Album Review: Amorphis, Halo
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.
Amorphis, “On the Dark Waters” official video
Amorphis, “The Moon” official video
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