I mean, Jari isn't even in the band or as a guest so was he even needed here on the album cover?
Ah, Amorphis, one of those bands in the back of my head asking to be checked out for years but I never had the time . Well, this review was demanded for quite a while now and I finally have a chance to check out this death metal band that through the years changed their musical style. I don't know the reason for this change, I can only assume it's because pure death metal is stagnant and boring and it doesn't fit a finnish band to be either of those things. Unless your name is Children of Boredom.
Since it's my first contact with the band I don't have or care about any specific details that should be said about band's history or how this release differs from the previous one, go check out professional reviewers for this stuff. If you can find them, it gets harder and harder nowadays.
1. The Bee
Shh, I know. The song starts with female voice, sounding a bit like Enigma's return to innocence chanting before male growls enter with verse 1. The intro has a rather cool keyboard melody but I like how they don't stretch it like Within Temptation and go straight to the verse after setting the mood for this song.
And what a mood it is, closest I ever heard to this was Shade Empire, but here it's definitely isn't black metal. Just a good ass mix of death, symphonic and slightly progpower metal with a nice sublime pathos coming from clean vocals here and there.
They build their castles in the heads of kings
Yes, I know, the lyrics. From what I understand it's a finnish mythology thing but it's not my bee *snorts*. Still, definitely nice to have a story behind the lyrics and something for their already established fans to dig in and research for more pleasure.
When it comes to general audio quality it's as you would expect from a 13th studio album from most bands (not called Sonata Arctica) - it's polished, matured, they know how this stuff should sound, especially with growls. Sounds good on speakers, headphones and most likely potatoes as well.
But I'll give good old Nick what he deserves, especially with those lyrics.
A face you won't have while listening to this song
2. Massage in the Chamber
Message in the Amber, I know, I can dream can't I?
A folky, energetic melody starts this one before the song slows down and clean vocals start the verse.
As in the previous one there's jumping between cleans and growls as another story is told, but in a more folky, adventurous tone.
There's a good usage of repetition in the first chorus to make the point with "Thus dawns the age of Moss" that doesn't repeat in the later choruses and I really liked this idea. Nothing revolutionary but allows the new audience to sing this line along with the upcoming ones.
There's a female led choir in the half of the song and there's something interesting just after it's part, at first I thought I heard some weird GLaDOS voice before realizing it's a vocoder "voice". It's definitely the first time I hear something like this "sing" the chorus and a really cool experiment by the band.
3. Daughter of Hate
So, like a child made during hate fuck? The lyrics don't say otherwise so I'll say "nailed it" and move on. As with the previous 2 songs it's another story related lyrics and just like other songs it has something interesting for us to check out and be surprised by- a saxophone solo (!) that kinda even fits, sorta, comes pretty much out of nowhere on the first listen but it's not bad. And a finnish spoken part in the 3/4rd of the song.
Dudes are really not scared of experimenting here.
4. The Golden Elk
Hopefully not eaten by Insomnium's Golden Wolf. Unlike the last 3 songs it's less story oriented and more catchy, probably because of the switcheroo- now death metal growls tell the verses and cleans sing the chorus.
Amorphis bumped into Orphaned Land here and got some oriental metal instruments in the middle of the song, so yet another cool addition here as well.
But I do have some criticism here- I don't like how vocals are structured in the second verse, second half, feels stretched a bit. Also the main guitar riff could be much juicier here, I didn't mind the guitar sound in the previous songs but here it calls for a good Kalmah treatment and make those guitars put a finger up the listener's ass a bit, make him feel a bit more uncomfortable but excited.
Still, I bitch about it but it's because I really like it and I care, so far it's my favourite here but it might change soon with
5. Wrong Direction
You know, back in the day it would call for a lame One Direction joke. But hell, One Direction compared to a lot of new stuff sounds *good*.
This song compared to previous 4 is basically a metal pop song. It's not story-oriented, it's almost exclusively clean vocals and the structure is very simple.
And I love it.
It really doesn't need to be anything more and just shows that those guys can do both complex and simple stuff well. It's not like Nightwish did with "Harvest" on their last album, this song isn't out of place here. Guitar&keyboard main melody is very similar to the opening track's and we get some kind of flute as a break interlude, some very good and powerful drumming and great, powerful growls during the outro with female choirs to finish the song on a strong note.
A textbook definition of a hit song here.
6. Heart of a Giant
Starts slowly to give the listener a small break after the previous song before it speeds up to somewhat a power metal epic-story-style song.
Sadly the flow of the song is disrupted by the melody of the chorus, I really can't understand what they were going for here. The chorus melody goes well with the guitar solo but the verses and instrumentals between sound more streamlined than the chorus full of stops.
7. We Accursed
Similar to the previous song the intro would suggest another epic story told with the power metal rhythm and it actually delivers, the chorus flows nicely here, even if the lyrics could be stronger or catchier.
There's a fun interlude before the guitar solo which is solid and flows into a keyboard solo with a cool rhytm guitar beside it.
This song is a good example on how you write a power metal song with growls and fun without going into Alestorm (lame joke band & shit quality content) territory, even if lyrics could be a bit better here.
8. Grain of Sand
An overall mid tempo song with some of that oriental metal feel and with a simpler structure than the last 2 songs and really cool guitar transitions. It's hard to say something more, it's a blend of what we already heard on this album but not catchy & memorable enough to give more spotlight.
9. Amongst Stars
Anneke van Giersbergen is here and I won't dare to review a song with the most lovely woman in metal world in there. My reviews aren't objective at all but I just love her voice too much to turn on the reviewer mode, sorry. I can only say that if you don't like something from this song then there's always Anneke's voice to make you feel better. And think of her wonderful smile while you listen.
10. Pyres on the Coast
Excluding the bonus songs it's the closer of the album and the intro lets you know about that, starting strong before slowing down for the verse, telling a story of the upcoming pirate attack on the coast and the people being ready for it.
While not as full of pathos as the opening track it definitely delivers a closure, being structurally solid, driven mostly by the growls that fit the lyrical theme of this song. There are some calmer interludes with very distorted, distant guitar sounds and ends with a strong drumming and riffing with some 'epic' keyboards going in the background.
Well, what a mixed bag this album was. I'm very impressed after my first bump with Amorphis as they are very creative and experimental for their 13th studio album. While I don't know their previous works I can't say it's an unlucky album for them, first half of the album is very solid and only on the second half I met some ideas I wasn't on board with.
It's a long piece of art, having a bunch of songs over 6 minutes long and they aren't bloated or stretched so it definitely wasn't an easy listen, with all the experiments or complex structures, maybe I got too tired before the second half of the album to appreciate it fully.
All the pieces of the album (vocals, instruments, experiments, structures, lyrics, themes, mixing) are well crafted and thought out, it was really hard to pinpoint certain elements that didn't fit the album so I can only say what I personally dislike, and it should be no surprise to some that it's the death metal parts.
I would fall in love if it was a melodic death metal band mixing all those other genres elements, but the way growls are sang (while being of very high quality themselves) just screams death metal to me, it's hard to explain- it's like there's some kind of constant struggle and anger in his voice that takes me out of the immersion done by lyrics, cleans and instruments only to remind me that I listen to something that chose to be death metal.
But I'm fully aware it's just me, any fan of mixed death metal should love it to..death. And I would lie if I said I wasn't floating along the magic of storytelling during the first half of the album.
Nightwish, take fucking notes on how you write lyrics & sing them during the verses, you don't have to force your vocalists to add fake melody to words by singing them different, you can make not rhymed verses and add more melody on choruses like Amorphis did here. They had a story to tell, they didn't force rhymes and just made the instrumental background a blank canvas for their lyrical picture they wanted to show.
Epica, take fucking no-no. No. Just stop, you lame fucking band, Amorphis does everything you do better. In symphonic, growling and prog stuff they are lightyears above your shit. You are allowed to blatantly copy Amorphis songs, because a lame copy/cover of Amorphis will be better than your fucking shit.
Sadly I can't say I'll become a huge Amorphis fan after listening to this record but I'm very glad I finally checked them out, I like what I heard here.
Summary:
Vocals: 9/10
Guitars: 7/10 , more juice next time please
Bass: I actually heard some this time/10
Drums: 8+/10
Keyboards: 8/10
Additional scores:
++ a lot of fun experiments and ideas, rare for bands with that amount of albums released
+ very cool lyrical themes
+ the whole album sounds like a concept album, all songs feel connected
+ high quality of mixing and production
+ rich backgrounds, bunch of cool sounds used, better than some pure symphonic bands
Final Score: 96%. - Worth checking out for symphonic, death, power metal fans. Most metal fans will find something they like here. A generally good metal album here.
