Posted in Questionnaire on May 23rd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.
Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.
Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.
The Obelisk Questionnaire: Love Forsberg, Zubaida Solid and Sam Riffer of Siena Root
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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?
Love Forsberg – We make root rock music. Siena Root is a dynamic root rock experience.
Zubaida Solid – I’ve been with band since 2018 and my role has expanded since joining. For me Siena Root is a band that puts great emphasis on great live shows, high quality analog recordings with roots and inspiration from different genres, from blues, dragged, Indian ragas, classic rock, psychedelic influences. All this melt in to a honey pot that has something to offer everyone.
Sam Riffer – It’s the sum of our influences, personalities and creativity in a blender haha.
Describe your first musical memory.
LF – I think this was a ’70s production that my dad played, an album called “Kåldolmar och kalsipper”, by a swedish group Nationalteatern. It was an album somewhat produced for kids, but I still enjoy it today.
ZS – My first contact with music comes from my dad, listening to old Bollywood music from ’70s on cassette tape in the car. Listening and singing along while on road trips with my family, has special place in my heart.
SR – I was 7 years old and an older kid in school played a a cassette with Kiss’ Heaven’s on Fire really loud! I was stunned :) To this day I remember that kick drum beat and the shouts, somehow it came across as something dangerous… yet appealing.
Describe your best musical memory to date.
SR – When I saw Page & Plant, 1995 in Colorado, I was 18 years old and had recently discovered Led Zep. You could easily say I was on a Stairway to… It was a magical night with lots of hippies, friends and all the rest :)
When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?
LF – Last year when my pacifism was set under pressure by a war in Europe that I thought was unpredicted.
ZS – I learned whilst being sick in covid how fragile life is. It was quite a jarring experience.
SR – Definitely the war here in Europe, so many things I believed in went out the window. I had always thought that the so called threat from the east was exaggerated here in Sweden. That said, I never believed that our generation would walk through life with only peace around us, yet it was something I wished for of course. Still a chock when war approaches for real and we’ve taken peace for granted somehow.
Where do you feel artistic progression leads?
ZS – That’s hard to answer but I always feel that different experiences and trails in life propels me forward musically.
SR – I guess it’s rather individual, for some people it can lead to less desirable things I think but to me it’s about learning, growing and moving forward but also about spiritual calmness and maturity.
How do you define success?
LF – Success is when you are understood by others.
ZS – Success for me is a combination of things. Having music out that you can stand for and be enjoyed by others and of course is substantial enough to make an impression and last.
SR – It’s not about commercial success to me it’s only about creative and musical fulfilment or whatever you live to achieve, doesn’t have to be music of course.
What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?
SR – Tough one, I have seen things that makes me sad and/or angry and of course lots of things I wish never happened or didn’t exist like violence, oppression and poverty but I shouldn’t say I wish I hadn’t seen it as much as I wish those terrible things didn’t happen or exist. If it’s part of reality I am somehow obliged to face it rather than to close my eyes.
Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.
ZS – A big dream of mine is writing a musical. If we could ever write something like works of Webber/Rice through a “Siena Root-lens” that would be super cool.
SR – I really would like to time-travel but I guess I won’t be able to create such a machine…
What do you believe is the most essential function of art?
ZS – I think we’ve seen different examples though out history as to why art Is so important. I think that arts biggest importance lies in the emotional outlet people need, not only for the creator but the viewer/listener as well. Seeing and hearing yourself being represented or recognising something within one self.
SR – Perspectives and interpretation, it’s all in the eyes and ears of the beholder and that’s the beauty of it, in most arts there is no correct answer or prevailing conclusion.
Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?
SR – Besides our dream of lasting world peace I really look forward to summertime.
Posted in Reviews on April 11th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
If you missed yesterday, be advised, it’s not too late. If you miss today, be advised as well that tomorrow’s not too late. One of the things I enjoy most about the Quarterly Review is that it puts the lie to the idea that everything on the internet has to be so fucking immediate. Like if you didn’t hear some release two days before it actually came out, somehow a week, a month, a year later, you’ve irreparably missed it.
That isn’t true in the slightest, and if you want proof, I’m behind on shit ALL. THE. TIME. and nine times out of 10, it just doesn’t matter. I’ll grant that plenty of music is urgent and being in that moment when something really cool is released can be super-exciting — not taking away from that — but hell’s bells, you can sit for the rest of your life and still find cool shit you’ve never heard that was released half a century ago, let alone in January. My advice is calm down and enjoy the tunes; and yes, I’m absolutely speaking to myself as much as to you.
Quarterly Review #11-20:
Siena Root, Revelation
What might be their eighth LP, depending on what counts as what, Revelation is the second from Siena Root to feature vocalist/organist Zubaida Solid up front alongside seemingly-now-lone guitarist Johan Borgström (also vocals) and the consistent foundation provided by the rhythm section of bassist Sam Riffer (also some vocals) and drummer Love “Billy” Forsberg. Speaking a bit to their own history, the long-running Swedish classic heavy rockers inject a bit of sitar (by Stian Grimstad) and hand-percussion into “Leaving the City,” but the 11-song/46-minute offering is defined in no small part by a bluesy feel, and Solid‘s vocal performance brings that aspect to “Leaving the City” as well, even if the sonic focus for Siena Root is more about classic prog and blues rock of hooky inclusions like the organ-and-guitar grooving opener “Coincidence and Fate” and the gently funky “Fighting Gravity,” or even the touch of folkish jazz in “Winter Solstice,” though the sitar does return on side B’s “Madukhauns” ahead of the organ/vocal showcase closer “Keeper of the Flame,” which calls back to the earlier “Dalecarlia Stroll” with a melancholy Deep Purple could never quite master and a swinging payoff that serves as just one final way in which Siena Root once more demonstrate they are pure class in terms of execution.
The latest and (again) maybe-eighth full-length to arrive within the last 10 years from Monterrey, Mexico’s Los Mundos, Eco del Universo is an immersive dreamboat of mellow psychedelia, with just enough rock to not be pure drift on a song like “Hanna,” but still an element of shoegaze to bring the cool kids on board. Effects gracefully channel-swap alongside languid vocals (in Spanish, duh) with a melodicism that feels casual but is not unconsidered either in that song or the later “Rocas,” which meets Western-tinged fuzz with a combination of voices from bassist/keyboardist Luis Ángel Martínez, guitarist/synthesist/sitarist Alejandro Elizondo and/or drummer Ricardo Antúnez as the band is completed by guitarist/keyboardist/sitarist Raúl González. Yes, they have two sitarists; they need both, as well as all the keyboards, and the modular synth, and the rest of it. All of it. Because no matter what arrangement elements are put to use in the material, the songs on Eco del Universo just seem to absorb it all into one fluid approach, and if by the time the hum-drone and maybe-gong in the first minute of opener “Las Venas del Cielo” unfolds into the gently moody and gorgeous ’60s-psych pop that follows you don’t agree, go back and try again. Space temples, music engines in the quirky pop bounce of “Gente del Espacio,” the shape of air defined amid semi-krautrock experimentalism in “La Forma del Aire”; esta es la música para los lugares más allá. Vamos todos.
Well, you see, sometimes there’s a global pandemic and even the most thoroughly-banded of artists starts thinking about a solo record. Not to make light of either the plague or the decision or the result experience from “Minnesota” Pete Campbell (drummer of Pentagram, Place of Skulls, In~Graved, Vulgarri, Gygax, Sixty Watt Shaman for a hot minute, guitarist of The Mighty Nimbus, etc.), but he kind of left himself open to it with putting “Lockdown Blues” and the generally personal nature of the songs on, Me, Myself and I, his first solo album in a career of more than two decades. The nine-song/46-minute riffy splurge is filled with love songs seemingly directed at family in pieces like “Lightbringer,” “You’re My Angel,” the eight-minute “Swimming in Layla’s Hair,” the two-minute “Uryah vs. Elmo,” so humanity and humility are part of the general vibe along with the semi-Southern grooves, easy-rolling heavy blues swing, acoustic/electric blend in the four-minute purposeful sans-singing meander of “Midnight Dreamin’,” and so on. Five of the nine inclusions feature Campbell on vocals, and are mixed for atmosphere in such a way as to make me believe he doesn’t think much of himself as a singer — there’s some yarl, but he’s better than he gives himself credit for on both the more uptempo and brash “Starlight” and the mellow-Dimebag-style “Whispers of Autumn,” which closes — but there’s a feeling-it-out sensibility to the tracks that only makes the gratitude being expressed (either lyrically or not) come through as more sincere. Heck man, do another.
Based in the Netherlands, North Sea Noise Collective — sometimes also written as Northsea Noise Collective — includes vocals for the first time amid the experimental ambient drones of the four pieces on the self-released Roudons, which are reinterpretations of Frisian rockers Reboelje, weirdo-everythingist Arnold de Boer and doom legends Saint Vitus. The latter, a take on the signature piece “Born Too Late” re-titled “Dit Doarp” (‘this village’ in English), is loosely recognizable in its progression, but North Sea Noise Collective deep-dives into the elasticity of music, stretching limits of where a song begins and ends conceptually. Modular synth hums, ebbs and flows throughout “Wat moatte wy dwaan as wy gjin jild hawwe,” which follows opener “Skepper fan de skepper” and immerses further in open spaces crafted through minimalist sonic architecture, the vocals chanting like paeans to the songs themselves. It should probably go without saying that Roudons isn’t going to resonate with all listeners in the same way, but universal accessibility is pretty clearly low on the album’s priority list, and for as dug-in as Roudons is, that’s right where it should be.
Philly merchants Sins of Magnus offer their fourth album in the 12 songs/48 minutes of Secrets of the Cosmos, and while said secrets may or may not actually be included in the record’s not-insignificant span, I’ll say that I’ve yet to find the level of volume that’s too loud for the record to take. And maybe that’s the big secret after all. In any case, the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Eric Early, guitarist/vocalist Rich Sutcliffe and drummer Sean Young tap classic heavy rock vibes and aim them on a straight-line road to riffy push. There’s room for some atmosphere and guest vocal spots on the punkier closing pair “Mother Knows Best” and “Is Anybody There?” but the grooves up front are more laid back and chunkier-style, where “Not as Advertised,” “Workhorse,” “Let’s Play a Game” and “No Sanctuary” likewise get punkier, contrasting that metal stretch in “Stoking the Flames” earlier on In any case, they’re more unpretentious than they are anything else, and that suits just fine since there’s more than enough ‘changing it up’ happening around the core heavy riffs and mean-muggin’ vibes. It’s not the most elaborate production ever put to tape, but the punker back half of the record is more effective for that, and they get their point across anyhow.
Steeped in the arcane traditions of classic doom metal, Nine Altars emerge from the UK with their three-song/33-minute debut full-length, The Eternal Penance, leading with the title-track’s 13-minute metal-of-eld rollout as drummer/vocalist Kat Gillham (also Thronehammer, Lucifer’s Chalice, Enshroudment, etc.), guitarists Charlie Wesley (also also Enshroudment, Lucifer’s Chalice) and Nicolete Burbach and bassist Jamie Thomas roll with distinction into “The Fragility of Existence” (11:58), which starts reasonably slow and then makes that seem fast by comparison before picking up the pace again in the final third ahead of the more trad-NWOBHM idolatry of “Salvation Lost” (8:27). Any way they go, they’re speaking to metal born no later than 1984, and somehow for a band on their first record with two songs north of 11 minutes, they don’t come across as overly indulgent, instead borrowing what elements they want from what came before them and applying them to their longform works with fluidity of purpose and confident melodicism, Gillham‘s vocal command vital to the execution despite largely following the guitar, which of course is also straight out of the classic metal playbook. Horns, fists, whatever. Raise ’em high in the name of howling all-doom.
Fuzzblasting their way out of Salem, Massachusetts, with an initial public offering of six cuts that one might legitimately call “high octane” and not feel like a complete tool, The Freqs are a relatively new presence in the Boston/adjacent heavy underground, but they keep kicking ass like this and someone’s gonna notice. Hell, I’m sure someone has. They’re in and out in 27 minutes, so Poachers is an EP, but if it was a debut album, it’d be one of the best I’ve heard in this busy first half of 2023. Fine. So it goes on a different list. The get-off-your-ass-and-move effect of “Powetrippin'” remains the same, and even in the quiet outset of the subsequent “Asphalt Rivers,” it’s plain the breakout is coming, which, satisfyingly, it does. “Sludge Rats” decelerates some, certainly compared to opener “Poacher Gets the Tusk,” but is proportionately huge-sounding in making that tradeoff, especially near the end, and “Chase Fire, Caught Smoke” rips itself open ahead of the more aggressive punches thrown in the finale “Witch,” all swagger and impact and frenetic energy as it is. Fucking a. They end noisy and crowd-chanting, leaving one wanting both a first-LP and to see this band live, which as far as debut EPs go is most likely mission accomplished. It’s a burner. Don’t skip out on it because they didn’t name the band something more generic-stoner.
Doomer nod, proto-metallic duggery and post-NWOBHM flourish come together with heavy rock tonality and groove throughout Lord Mountain‘s bullshit-free recorded-in-2020/2021 debut album, issued through King Volume as the follow-up to a likewise-righteous-but-there-was-less-of-it 2016 self-titled EP (review here) and other odds and ends. Like a West Coast Magic Circle, they’ve got their pagan altars built and their generals out witchfinding, but the production is bright in Pat Moore‘s snare cutting through the guitars of Jesse Swanson (also vocals and primary songwriting) and Sean Serrano, and Andy Chism‘s bass, working against trad-metal cliché, is very much in the mix figuratively, literally, and thankfully. The chugs and winding of “The Last Crossing” flow smoothly into the mourning solo in the song’s second half, and the doom they proffer in “Serpent Temple” and the ultra-Dio Sabbath concluding title-track just might make you a believer if you weren’t one. It’s a record you probably didn’t know you were waiting for, and all the more so when you realize “The Oath” is “Four Horsemen”/”Mechanix” played slower. Awesome.
Opener “The Air at Night Smells Different” digs into HEX-era Earth‘s melancholic Americana instrumentalism and threat-underscored grayscale, but “Fog Works,” which follows, turns that around as guitarist Florian Karg moves to keys and dares to add both progressivism and melody to coincide with that existential downtrodding. Fellow guitarist Philipp Seiler, standup-bassist Stephan Leeb and drummer Marian Waibl complete the four-piece, and Impending Bloom is their first long-player as Black Air. They ultimately keep that post-Earth spirit in the seven-minute title-track, but sneak in a more active stretch after four minutes in, not so much paying off a build — that’s still to come in “A New-Found Calm” — = as reminding there’s life in the wide spaces being conjured. The penultimate “The Language of Rocks and Roots” emphasizes soul in the guitar’s swelling and receding volume, while closer “Array of Lights,” even in its heaviest part, seems to rest more comfortably on its bassline. In establishing a style, the Vienna-based outfit come through as familiar at least on a superficial listen, but there’s budding individuality in these songs, and so their debut might just be a herald of blossoming to come.
Oh yeah, you over it? You tired of the bongslaught of six or seven dozen megasludge bands out there with ‘bong’ in their name trying to outdo each other in cannabinoid content on Bandcamp every week? Fine. I don’t care. You go be too cool. I’ll pop on “Ganjalf” and follow the smoke to oh wait what was I saying again? Fuck it. With some Dune worked in for good measure, Adelaide, Australia’s Bong Coffin build a sludge for the blacklands on “Worthy of Mordor” and shy away not a bit from the more caustic end their genre to slash through their largesse of riff like the raw blade of an uruk-hai shredding some unsuspecting villager who doesn’t even realize the evil overtaking the land. They move a bit on “Messiah” and “Shaitan” and threaten a similar shove in “Nightmare,” but it’s the gonna-read-Lovecraft-when-done-with-Tolkien screams and crow-call rasp of “Träskkungen” that gets the prize on Bong Coffin‘s debut for me, so radly wretched and sunless as it is. Extreme stoner? Caustic sludge? The doom of mellows harshed? You call it whatever fucking genre you want — or better, don’t, with your too-cool ass — and I’ll march to the obsidian temple (that riff is about my pace these days) to break my skull open and bleed out the remnants of my brain on that ancient stone.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 15th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
A solid release date for the new Siena Root album, Revelation, is good news, as it will be fascinating to hear what the long-running Swedish outfit have conjured to coincide with the classic vibes of the single “Coincidence and Fate” below. My guess? More classic vibes. My hope, anyhow. This will be their second record with Zubaida Solid on lead vocals, and she brings a marked charisma to the lead track from the album, which feels like a long time coming despite the fact that the band’s prior LP, The Secret of Our Time, was released in 2020.
If you can keep a secret, I’ve already decided to close out this week with the first Siena Root record, 2004’s A New Day Dawning, so this won’t be the last you hear of them before Friday afternoon, but I wanted to get this posted anyhow because (1:) I’m already late on it and (2:) this band has seen two entire bands’ worth of personnel come and go over the course of their time and still managed to be pretty consistent as regards awesome. Can’t help but admire such a thing.
From the PR wire:
SIENA ROOT Presents Video For New Digital Single, “Coincidence & Fate;” Revelation Album Details Unveiled + Preorders Available
Sweden’s root rock figureheads SIENA ROOT will release their eighth studio album on February 24th via their new label home, Atomic Fire Records!
Fittingly titled Revelation, the recording serves as the group’s most versatile offering of their long-spanning career, guiding listeners through a true journey rather than simply stringing together song after song. The eleven-track offering was recorded analogously at Silence Studio in Koppom, Sweden and Root Rock Studios in Stockholm, Sweden where it was also mixed. Mastering was handled at Stockholm’s Cutting Room.
In advance of the record’s release, today SIENA ROOT unveils their video for “Coincidence & Fate.”
The band comments, “This is the trailer for our movie, Wheels Of Revelation, as well as the first track of the album Revelation and tells a story of fear one experiences when coming close to death and realizing the fickleness of life. Musically, ‘Coincidence & Fate’ is an all-analogue recording featuring dirty organ riffs and fat drums. That’s where heavy rock tunes with female front vocals — seemingly inspired by classic acts such as Uriah Heep and Jethro Tull — meet SIENA ROOT’s remarkable root rock sound. Enjoy!”
Preorder Revelation on CD, LP, pre-save it on your favorite DSP or preorder it digitally to receive “Coincidence & Fate” immediately at THIS LOCATION:https://sienaroot.afr.link/RevelationPR
Revelation Track Listing: 1. Coincidence & Fate 2. Professional Procrastinator 3. No Peace 4. Fighting Gravity 5. Dusty Roads 6. Winter Solstice 7. Dalecarlia Stroll 8. Leaving The City 9. Little Burden 10. Madukhauns 11. Keeper Of The Flame
SIENA ROOT have announced a show to celebrate Revelation on release day at Pipeline in Sundsvall, Sweden with support coming from Drivet.
SIENA ROOT Live: 2/24/2023 Pipeline – Sundsvall, SE
SIENA ROOT: Zubaida Solid – vocals, keys Johan Borgström – guitars Sam Riffer – bass Love Forsberg – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 4th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Well, at least I didn’t miss it. When last discussed, Siena Root‘s Revelation LP was set to arrive in Aug. 2022 through Metalville Records. They posted the single “Little Burden” earlier this year and now there’s word that the album will be released this coming Spring through Atomic Fire Records, who’ve picked them up for the release. Hey, good for the band I guess. Given the folks who run it, Atomic Fire is no minor endorsement for a band even with an established track record — which, even before their eighth LP lands, they have, across multiple lineups — to get, and they’ve already been out on tour this year. How could more possibly not follow in 2023 if that’s when Revelation is actually going to happen?
I’ll be interested to see what those plans include, actually. But we’ve probably got a bit to go before we get there. The PR wire brought background and the signing announcement:
SIENA ROOT Unveils New Digital Single/Video, “Little Burden;” Forthcoming Full-Length, Revelation, To Be Released In Spring 2023 Via Atomic Fire Records
With seven studio albums in nearly two decades of band history, Sweden’s root rock figureheads SIENA ROOT are constantly working on something new. They’ve continually changed their approach and experimented with their sound — not only to keep their music fresh but to challenge themselves which is one of the main reasons why the group’s relevance remains after all these years.
Besides touring with acts such as Deep Purple and Dewolff, the quartet — founding members drummer Love Forsberg and bassist Sam Riffer with guitarist Johan Borgström and vocalist/keyboardist Zubaida Solid — have always brought an infectious performance to stages globally. Those lucky enough to attend one of SIENA ROOT’s post-pandemic tours earlier this year may already know how the band spent the Corona years recording a brand-new album that is finally set to be released next year via their new label home of Atomic Fire Records!
Comments the band, “The ‘Dynamic Root Rock Experience’ called SIENA ROOT caught fire a long time ago. As we all know, you need to catch a fire to be burnin’ and this time SIENA ROOT caught an Atomic Fire: we are very proud and honored to announce that we are a part of the Atomic Fire Records family now. The new album, Revelation, will be released in early 2023, stay tuned!”
Atomic Fire Records CEO Markus Wosgien adds, “We’re very happy to enrich our roster with SIENA ROOT’s innovative mixture of classic, folk, and psychedelic rock. Their musical path as well as their everchanging sound charmed us enormously, leading to their new opus Revelation, which is nothing short of amazing. It’s an album that surely won’t only fascinate rockers but also fans beyond the genre. What an outstanding group. They truly know how to perform this music the right way!”
The record title definitely keeps its word: it’s a sonic Revelation and has become the most versatile offering in SIENA ROOT’s long-spanning career, guiding listeners through a true journey rather than simply stringing together song after song. But that’s not all: the first appetizer, new single “Little Burden” which premiered live in 2022, can be enjoyed alongside a music video, edited by Linus Grane, via YouTube.
Elaborates the band, “This is a first taste of SIENA ROOT’s journey when introducing the more acoustic side of the ‘Dynamic Root Rock Experience.’ The song deals with leaving the city and the experience that comes with that. ‘Little Burden’ is a song that describes the feeling of melancholy and battle one experiences when faced with the arbitrary issues of man and when burdens, however small and inconsequential, make you weary and sometimes even poison you.”
More info on SIENA ROOT’s eagerly awaited eighth studio album as well as preorder details will be unveiled before the end of the year.
SIENA ROOT: Zubaida Solid – vocals, keys Johan Borgström – guitars Sam Riffer – bass Love Forsberg – drums
Posted in Reviews on February 9th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
The long-term triumph of Amorphis rests in their ability to be immediately recognizable and always just a little different. Since 1990, the Finnish outfit has defined a style of progressive metal and rock born out of and not entirely separate from its deathly beginnings, yet sweeping in melody, open to grandiose arrangements even as it crunches out its heaviest riffs and lowest growls.
They long ago forged their path through what largely in their wake became folk metal, with lyrics based on Finland’s national epic poem, the Kalevala, and particularly since 2006’s Eclipse, when vocalist Tomi Joutsen made his debut with them, their awareness of who they are as a band has resulted in a series of full-lengths — Halo being the latest and their first for Atomic Fire Records after years on Nuclear Blast — that have set about refining, tweaking their approach in various ways, pushing forward along their stated direction. Core elements are often the same, and they are here as well: the prominent keyboard/organ work of Santeri Kallio alongside the guitars of founders Tomi Koivusaari (rhythm) and Esa Holopainen (lead), the drum gallop of Jan Rechberger through big choruses like that of “A New Land,” and the returned bass grit of Olli-Pekka Laine, who rejoined the band on 2018’s Queen of Time (review here), having been a founding member and departed after 1999’s Tuonela (discussed here).
Melody and impact, movement, dynamic tempo shifts, and twists like the odd bit of orchestral complement on the title-track or “The Moon,” some Eastern guitar inflection in “On the Dark Waters” or in the back half of the aforementioned “A New Land,” guest vocals there and on “Halo,” and so on, do and should feel no less familiar to those experienced with the band’s work over the last 15-plus years than the production of Jens Bogren at Fascination Street in Sweden, with whom the band has collaborated since 2015’s Under the Red Cloud (discussed here), or the folkloric lyrics by Pekka Kainulainen. Across 11 songs and a CD-ready 55 minutes, Amorphis collect individual pieces to serve the larger purpose of their 14th or 15th album — depending on what you count — and in so doing, they not only keep the thread going and give themselves an occasion to tour again, but they continue the process of growing as players and as a unit. Those who’ve followed the bigger melodies of their more recent work will likely be surprised at how hard some of Halo hits.
It’s not raw, by any stretch. Beginning with “Northwards” and “On the Dark Waters” and “The Moon” as an initial salvo, Halo presents Amorphis circa 2022 as confident and patient crafters of their sound — masters of what they do and are. I wouldn’t argue, even if I wasn’t a fan. And Bogren‘s production gives them plenty of space in which to unfurl their material, but process has had a role to play in making Halo too, and that’s evident in the outright crush of some of the album’s more death metal aspects. Joutsen — who might always be the “new guy” for having taken the place of Pasi Koskinen, bringing a professional clean/growl take where Koskinen had grown into his approach over time — has rarely sounded more vicious than he does on “Northwards” and even in the song’s later reaches when the backing chorus shows up, he weaves together soar and gutturalism in a way that has become a defining aesthetic presence, new guy or not.
Something Halo does especially well throughout is toy with the balance between harsh and lush, and Joutsen is of course a big piece of that, as “Windmane” hints in its early going toward Amorphis‘ classic take on death metal’s creep and the later “When the Gods Came” opens later to an organ-laced breakdown ahead of its solo-and-melody-topped apex and growling finish. Yet as much as it’s a collection of individual tracks, the songs also intertwine toward both a thematic and aural narrative, functioning almost in movements such that “A New Land,” “When the Gods Came” and “Seven Roads Come Together” form the crescendo of an epic tale before “War,” “Halo” and “The Wolf” push into darker atmospheres, more foreboding if not entirely less melodic.
The title-track, as an example, also includes guest vocals — it’s Petronella Nettermalm on closer “My Name is Night”; not sure if it’s her as well on “Halo” or “A New Land” — and though it has its shove, it’s just as prone to take flight. Parts of “War” and “The Wolf” would, by contrast, be straight-up death metal in any number of other contexts — the latter is the meanest thing I can recall Amorphis putting out in a long time, and it still has a hook. What this culmination means for the story as a whole, I’m not sure, but in terms of the listening experience, it makes that sense of extremity the arrival point toward which the rest of Halo has built. As journeys go, it’s well worth the trip. Infectious and exciting in kind.
Nothing on Halo is over six minutes long. Nothing is less than four and a half. This is a band who know what they’re doing, know even in the context of recording (mostly) remotely for the first time in their career what they’re looking to accomplish, and know how to make that happen on a recording. Whether or not the uptick in intensity on the whole here speaks to some larger shift in their direction, it’s impossible to know, but as “My Name is Night” caps with a melodic epilogue, swaying into its final moments, it brings into relief just how far Amorphis are able to move in one direction or another within the stretch of a song, movement or album, and how much mood and atmosphere they’re able to harness from material that’s still straightforward in structure.
They are themselves utterly across Halo, and as ever, part of that means change. Longtime fans will revel in the brutal aspects of the tracks and the moments of gorgeousness alike, and for newcomers, these songs should make an enticing introduction to who Amorphis are at this stage in their career.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 14th, 2022 by JJ Koczan
So I guess this is where we’re at, right? Bands announce a tour and hopefully it happens and everyone gets to go and nobody gets sick and the tour goes as long as it can go and if it goes to the end that’s awesome and if not then the parties involved deal with that when and where they can. I get it. At some point, you have to live, right? Not only in the fiscal sense — I don’t know if the dudes from Amorphis have dayjobs or not; frankly the Finnish government should put them on payroll as cultural ambassadors for life — but if you’ve spent the better part of 30 years on stage, it’s who you are. The show must go on. For everybody.
Amorphis release their new album, Halo, next month through Atomic Fire Records. I stumbled last week on an interview I did with the band in 2006 for Metal Maniacs — as well as an absolute trove of interviews on Minidisc, many of which I didn’t even remember — and though at the time they were supporting Eclipse, which was their first album fronted by Tomi Joutsen, I remember being crazy stoked to see them live. I’ll go ahead and put the Gramercy Theatre show on my calendar, but I don’t know if I’ll be there or not. It would be awesome, I’ve no doubt. Even thinking about it feels like a test.
Times. Change. Think positive thoughts. The news today is Omicron may be peaking in the US. No word on the next variant yet, but I’m sure it’s waiting in the viral dugout.
In any case, the word from the PR wire is good, and here it is:
AMORPHIS Announces North American Tour This Spring In Celebration Of Their Forthcoming Halo Full-Length
AMORPHIS will tour North America with their brand new album Halo this Spring! The tour begins on April 13th in New York City and will make its way through nearly two dozen cities, coming to a close on May 12th in Baltimore, Maryland. Support will be provided by Sylvaine and Hoaxed.
Comments the band, “We are more than excited to announce that we are touring North America in the Spring 2022 to support our upcoming album Halo. We’ve been missing you, live gigs, and touring like never before! We are looking forward to the shows as well as bringing Sylvaine and Hoaxed with us as special guests. Limited amounts of AMORPHIS VIP packages with meet and greets are also available. We hope to see you there, meanwhile take care, stay healthy, and shine on! “
See all confirmed dates below. Tickets go on sale Friday, January 14th. VIP Packages including a ticket, meet and greet, photo opp, and exclusive items are now available. For more details and to purchase, go to THIS LOCATION:https://tix.soundrink.com/tours/amorphis
AMORPHIS w/ Sylvaine, Hoaxed: 4/13/2022 Gramercy Theatre – New York, NY * 4/14/2022 The Palladium – Worcester, MA * 4/15/2022 Club Soda – Montreal, QC * 4/16/2022 The Opera House – Toronto, ON * 4/18/2022 Mr. Smalls Theatre – Millvale, PA 4/19/2022 The Forge – Joliet, IL 4/20/2022 Skyway Theatre – Minneapolis, MN 4/22/2022 The Oriental Theater – Denver, CO 4/23/2022 Soundwell – Salt Lake City, UT 4/25/2022 Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR 4/26/2022 The Imperial – Vancouver, BC 4/27/2022 El Corazon – Seattle, WA 4/29/2022 The UC Theatre – Berkeley, CA 4/30/2022 El Rey Theatre – Los Angeles, CA 5/01/2022 The Nile Theater – Mesa, AZ 5/03/2022 Come And Take It Live – Austin, TX 5/04/2022 Amplified Live – Dallas, TX 5/06/2022 Center Stage (The Loft) – Atlanta, GA 5/07/2022 The Orpheum -Tampa, FL 5/08/2022 The Abbey – Orlando, FL 5/10/2022 Neighborhood Theatre – Charlotte, NC 5/11/2022 The Broadberry – Richmond, VA 5/12/2022 Baltimore Soundstage – Baltimore, MD * Hoaxed only
AMORPHIS’ stunning fourteenth album of their career will be released February 11th via Atomic Fire Records. Halo — which features artwork by Valnoir (Alcest, Paradise Lost) — was recorded, produced, and mixed by Jens Bogren (Fascination Street Studios) while mastering duties were handled by Tony Lindgren.
AMORPHIS: Tomi Joutsen – vocals Esa Holopainen – guitars Tomi Koivusaari – guitars Santeri Kallio – keyboards Olli-Pekka Laine – bass Jan Rechberger – drums
Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 8th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
New Amorphis video, you say? Sold. Lots of shadows, lots of looking up at stuff, lots of walking through what’s probably Finnish parkland, and of course, the moon makes an appearance in “The Moon,” which is the first single taken from the Finnish mainstays’ upcoming long-player, Halo. Set for Feb. 11 issue as the band’s first outing through Atomic Fire Records — headed by Nuclear Blast founder Markus Staiger — Halo is up for preorder/pre-save now and without dipping into promo-speak, Amorphis are a pretty safe bet.
That is to say, if you’re familiar with the band as they are now — their most recent studio offering was 2018’s Queen of Time (review here) — then to a certain extent you know what’s coming. On “The Moon,” their trademark folk-derived style of riffing is met with a combination of clean and growled vocals from longtime frontman Tomi Joutsen and the groove is solid and expansive without being overly pretentious, melodies fleshed out by keyboard and layered-in guest vocals from… well, somebody. It’s Amorphis, and it sounds like Amorphis. 14 records later, one would and should expect no less.
But while their ultimate stylistic trajectory may be a settled question — they know what they’re doing — they’ve never really stopped growing either, and like Queen of Time before it, I expect that when Halo shows up, its tracks will bear that hallmark of Amorphis‘ sonic persona no less than any other. It’s been years since I last saw Amorphis play. Maybe, if circumstances allow, I’ll be able to catch them for this record sometime in 2022.
Here’s the video. See if you can find the moon in “The Moon”:
Amorphis, “The Moon” official video
Amorphis present music video for new digital single ‘The Moon’ off their upcoming album »Halo« out on February 11th, 2022.
AMORPHIS – who stand among Northern Europe’s leading dark metal acts, hitting #1 on the Finnish charts five times – have been captivating fans and critics for over 30 years with their melancholic, yet heavy soundscapes. After announcing their upcoming fourteenth studio album, »Halo«, out on February 11th, 2022 through Atomic Fire, last month, the waiting time is over as the sextet present the world with the record’s first single and a music video for ‘The Moon’, created by renowned director Patric Ullaeus (rEvolver Film).
Comments lyricist Pekka Kainulainen: “I have done several drawings and paintings on this subject over the years. Now I complementary wrote some heavy metal lyrics… This is a song of love.”
Guitarist Esa Holopainen adds: “It’s a very atmospheric and catchy song that represents what AMORPHIS sound like in 2021 well.”
Once again adorned by artwork provided by Valnoir (ALCEST, PARADISE LOST etc.), »Halo« was recorded, produced and mixed Jens Bogren (Fascination Street Studios) while mastering duties were handled by Tony Lindgren.
AMORPHIS: Tomi Joutsen – vocals Esa Holopainen – guitars Tomi Koivusaari – guitars Santeri Kallio – keyboards Olli-Pekka Laine – bass Jan Rechberger – drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 4th, 2021 by JJ Koczan
New Amorphis is good news, as far as I’m concerned. It’s a rare band who remain intriguing over a span of any decades, let alone three-plus, but with 14 records under their belt — the latest prior to the upcoming Halo was 2018’s Queen of Time (review here) — the Finns are not only stalwarts of European heavy metal, but of a progressive creative mindset in particular. In some ways, you know what you’re getting — melody, impact, a blend of harsh and gorgeous, big production, folk elements and themes, quality songwriting — but you never quite know in what shape it will arrive, and that becomes part of the fun. Apparently the 13 songs on Halo were whittled down from 30. Doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect they might have a follow-up EP out sometime soon.
Also notable, this will be the first Amorphis record since 2004 not to see release through Nuclear Blast. I don’t know much about Atomic Fire Records, if it’s the band’s label or another imprint or what — I couldn’t find that info, though there’s a label logo — but that they’d be working with someone else after 18 years at all is significant.
But of course, it’s Amorphis one way or the other. 14th album? The more the merrier.
From the PR wire:
AMORPHIS Announces New Album, Halo, Out On February 11th, 2022 Via Atomic Fire Records
Rock and metal music have always been a haven for those who have bigger stories to tell; who have grander emotions to convey. For more than thirty years, Finnish figureheads AMORPHIS have done their best to carve their very own niche in heartfelt yet aggressive, melancholic yet soothing tunes. On Halo, their staggering fourteenth studio effort, the Finns underline their trailblazing status as one of the most original, culturally relevant, and rewarding acts ever to emerge from the land of the thousand lakes.
Halo will be released on February 11th, 2022 on Atomic Fire Records.
Halo Track Listing: 1. Northwards 2. On The Dark Waters 3. The Moon 4. Windmane 5. A New Land 6. When The Gods Came 7. Seven Roads Come Together 8. War 9. Halo 10. The Wolf 11. My Name Is Night
In the past, mythology and legend took the role of today’s pop culture: Stories and a set of values uniting us by giving us a voice and a tapestry on which we can find each other and identify with something. By weaving the tales of Finnish national epos Kalevala into their songs and interpreting them in a timeless way, AMORPHIS combines the role of ancient minstrels and luminaries of the modern world, honoring tradition without getting stuck in the past.
The vibrant, lively, and touching beauty that is Halo highlights their musical and storytelling mastership on a once again soaring level: It’s a progressive, melodic, and quintessentially melancholic heavy metal masterwork plucked from the fickle void of inspiration by original guitarists Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari, bassist Olli-Pekka Laine, drummer Jan Rechberger, longtime keyboardist Santeri Kallio, vocalist Tomi Joutsen, the band’s long-standing lyrical consciousness, Pekka Kainulainen, and a selected group of world class audio professionals led by renowned Swedish producer Jens Bogren. Considering the band’s prolonged journey in the forefront of innovative metal music, it’s difficult to grasp how AMORPHIS manages to raise the proverbial bar time and time again, presenting a more than worthy finale to the trilogy begun with 2015’s Under The Red Cloud followed by 2018’s Queen Of Time.
“It really is a great feeling that we can still produce very decent music as a band,” says Holopainen, a founding member of the band. “Perhaps a certain kind of self-criticism and long experience culminate in these latest albums.” To the songwriter himself, Halo sounds both familiar and different. “It is thoroughly recognizable AMORPHIS from beginning to end but the general atmosphere is a little bit heavier and more progressive and also organic compared to its predecessor,” he elaborates.
Tomi Joutsen, the man with vocal cords capable of unleashing colossal, bear-like growls as well as singing soothing, mesmerizing lullabies, adds, “To me, Halo sounds a little more stripped down compared to Queen Of Time and Under The Red Cloud. However, don’t get me wrong: when a certain song needs to sound big, then it sounds very big.” He’s right, of course: By stripping down some of the arrangements, the monumental moments become even more monumental.
That’s of course also thanks to producing renaissance man Jens Bogren who harvested the thirteen final tracks from a batch of thirty songs AMORPHIS offered him. “Jens is very demanding, but I really like to work with him,” says Holopainen. “He takes care of the whole project from start to finish, and he allows the musician to focus on just playing. I may not be able to thank Jens enough. Everything we’ve done together has been really great, and this co-operation has carried AMORPHIS significantly forward.”
Indeed. Setting off with the stormy grandeur of opener “Northwards,” AMORPHIS takes us on an epic journey through the lands of the north, their rich cultural and historical heritage, and musical traditions. This is not only an album for fans or metal connoisseurs. It’s a must for every imaginative mind out there with a soft spot for cinematic soundscapes, triumphant melodies and breathtaking dynamics measuring the borderlands of light and dark.
However, no AMORPHIS album would be complete without the imaginative and poetic storytelling of renowned lyricist and Kalevala expert Pekka Kainulainen. “From day one, Pekka has always been an enthusiastic and prolific lyricist for AMORPHIS,” says Joutsen. “It is a slow process of translating archaic Finnish poetry into English and adapting it our progressive rhythms. Fortunately, Pekka does everything on time and with great care.” Since 2007’s Silent Waters, Kainulainen has been navigating the mythological waters of his homeland with great skill and respect. For Halo, he outdid himself once again. “Halo is a loose themed record filled with adventurous tales about the mythical North tens of thousands of years ago,” he explains. “The lyrics tell of an ancient time when man wandered to these abandoned boreal frontiers after the ice age. While describing the revival of a seminal culture in a world of new opportunities, I also try to reach the sempiternal forces of the human mind.”
Thirty-one years after their inception, with uncounted global tours under their belt and fourteen albums deep in their career, AMORPHIS still proves to be the musical fountain of youth, an extraordinary band constantly reinventing itself without abandoning its mystical roots. With Halo, they deliver an astonishing album that deserves to be played everywhere, transcending the realms of metal and rock by its sheer profoundness and musicality.
AMORPHIS: Tomi Joutsen – vocals Esa Holopainen – guitars Tomi Koivusaari – guitars Santeri Kallio – keyboards Olli-Pekka Laine – bass Jan Rechberger – drums
