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My
favourite Finnish metal band is back with a new singer and a
killer of an album. I haven’t been this enthusiastic about an
Amorphis release since 1996’s “Elegy” which to me stood out
as a very special album and a perfect follow-up for the splendid
“Tales of a Thousand Lakes” disc.
The
past two albums (“Am Universum” and “Far from the Sun”)
from Amorphis have frankly not been the cream of the crop in my
book, mainly because they mellowed out completely
- something that doesn’t suit this band at all.
But,
lo and behold, “Eclipse” saves the day. New voice Tomi Joutsen
knows how to balance things and is up for the occasional growl,
and that adds dimensions to Amorphis’ sound.
Third
track, “Leave Scars”, is a prime example of the band’s
ability to combine folk elements, melodic death metal, a good,
clean voice and a brutal growl. Perfect. No more, no less. And
there are several examples of this on the rest of the album. Also
the mid-tempo death groover “Perkele (The God of Fire)” is a
good example of Amorphis brutality, only with little hints of
melodic interruption.
With
Tomi Joutsen, Amorphis have gained a strong card that could open
new doors for them. He’s an obvious talent and compliments the
beautiful yet powerful and multi-facetted music of the rest of the
band perfectly.
I
dig.
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