Amorphis... blow?

[gazinwales]

My CD arrived today from Japan.
New Song is a great bonus track, that is as good as any of the 9 songs on the album proper.

[adace]

Just found this awesome clip of Amorphis in Israel with Kobi Farhi of Orphaned Land
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGV1_CFbGtE

[?]

Awesome! The song is fitting for his vocals. Also, this is the first live video of Hopeless Days I've seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvNBbJ7nS8k

[aprilethereal]

Awesome! The song is fitting for his vocals. Also, this is the first live video of Hopeless Days I've seen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvNBbJ7nS8k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSVb1zPIgNM

[?]

Hmm... that video is hidden, so no wonder why I hadn't seen it before, although I knew the song was premiered at that show.

Also, for some reason Veil of Sin has been stuck in my head in the last couple of days - I can't believe I used to find this song boring, it's really beautiful!

[aprilethereal]

Hmm... that video is hidden

What do you mean?

[?]

It says that only those who have received the link can view the video, which means that you can't search for it on YT. Speaking of Hopeless Days, someone had noticed that the rhythm guitar part at the 4-minute mark sounds like Exile of the Sons of Uisliu and I can hear it too!

[aprilethereal]

Speaking of Hopeless Days, someone had noticed that the rhythm guitar part at the 4-minute mark sounds like Exile of the Sons of Uisliu and I can hear it too!

Finally I know why I always felt like I knew that part already


By the way: Hopeless Days > Exile

[?]

I prefer Exile, but both songs are great.

BTW, is anyone else annoyed that there are so many different bonus tracks on different editions of Circle? In addition to Dead Man's Dream there are the following ones:

My Future (Nuclear Blast mailorder edition)
Illusions (Nuclear Blast mailorder edition)
New Song (Japanese edition)
His Story (Spotify)

The NB mailorder edition has been sold out already, I don't have Spotify, ordering CD's from Japan is ridiculously expensive and I wouldn't want to pay for 2 copies anyway Hopefully those songs will end up on Youtube...

[gazinwales]

Annoyed is putting it mildly 
NB are trying to milk the fans for everything, with so many extra songs, it is ridiculous to say the least.
A more sensible idea to get every fan who buys the CD, would be to include a unique code to d/l these songs.
Which is a fair 'reward' for those who buy and support the artist.

[gazinwales]

I got 'His Story' from iTunes Australia.
Which I would call an instrumental, although Tomi J does get in 2 lines of vocals towards the end of the song.

[aprilethereal]

Yes, I agree when it comes to the bonus tracks. That sucks.

Something that bothers me a little about Circle (not really that much, but I still think it's kinda annoying), is that A LOT of the songs start with some kind of main theme played softly on piano or flute, and then the guitars kick in and play the same thing as well. That structure gets a bit old after having five songs (Mission, The Wanderer, Narrow Path, Into The Abyss, A New Day) on the record following it.

[?]

Annoyed is putting it mildly 
NB are trying to milk the fans for everything, with so many extra songs, it is ridiculous to say the least.
A more sensible idea to get every fan who buys the CD, would be to include a unique code to d/l these songs.
Which is a fair 'reward' for those who buy and support the artist.

Or another option (which would also bring more money to NB) could be releasing all those bonus tracks on a separate EP release.

Something that bothers me a little about Circle (not really that much, but I still think it's kinda annoying), is that A LOT of the songs start with some kind of main theme played softly on piano or flute, and then the guitars kick in and play the same thing as well. That structure gets a bit old after having five songs (Mission, The Wanderer, Narrow Path, Into The Abyss, A New Day) on the record following it.

I don't mind that, but I have to give some criticism for the track order - after Shades of Gray there are 4 songs without prominent growls and I think the album would be more balanced if Nightbird's Song was earlier in the tracklist or Dead Man's Dream was in the first half of the record as a proper album track.

[ariich]

I really really like the new album! Best since Silent Waters.

[aprilethereal]

I really really like the new album! Best since Silent Waters.

I definitely didn't expect it to be this good, but you might be right.

Still, I think we will have to wait at least a couple of months to see if it can stand the test of time. But I'm optimistic! 

[aprilethereal]

As the video description says, the sound quality sucks ass, but it's still nice to hear this song played live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjuzoF8XWsU

[?]

Nice, Into the Abyss is one of my favorites from Circle! Too bad you can't hear Niclas' backing vocals in the chorus Hopefully there'll be more videos from that show... BTW, now Circle is the first Amorphis album from which all the songs have been played live since Elegy!

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Just a couple of days until I can get my hands on this bad boy.

[aprilethereal]

Enchanted By The Moon is such an incredible song that it makes up for the shitty quality of the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqMmgfPl9nM 
And the chorus is just hypnotic.

Just a couple of days until I can get my hands on this bad boy.

One of the advantages of living in Europe 

[?]

^They HAVE to play that song when I see them live next time.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Really loving the new album. It's much better than TBOT. "Into the Abyss" is simply ridiculous!

[?]

The bonus tracks (with the exception of His Story) are on YT:

My Future

Illusions

New Song (at 50:38)

I'd take all of these over Mission, My Future is especially epic! And the vocals at the beginning of Illusions...

[Scorpion]

This album is awesome. More details coming after another listen.

[wkiml]

Okay guys been hearing alot about this band but never checked them out

Where does a noob start?

Has there sound remained consistent or has the styles changed ? I ask this because I'm a metal guy first/prog secondly

[?]

They started as a death metal band, but their music got gradually more melodic and the growls even got dropped at one point. However, since vocalist Tomi Joutsen's arrival in the mid-00s they've brought the heavier elements back and their sound has remained pretty consistent.

Any album featuring the said singer is a good starting point, but I think Skyforger is the peak of their career, so I recommend it. Eclipse is pretty well-liked among the fans too, and you can't go wrong with the new album, either.

[Scorpion]

They have distinct eras. They started out as a death metal band, but moved away from that rather quickly. The growls lessened in the music and the focus on melody became more prevalent. During their last five albums, they have reintroduced growls a little, but the focus on melody has stayed. Yeah, they're metal, but not really the "I'll melt your face off" kind, but more melodic, for the most part.

As for introductory stuff, I'm only really familiar with their last era, and I'd say that Silent Waters or the most recent are both representative of the sound of that era and very good.

[?]

^Yeah, Silent Waters and Circle are good picks too.

Anyway, looks like Amorphis continue the tradition of basing the intro tape for the tour on an album track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfLFt_RcWAg As a doom metal fan I also wish they played Enchanted by the Moon closer to the album version tempo

[aprilethereal]

I agree that Silent Waters is a good starting point. The song The White Swan in particular is probably the best representation of their current sound.

[ariich]

Silent Waters and Circle are both really amazing places to start.

[reneranucci]

Okay guys been hearing alot about this band but never checked them out

Where does a noob start?

Has there sound remained consistent or has the styles changed ? I ask this because I'm a metal guy first/prog secondly

This is what I did, in case it helps you:
- After hearing a lot about them from a forum member called 6 o'clock, I really wanted to see if they were that good. However, I was against any music with growls at that time, so I got their more melodic albums that don't have growls at all: Am Universum and Tuonela. I was deeply impressed by Am Universum, I've never heard saxophone used like that in rock music, and the melodies are incredibly good and original. Almost every song is amazing and has something unique. Tuonela was meh.
- I wanted more, so I got Eclipse . Wow. This is a beast of an album. Even now I can listen to it over and over. It's a 10/10 album. All the great elements I liked from the band are there: the incredible melodies, the great riffs, the e-nah-gy and po-wah. Add to this the most incredible, aggressive growls, the solid lyrics and the fantasy/epic/winter atmosphere and you have a great album. They combine melody and aggressiveness like nobody else, much better than Opeth IMO. 
- Want more? I got Elegy and Silent Waters. Both excellent, but I definitely give the Edge to Elegy. The riffs on Better Unborn, against Widows, On Rich and Poor are incredible, and you have to listen to the growls with soft piano background on the title track. I've never been too impressed with Silent Waters.
- Tales from the Thousand Lakes is also recommended, but it's 100% growls. I prefer their latter work which makes them shine even more.
- I got Skyforger and wasn't 100% convinced by the effort, so I didn't buy their next album. I'm looking forward to listen to the new one, though.

[?]

^Thousand Lakes isn't 100% growls - there are some clean vox in a few songs. Actually I think it was one of the first (melodic) death metal albums to use the combination of both vocal styles, or at least it came out before anyone knew Opeth.

[aprilethereal]

I was deeply impressed by Am Universum, I've never heard saxophone used like that in rock music, and the melodies are incredibly good and original. Almost every song is amazing and has something unique. Tuonela was meh.

That's interesting
I personally absolutely love Tuonela but Am Universum is the only Amorphis album I would consider to be bad. I cannot stand it. I think it sounds even more uninspired than Far From The Sun.

I definitely give the Edge to Elegy. The riffs on Better Unborn, against Widows, On Rich and Poor are incredible, and you have to listen to the growls with soft piano background on the title track.

Elegy is my personal favourite of theirs and it's and absolute masterpiece, although I wouldn't recommend it to a new listener, mainly because of the kind of "strange" vocals (both growls and cleans) and the pretty bad production which need some time so get used to. At least that was the case for me.

I'm looking forward to listen to the new one, though.

It's definitely worth it.

^Thousand Lakes isn't 100% growls - there are some clean vox in a few songs. Actually I think it was one of the first (melodic) death metal albums to use the combination of both vocal styles, or at least it came out before anyone knew Opeth.

I actually think it came out the same year as Orchid, but I might be wrong.

[?]

Am Universum is a great album IMO, but it's not a great starting point unless you can't stand growls. It takes a lot of time to grow (especially due to the notable role of the saxophone and the lack of metal), but I think songs like Alone and Shatters Within are superb classics.

^Thousand Lakes isn't 100% growls - there are some clean vox in a few songs. Actually I think it was one of the first (melodic) death metal albums to use the combination of both vocal styles, or at least it came out before anyone knew Opeth.

I actually think it came out the same year as Orchid, but I might be wrong.

It was one year before Orchid. Either way, TFTTL was a revolutionary album at the time

[MoraWintersoul]

Is anyone else getting huuuuge Derek Sherinian/FII vibes from the intro of Illusion?

[?]

Is anyone else getting huuuuge Derek Sherinian/FII vibes from the intro of Illusion?

No, but the ending of New Song gives me a LTL vibe