Amorphis
“Eclipse”
Nuclear Blast Records
The Inside Pulse:
These days, it’s hard to pigeon-hole Finland’s Amorphis into the metal category … the band has more of a folk-metal feel for lack of a better phrase. The group is technically sound on the metal front, but adds a certain element to the chords and melodies, giving some of the songs an almost-medieval tone. When the band started out in 1990, it was purely a death metal outfit. But, over the years, the group’s sound has evolved. Amorphis’ last couple of albums with Pasi Koskinen in the vocal slot further expanded the group’s direction (you could almost consider “Am Universum” a hard-rock album), drawing influence from a variety of places while keeping the same core principle. When Koskinen left the band following 2003’s “Far From the Sun” release, fans began to wonder if the band would call it a day.
It did not.
The addition of Tomi Joutsen breathed new life into Amorphis. The group was rejuvenated and ended up crafting what is destined to be one of the strongest metal releases of 2006: “Eclipse.”
Positives:
The core, creative and vast sound of Amorphis is intact. The songs are full of elaborate guitar riffs, full drumming and expansive interplay between the guitar solos and bass-bridges. As impossible as it sounds, the band is completely metal but hardly metal all at once (think Dream Theater’s earlier work mixed with European flavor and less overblown).
Joutsen’s vocals are deeper in delivery and add a hard-rock element to the band’s sound. Joutsen even offers up some death metal growls in limited quantity, a welcome addition to long-time fans and something that had all but disappeared from the group’s last few outings. The guitar work is spot-on, the drumming is top-notch and never overpowering, and the bass offers a subtle presence to proceedings. The album pulls you in from the onset and is sure to win the band new followers.
Negatives:
The production was a little muddy at times. Joutsen is a fantastic addition to the band, but his vocals are almost washed out in the first couple of tracks, overpowered by the band and guitars in particular. The problem is even more apparent on the US release of the album, which features a new (bonus) track (“Stone Women”) with the vocals on a better level with the rest of the tracking. Literally, that is the only problem I have with the release. The spattering of death metal growls left me wanting more, but that can probably be considered a positive.
Reasons to buy:
Amorphis really deserves much more attention than it gets. The group is one of the best European metal acts out there and, while a hit abroad, hasn’t really caught on with the American audience. The band is a tight metal outfit, with enough riffs to appeal to any metal fan, but also with enough outside influence to be enjoyed by any fan “heavier” music. The new vocals add an awesome new dimension to the band which shows little signs off slowing down. Highly, highly recommended.
