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Amorphis, Queen of Time: Keeper of Fleeting Moments

Posted in Reviews on May 14th, 2018 by JJ Koczan

amorphis queen of time

As they’ve for so long shown an affinity for Finland’s national poem, the Kalevala, it seems somehow only fitting that 28 years after their founding, Amorphis‘ own story should be the stuff of a winding runic epic. Years of lineup changes, sonic evolution, genre definition and defiance have brought them to their 14th long-player, Queen of Time (on Nuclear Blast), with four of their original members in the six-piece lineup, and as they’re quick to show on the Jens Bogren-produced outing, the progression that began on 1992’s The Karelian Isthmus continues unabated. As they mark the return of original bassist Olli-Pekka “Oppu” Laine, with whom they last played on 1999’s Tuonela (discussed here), they embark on some of their most expansive sounds to-date, including not just the standout keyboard work of Santeri Kallio, who joined in 1999, but also flourish in the form of choral and orchestral arrangements and vocal appearances from Anneke van Giersbergen, who guests on the penultimate cut “Amongst Stars,” and longtime lyricist Pekka Kainulainen, who contributes a speech in Finnish to third track “Daughter of Hate.”

That song runs as part of a momentum-building first half of the album that, from the intro to opener “The Bee” through “Message in the Amber,” “Daughter of Hate,” and “The Golden Elk” and “Wrong Direction,” move with experienced poise through the band’s long-established dynamic of folk, death and progressive metals, vocalist Tomi Joutsen (also Hallatar) — who since coming aboard with 2006’s Eclipse (also their label debut on Nuclear Blast) has now been in the band nearly twice as long as his predecessor, Pasi Koskinen — switching easily between guttural growls and dramatic, emotionally driven clean singing.

The clash of the beautiful and the brutal has been at the core of what Amorphis do for over 20 years, since 1996’s groundbreaking third album, Elegy, but whether it’s the chugging riff of “The Bee” meeting with a string arrangement and keyboard launching into the chorus or the later “Grain of Sand” finding Joutsen layering soaring melodies over growls as drummer Jan Rechberger pounds away behind and lead guitarist Esa Holopainen touches on minor-key Easternisms as a chorus backs the bridge to the next onslaught, Amorphis have never quite made the transitions so fluid. Part of that is the melding of melody and extremity as on “Daughter of Hate,” which brings in saxophone around the two-minute mark after a particularly brutal opening, but Bogren, who seems to have been the mastermind behind bringing the choral and orchestral arrangements into the proceedings, can only be considered right for having done do.

amorphis

Even the band’s also-string-inclusive preceding album, 2015’s Under the Red Cloud, which Bogren also oversaw amid a host of engineers, didn’t push as far as “The Bee” or “Message in the Amber,” the latter touching almost on Blind Guardian-style grandiosity in its second half. That’s not a complaint. Even as later cut “We Accursed” holds to a “rawer” approach with its Finn-folk bounce and swirling keyboard solo over a start-stop riff from Holopainen and fellow founder/rhythm guitarist Tomi Koivusaari, Amorphis seem to be expanding on the ideas of Under the Red Cloud, pushing themselves further in multiple directions and still leaving room for hooks like that of “Wrong Direction” or the memorable finale in “Pyres on the Coast” that seems to bring all sides together and round out with Kallio on a still-somehow-appropriate church organ.

But that is what Amorphis does, and it’s what they’ve always done. Save perhaps between 1994’s Tales from the Thousand Lakes and the aforementioned Elegy, their growth has never come in leaps and bounds — and part of that was personnel change — but it’s been a consistent truism of their work that each outing builds off the accomplishments of the one before it, and refuses to stay in the same place. In the now-seven albums they’ve done since Eclipse, when Joutsen came aboard, they’ve been ever more aware of who they are as a band — that is, there are some things an Amorphis record needs to be an Amorphis record, and they seem to consciously tick those boxes — but never afraid to refine their processes and push themselves in ways they haven’t before. As such, the 10 tracks/57 minutes of Queen of Time are multifaceted and rife with breadth, but the core sonic persona of who Amorphis have become — itself true to the band’s name for its ever-changing shape — has remained true.

They are one of a kind in metal, and whatever subgenre one might want to peg them into, they’ll never quite fit all the way. That’s true of the galloping “Heart of the Giant,” the careening delivery of the title-line in “The Golden Elk,” and the piano line that runs under “Amongst Stars,” as the meticulousness of Amorphis‘ songwriting, the sheer clarity and detail of it, makes them an ever more complex and ever more immersive listening experience. Invariably, with a band who’ve been around so long produced such a catalog, fans have their favorites, so I won’t say Queen of Time is the “best” Amorphis album, because the designation is meaningless. However, it is the farthest stage yet reached of their ongoing progression and it claims its place in their catalog as an utter triumph in its achievement. For established fans or open-minded newcomers, it should not be missed.

Amorphis, “Wrong Direction” official video

Amorphis website

Amorphis on Thee Facebooks

Amorphis at Nuclear Blast website

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Amorphis Announce May 18 Release for Queen of Time

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 23rd, 2018 by JJ Koczan

amorphis
You know what? The more we actually find out about this upcoming Amorphis album, the more excited I am to hear it. The band already announced a long, long string of North American tour dates to support it this Fall — and they hadn’t even given away the title yet. Well, the record is called Queen of Time — you’ll note that 2015’s Under a Red Cloud opened with “Death of a King,” the video for which you can see at the bottom of this post — and the newly-unveiled artwork is absolutely frickin’ awesome. I’d buy that shirt. Hell, I’d buy two. One to sleep in, one to wear around.

Oh who the hell am I kidding? I’d wear the sleepy shirt everywhere.

Even so, the point is I’m getting stoked to find out what the long-running Finnish outfit — who with Queen of Time also welcome back bassist Oppu Laine — have in store for their new outing, and though the info is coming in drips and drabs (i.e. no tracklisting yet), I’m just gonna keep posting the press releases and probably a video or two until the album itself actually shows up.

Come on. Come be psyched with me:

amorphis queen of time

AMORPHIS reveal album title, cover and release date

AMORPHIS have finally finished recording their upcoming new studio album, entitled Queen Of Time. The record is scheduled for a May 18th release via Nuclear Blast. In comparison to its predecessor, Under The Red Cloud (2015), the album will include the use of real strings, flutes, orchestral arrangements and even choirs! In addition, this will be the first time that people will be able to hear their lyricist Pekka Kainulainen on the album as he contributes a speech in Finnish.

Today, the band unveils some more details on the production, the album title, the album cover (see above) and on working with their new/old bassist Olli-Pekka Laine.

The album was once again produced by the famous Jens Bogren (OPETH, AMON AMARTH, KREATOR, and many others), who is well-known for challenging and motivating the artists during the recording process. He isn‘t afraid to push them to their limits!

Esa comments: “I guess Queen Of Time turned out as a massive surprise to all of us. During the rehearsing and pre-production we didn‘t have any idea that Jens had this huge picture inside of his head about the landscape of the album. It‘s a very natural continuation to Under The Red Cloud but with steroids. The songs are more aggressive but there‘s more dynamics, harmonies and orchestral arrangements present. The result is AMORPHIS as something you‘ve never heard before! Essentially, working with Jens worked really well. As a person he is very similar to us – we share the same kind of weird humor and we all like to work hard.”

The cover artwork, which was created once again by French artist Jean ”Valnoir” Simoulin from Metastazis, captures the feeling of the lyrics and the music. With Pekka Kainulainen’s (lyricist) words, the lyrical theme is universal: “Cultures rise, flourish, and are destroyed. The story of man is the story of searching, finding, and forgetting. A single spark can set the world afire, a single idea can give birth to a new culture. The greatest can stagnate into insignificance, the smallest can hold the power for change. The lyrics on this album are distant echoes of ancient forest peoples, from a time when meaning was proportioned by the cosmic forces that govern birth and death. If the connection was lost, they sought for a strand of knowledge, found a new direction, and a new age began.”

Queen Of Time will be also the first album with their old/new bass player Olli-Pekka ‘Oppu’ Laine following the departure of Niclas Etelävuori in 2017. Oppu was one of the founding members in 1990 and recorded the early releases with AMORPHIS (The Karelian Isthmus LP, 1992; Privilege Of Evil EP, 1993; Tales From The Thousand Lakes LP, 1994; Black Winter Day EP, 1995; Elegy LP, 1996; My Kantele EP, 1997 and the Tuonela LP, 1999) before he parted ways with the band in spring 2000.

“To be honest, Oppu was the only guy we could imagine being in AMORPHIS. It was funny – when we started to play our first shows together again last summer it all felt so familiar. He was involved with arranging songs and he also even brought some new songs to the table… really good ones, too!” says Esa. And Oppu adds: “Even though the last year with AMORPHIS has been exciting, nostalgic and fun, it’s also been truly comfortable to be with the guys again. As a clichéd expression, it’s been like returning home from a lenghty odyssey. After eighteen years, it feels like we are picking up where we left off from the good ol’ days! I’m really looking forward for the upcoming tour. The new album itself is a really strong package, the only hard thing will be picking which songs to play live! It‘s safe to say we are set to pull off some killer shows over the next few years. After that, I’m predicting a long and fruitful career for the band in its current form…”

The band will soon kick off pre-orders for Queen Of Time and release their first single, so stay tuned!

AMORPHIS, DARK TRANQUILLITY, MOONSPELL, OMNIUM GATHERUM
07.09. USA New York, NY – Gramercy Theatre
08.09. CDN Montréal, QC – Café Campus
09.09. CDN Québec City, QC – Impérial de Québec
10.09. CDN Toronto, ON – The Opera House
11.09. USA Ft. Wayne, IN – Piere’s Entertainment Center
12.09. USA Detroit, MI – Harpos Concert Theatre
13.09. USA Joliet, IL – The Forge
14.09. USA Minneapolis, MN – The Cabooze
15.09. CDN Winnipeg, MB – The Park Theatre
17.09. CDN Edmonton, AB – The Starlite Room
18.09. CDN Calgary, AB – Dickens
19.09. CDN Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre
20.09. USA Seattle, WA – El Corazon
22.09. USA Berkeley, CA – UC Theatre
23.09. USA Anaheim, CA – City National Grove
24.09. USA West Hollywood, CA – Whiskey a Go Go
25.09. USA San Diego, CA – Brick by Brick
26.09. USA Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre
27.09. USA Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
28.09. USA Salt Lake City, UT – Liquid Joe’s
29.09. USA Denver, CO – Herman’s Hideaway
01.10. USA Dallas, TX – Trees
02.10. USA San Antonio, TX – The Rock Box
03.10. USA Houston, TX – Scout Bar
05.10. USA Tampa, FL – The Orpheum
06.10. USA Lake Park, FL – Kelsey Theater
07.10. USA Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
09.10. USA Louisville, KY – Diamond Pub & Billiards
10.10. USA Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
11.10. USA Baltimore, MD – Soundstage
12.10. USA Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero Theatre
14.10. USA Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Concert Hall

www.amorphis.net
www.facebook.com/amorphis
www.nuclearblast.de/amorphis

Amorphis, “Death of a King” official video

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