Year : 2018 (Limited Edition Digiapk)
Style : Progressive Metal , Melodic Heavy Metal
Country : Finland
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans + Video
Size : 211 mb
Bio:
Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including heavy metal, progressive metal, and folk metal. They frequently use the Kalevala, the Epic Poem of Finland, as a source for their lyrics.In 1989, Jan Rechberger and Esa Holopainen played in a thrash metal band called Violent Solution, which Tomi Koivusaari had left the previous year to form the death metal band Abhorrence. Violent Solution slowly dissolved and Jan Rechberger and Esa Holopainen put together another death metal band.In early 1990, Tomi Koivusaari became the vocalist and Oppu Laine became their bassist.During that time, Koivusaari also performed rhythm guitar, leading to the band dumping all original compositions and starting over again.Koivusaari's other band, Abhorrence, split up and he found himself with more time to put into Amorphis. A demo tape, Disment of Soul, was recorded in 1991 by Timo Tolkki at TTT studios.After the band recorded their first studio demo tape, Relapse Records offered Abhorrence a recording contract. Since Abhorrence was no longer active, they sent their own demo in the return mail and got signed to a worldwide recording deal. Soon after getting signed they released their death metal debut, The Karelian Isthmus under the new name Amorphis and later released the Privilege of Evil EP. The EP featured Abhorrence's original vocalist, Jukka Kolehmainen, on vocals on the Abhorrence cover song "Vulgar Necrolatry".In 1994, Amorphis released their second studio album, Tales from the Thousand Lakes, a concept album based on the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. This 1994 release, while still rooted in death metal, was their first step toward a new direction as melodic clean vocals were added,provided by Ville Tuomi. Tales from the Thousand Lakes won the band a fan base thanks to its innovative sound and fusion of death metal with traditional folk, psychedelia, and progressive elements. This album went on to influence the signature Amorphis sound.During the subsequent tours Kasper (keyboards) left the band, to be replaced by Kim Rantala. Jan was replaced by Pekka Kasari (ex-Stone), and a sixth member was recruited, singer Pasi Koskinen. The third album, Elegy was released in 1996. Lyrics were again adapted from Finnish mythology, in this case, the Kanteletar, a collection of ancient folk poetry. Pasi and Tomi shared the vocals on an equal basis, with Pasi's providing only clean parts.After a year and a half of touring following the release of Elegy, the band members took a time-out. Their next offering, 1999's Tuonela was a mellow guitar album, although toward the end of the studio sessions, Santeri Kallio of Kyyria was brought in to add some keyboard tracks to the songs. New instruments were introduced (Tomi playing sitar in the song "Greed", Sakari Kukko on saxophone and flute providing a foreign accent) and the death growls were reduced, as all vocals were performed by Pasi.The tenth-anniversary compilation Story was produced, and the band experienced another line-up change. Following the breakup of Kyyria, Santeri joined Amorphis as a full-time member. Bassist Oppu was replaced by another ex-Kyyria member, Niclas Etelävuori, to tour with Amorphis on their third U.S. tour.On August 21, 2012, Amorphis announced on their website that a new album was in the works.On January 17, 2013, the band announced the title and release date for their next record. Circle was released on April 19 in Europe and April 30th in North America. Tomi Joutsen on the new album, "Circle represents integrity. Back in the days, when there was something special to talk about, wise men used to sit in circle. Not everyone was invited to join them. But in this story, the protagonist was invited among the wise men's circle.” On September 16, 2013, Circle won Metal Hammer´s “The Album of The Year” award. Esa Holopainen on the award, "For us, Album of the Year award is a great recognition for the work done so far. Especially when we got it from our 11th studio album."On August 4, 2014, Amorphis announced on their website and through social media that they would be playing a number of special Tales from the Thousand Lakes 20th Anniversary shows where their 1994 album would be performed in its entirety. Tales from the Thousand Lakes 20th Anniversary shows included festivals such as Wacken Open Air, Maryland Deathfest, and 70000 Tons of Metal with many other tour dates and festivals included.The band began demoing new songs at the start of 2015, and in 4 March of that same year, it was announced that Amorphis will begin to record a new in album in April 2015, at Fascination Street Studio, Örebro, Sweden with Jens Bogren and with an album release date sometime in September 2015.The lyrics will be written once again by Pekka Kainulainen, who says "Like 'Kalevala', they are descriptions of natural phenomena, seasons and the human mind. Reoccuring situations where hope and uncertainty alternate. Attempting to gain advice from higher powers. The poems do not form a complete story per se, but they are drawn together by a certain theme. We live under a red cloud and once again, time weighs us."The release of the new album will be followed by a world tour, starting with shows in the band's home country of Finland, then other parts of Europe with Nightwish & Arch Enemy in November 2015.In 15 June 2015, it was announced that the title for the Twelfth Studio Full-length LP Album is Under The Red Cloud, with the artwork and tracklist revealed and with a release date of 4 September 2015.
Album:
Consistency is a term that is given to many bands these days, but one which perhaps categorizes a band like Amorphis the best, as there are few other bands have delivered well constructed albums for almost three decades. You might be forgiven for thinking that following the release of their last album, the critically well received ‘Under the Red Cloud’ that a band like Amorphis might have decided to rest on their laurels. Enter their upcoming 13th album ‘Queen of Time’, in album that once again proves that the band isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, and that they aren’t afraid of embracing new and creative elements into their music.Opening track “The Bee” sets a very strong precedent for the album. The opening key harmony begins with an almost Gregorian chant sounding section over the top of it that continues to build as the guitars, drums and bass are all introduced. It is a slow build, but one that works so well for such a big track and definitely creates a very vivid impression of the album as a whole right out of the gates. “Message in the Amber” follows next and sees a stronger prevalence of the bands folksier side, sporting a choral riff that would seamlessly slot into any folk metal track. However the bold contrast between the verses and chorus are what really provide the strength in this track. Much like “The Bee” proceeding it, the slower verses enhance each chorus by giving them that bit more of an extra punch when the heaviness comes around, and when fused with the accompaniment of a choir to complete a bridge you are given a starkly beautiful track which is one of the shining beacons on the album.“Daughter of Hate” is a standard Amorphis track, complete with a bombastically catchy riff and standard melodic faire – so much so that it seemed like the band might have been reverting to their usual ways and playing it safe from there on out, but then the band follows that up with “The Golden Elk”, a mystifying atmospheric tonal track that is a beautiful curve ball which showcases the band lifting their game to the maximum. While the dichotomy between the clean and harsh singing is again on display in such a refined manner, it’s the use of real string instruments in this song that works beautifully and creates an enthralling wall of sound effect. This coupled with the almost middle-eastern sounding acoustic solo, which is beautifully led into and used in such a way that it adds character to an already exuberant song, make this a stand out song on the album.From this point, the album sets into a tier of consistency with “Wrong Direction”, “Heart of the Giant” and “We Accursed”. These songs embody everything you have come to expect from Amorphis, but are structured in such a way that they keep everything sounding fresh and inspired, rather than reverting to past influences. While there might not be anything overly identifiable from them as opposed to the other tracks, each song bears its own distinct mark on the story of ‘Queen of Time’ as a whole.“Grain of Sand” follows this trio and seems to be a bit at odds with itself. On one hand you have a sonically happy sounding track with that offers listeners a feeling of joy and elation, while on the other hand the harsh delivery and sorrowful nature of the lyrics seem to completely contradict this happier undertone. It’s a different song, and one in which the sound varies largely from the overall tone of the album making it one that listeners will either love or hate, but it has its redeeming moments.The album closes out with “Amongst Stars” and “Pyres on the Coast”. “Amongst Stars” almost seems like a fitting enough song to be the album closer, featuring a beautiful guest vocal appearance by Anneke van Giersbergen that is a surprising, yet welcomed addition to the overall flow of the album. “Pyres on the Coast” however, takes all the lessons learnt from every preceding song to create a thunderous cacophony of a track that puts every strength of the band on display. Whether they intended on it or not, the band has seemingly ‘saved the best for last’, giving the album a closing two songs that act as a wonderful contrast to each other and work to truly encapsulate the spirit of the album.The production value on this album is second to none, but and being that the band has opted again to work with Jens Bogren for a second time, that’s not really that surprising. The use of real string instruments and other elements not normally utilised by the band – a suggestion made by Bogren – helps accentuate the individual sounds present in each song and provides a very transformative and progressive side to the band’s music, one which will hopefully translate well into a live setting.Will ‘Queen of Time’ make it to end of 2018 ‘Top 10 lists’? Only time will tell. But the Finns can rest comfortably in the fact that they have created another album that is going to be in the thoughts of those making those lists. While this album won’t be for everyone, anybody that has any sort of adoration or love of the melodic death, progressive or folk metal genres will find something to enjoy at separate times on this album, and that makes it worth checking out purely on its own.Many thought it would be difficult for Amorphis to top ‘Under the Red Cloud’, yet the band has seemingly taken every aspect of that album that the fans loved, amped it to the max, and then recorded ‘Queen of Time’. At a time where it is imperative that bands adapt to the ever changing musical landscape, Amorphis has introduced new elements to their music and has reinvigorated their sound in the process, proving that almost 30 years into their career that they have no intentions of slowing down.
Line Up:
Olli-Pekka Laine Bass (1990-2000, 2017-present) - See also: Barren Earth, Mannhai, ex-Chaosbreed, ex-Nuxvomica, Kiljuvelka-70, ex-Rytmihäiriö
Jan Rechberger Drums (1990-1995, 2002-present), Keyboards (1992-1993) - See also: Jonne, ex-Violent Solution, Grease Helmet, ex-Ajattara
Esa Holopainen Guitars (lead) (1990-present) - See also: ex-Chaosbreed, ex-Tuska20, ex-Violent Solution
Tomi Koivusaari Guitars (rhythm) (1990-present), Vocals (1990-1997, 2010) - See also: Abhorrence, Verenpisara, ex-Ajattara, ex-Violent Solution, ex-Jam-Bore, ex-Karuselli, ex-Rebirth, ex-Velcra
Santeri Kallio Keyboards (1999-present) - See also: Jonne, ex-Kyyria, ex-Tuska20, Verenpisara
Tomi Joutsen Vocals (2004-present) - See also: Corpse Molester Cult, Hallatar, Sinisthra, ex-Funeral Jacket, ex-Käsi, ex-Tuska20, ex-Nevergreen, Feelings, ex-The Candles Burning Blue
Tracklist:
01. The Bee
02. Message In The Amber
03. Daughter Of Hate
04. The Golden Elk
05. Wrong Direction
06. Heart Of The Giant
07. We Accursed
08. Grain Of Sand
09. Amongst Stars
10. Pyres On The Coast
11. As Mountains Crumble (Bonus Track)
12. Brother And Sister (Bonus Track)
13. Honeyflow (Japan Bonus Track)
+ Video "Wrong Direction" (Official Video)
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