also include a cover of Abhorrence's "Vulgar Necrolatry", and there is an appearance from vocalist Jukka Kolehmainen.

The material is all pretty consistent, that is as a 23 minute release it flows very well through its trudging walls of barbaric death and doom. If you are seeking refinement in the band's sound, seek elsewhere, because this is just like a pair of bricks clapping you on the ears. Yet, it's quite good for what it is...and I can't fault it for such a monolithic, vibrant sound. Any fan of Amorphis, or the early death/doom scene, should own it if only for "Privilege of Evil" itself, and the other non-album demo track and cover.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10] (to terror in your eyes)

http://www.amorphis.net/