Amorphis... blow?

[pfillion]

New video: https://youtu.be/T8aH5HVx_0c

Amorphis can do no wrong!

[gazinwales]

I like it, watched the video just once and now I'll wait for the CD to drop in two weeks.

[gazinwales]

AMG Staff rate the Amorphis discography;
https://www.angrymetalguy.com/amgs-guide-to-amorphis/

[ReaPsTA]

I like how every Amorphis album since Eclipse has had basically the same production and it still works.

New music video was solid.

[WardySI]

Due to timezone differences Halo is due to hit Spotify here in just over 8hrs.

I didn't give the new single more than a couple spins intially but for kicks warmed up to it with the video again just now and was blown  the  fck  away!

Absolutely brilliant and probably my favorite Amorphis track of the last few albums.  Spectacular song I think I need sit up past midnight with some cold ones tonight and get into this asap and am also in process of having to order both the CD and vinyl online now too damn them!

[gazinwales]

Yeah same mate, I'll be up in the early hours, as I just moved and I'll be unpacking to the sounds of Halo.
Got both Japanese versions on order and maybe vinyl from Utopia Records in Sydney.

[WardySI]

Yeah same mate, I'll be up in the early hours, as I just moved and I'll be unpacking to the sounds of Halo.
Got both Japanese versions on order and maybe vinyl from Utopia Records in Sydney.

Excellent might have post a few words about it then but hey I checked Utopia too and didn't see the vinyl???

Hope the unpacking goes smoothly...

[WardySI]

Well I may have jinxed myself the album didn't drop for a while after midnight LOL so Plan B was early morning listens, anyway some footnotes for fun...

I would describe Halo as Amorphis taking the Queen and Red Cloud templates and pushing them into a more progressive direction (I recall reading that was their intention?) and adding many layers not heard in some time and not heard before at least like this that I can recall (confess to not being that well versed in Amorphis pre-Tomi so take that as you will)?  I mean there's a ton of 70's-like keyboard tinkering throughout that absolutely enhance the listen and often-times the songs divert nicely and go off into short interludes etc which are done very well.  We get plenty female backing vocals even a rich duet to conclude the album.  The ballad and title-track are arguably the only entire cleans and while it could just be the excitement of new Amorphis but hearing some of their strongest riffs (and possibly material?) have heard in eons! Whether any those will feature on personal fave lists is yet to be seen,  I mean nothing will likely ever top Skyforger fer these ears and some of those Queen and Red Sky tracks will be hard to beat, but to each our own and will be interesting to see

Can't honestly list any faves yet the sequencing felt perfect like a genuine album experience and each song I proclaimed a favorite would give way to the next!  No bad thing of course

So only two listens in and has far more chapters to reveal yet hoping to discuss some favorites once absorbed more and can't wait to read others thoughts soon

[pfillion]

New video \m/

https://youtu.be/vwyrppDEcYM

[gazinwales]

Listening to 'Halo' for the first time, what struck me immediately is how good the sound is, production/mix/mastering is spot on.
The actual music itself, is going to take a many listens to fully digest everything that is going on.
Amazing for a band in it's 30th year to be still producing such great music.

[nick_z]

Agreed 100%

I like the production better than Queen of Time. QoT had more stuff going on, with orchestration and such. Halo feels punchier and the rhythm section sounds especially great.

[wolfking]

Didn't get around to picking this up unfortunately this weekend.  Looks like another week of anticipation.  Really looking forward to checking this though.  Queen of Time might have become my fav Amorphis album.

[Kwyjibo]

Got my cd on friday but don't have the time to listen to it, hopefully on monday.

Their last two releases are incredibly strong, not that the ones before were bad, but I think it's amazing that they release some of their best works 30+ years into their career.

[Polarbear]

I listened it through once, and the first impression was positive!

At the moment, I don't think Halo quite rises to the level of QoT but it's definitely another rock solid Amorphis record.

[Melphina]

Well it definitely sounds like another Amorphis album. I wish I liked several elements of this band more, then I'd share the love of the band with all my friends. Oh well. It's not a bad album, they make very cool metal, but there's literally nothing to connect with on an emotional level and it sounds just like the last 3 or 4 records; I'm not looking for Tom Waits but I wish their lyrical themes weren't just mythology and folklore y'know? Just rambling, not trying to be a buzz killer. The constant switch from growls to cleans bugs me too. I like his growls way more than his cleans.

[Grappler]

I feel the same way, though I do love the band   The new album sounds like another Tomi Joutsen-era Amorphis record.  The songs are good, but every album since Skyforger just blends together for me.  Skyforger was the last album of theirs to truly blow me away.  Each record has a few songs I like, but they are all completely interchangeable to me. 

[Kwyjibo]

After one listen I agree it sounds like a solid Joutsen-era album.

I disagree with Skyforger being the last great record. Imo it's the other way round. From Skyforger to Circles they were solid with some great songs here and there. And with Red Skies and Queen Of Time they didn't change their formula that much but nonetheless released two of their best records.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Under the Red Cloud is potentially my favorite record of theirs. Elegy and Eclipse are the other contenders, but they've released so much great stuff it's insane. Haven't finished Halo yet but I expect nothing less than .

[Luoto]

I disagree with Skyforger being the last great record. Imo it's the other way round. From Skyforger to Circles they were solid with some great songs here and there. And with Red Skies and Queen Of Time they didn't change their formula that much but nonetheless released two of their best records.

Eclipse is between the two for me but otherwise I tend to agree. Skyforger was my favorite Amorphis album at one point but it just hasn't aged as well.

Halo is indeed a very solid record but not as good as Under the Red Cloud or Queen of Time. I feel like the arrangements are more fluid and "clever" in a way on those two, whereas on Halo they're either more simplified or rough. There's a couple of songs midway through the album that suffer from this a bit.

[WardySI]

I disagree with Skyforger being the last great record. Imo it's the other way round. From Skyforger to Circles they were solid with some great songs here and there. And with Red Skies and Queen Of Time they didn't change their formula that much but nonetheless released two of their best records.

Eclipse is between the two for me but otherwise I tend to agree. Skyforger was my favorite Amorphis album at one point but it just hasn't aged as well.

Halo is indeed a very solid record but not as good as Under the Red Cloud or Queen of Time. I feel like the arrangements are more fluid and "clever" in a way on those two, whereas on Halo they're either more simplified or rough. There's a couple of songs midway through the album that suffer from this a bit.

Interesting points...

Firstly, don't think Skyforger has aged at all but dunno, I've been around that long now I'd be hard pressed to know what is and what isn't considered old or aged anymore, certainly not a 10yr old album that's fer sure 

While I think it was their greatest record thus far I do however agree between it and now there have been some absolute highlights and certainly wasn't suggesting nothing since has come close, arguably it all has.  For example its one of my least liked of the bunch personally but could play The Beginning Of Times front to back all day and absolutely no complaints, great album regardless \m /

So far as Halo goes I've lost none of my initial excitement in fact after chipping through each the songs these last few days gave the album a few spins through and rather confident it will end up in the upper end of things so far as my own Amorphis lists go

[nick_z]

With 1 week+ of listening, I can confirm that, in my book, this is another great addition to the Amorphis canon. It's no doubt signature, trademark Amorphis, and not particularly adventurous, but I keep going back to it. Very tight album with no filler.

Random comments/highlights:

- Northwards is good, but not their strongest opener. Sets the mood right, though, and it gets better from there
- I liked The Moon when it came out as the first single, but I LOVE it now. Classic Amorphis.
- Windmane is one of the best in terms of dark/light contrasts, and the brief guitar solo section is great, with a mood that reminds me of the Tuonela album
- A New Land's pre-chorus, with the growls and that guitar melody, almost transports me back to Tales...
- Love the melodic section starting around the 3-minute mark in Seven Roads Come Together
- The mellow closer, My Name is Night, works great. Interesting that the music was written by Koivusaari...

Anyway - Halo made this Amorphis fan quite happy 

[majo]

Solid "Amorphis by the numbers" album 7/10

[LithoJazzoSphere]

It's kind of mindblowing that this is the 8th cycle through a new album with Joutsen now.  They are one of my absolute favorite bands, but their new albums always take at least a minimum half-dozen listens to even start to sink in, not sure why they never grab me immediately.  This one is even a bit more challenging since nothing even immediately leaped out like "Amongst Stars" did on QoT.  But still, their consistency is absolutely astounding.  There are very few bands that have perfected a formula to the degree they have and maintained a very high quality level. 

The talk of albums "aging" is bizarre to me, because I would suspect that if you played casual Amorphis fans deeper cuts from each of the past Joutsen albums, they would struggle to match them to each album.  There are subtleties that more experienced listeners can pick up on that differentiate each album, but those can take time to notice.  I was kind of hoping that bringing Laine back into the fold would result in him contributing more material, since he was a key writer for Tales/Elegy, but I don't believe he was involved in that facet.  Maybe next album? 

All this to say that I'm not entirely sure what I think of the album yet.  I know I like it, but any thoughts of comparisons to other albums by them or others are a bit premature and futile right now.  '22 music exploration has been lighter this year than '21, so I'll have to wait for additional plays later in the year to really solidify my thoughts. 

[WardySI]

Finally have the CD in hand and gotta give them huge props for the quality booklet with full lyrics and pics etc, sensational stuff and can delve in even more now \m/

[Luoto]

The talk of albums "aging" is bizarre to me, because I would suspect that if you played casual Amorphis fans deeper cuts from each of the past Joutsen albums, they would struggle to match them to each album. There are subtleties that more experienced listeners can pick up on that differentiate each album, but those can take time to notice.

Skyforger "not aging well" is indeed entirely subjective in this case. It's still very good but some of the tracks midway through have kinda worn out. As for playing deeper cuts to casual fans, some of the differences aren't even that subtle. Queen of Time has prominent elements that are almost entirely absent from other albums, enough to be even a significant turn-off for some people.

I was kind of hoping that bringing Laine back into the fold would result in him contributing more material, since he was a key writer for Tales/Elegy, but I don't believe he was involved in that facet. Maybe next album?

He contributed for both QoT and Halo sessions, but none of his songs were picked for the albums proper. Two bonus tracks are credited to him.

[hefdaddy42]

This was my first Amorphis album in a while, and I must say, I enjoyed the hell out of it.

[WardySI]

Honestly struggling to put this one away which is a little weird as generally speaking, aside from Paradise Lost and Amorphis, I'm not a fan of the growls etc.  But they enhance some of this stuff and bring something different.  Lots emotion on this one and both bands output particularly since the mid 00's has proven to be nothing but essential for my ears...

And probably the first time in a long time the singles are some of the faves.  Can't get enough of On The Dark Waters and The Moon, and initially had it way down the list but now the title-track Halo is right there with them too (as are Seven Roads and When The Gods...)

[Kwyjibo]

This new one is really good and still growing. I don't see it surpassing Under The Red Cloud or Queen Of Time but it's still a very worthy addition to their already stellar discography.

My Name Is Night works surprisingly good as the album closer.

[Luoto]

Here's a cool article and interview with Tomi Koivusaari about the band's early years; how a death metal album was Finland's biggest international success at the time, and how their pioneering record deal was an important lesson for later acts.

https://musicfinland.com/en/news/pioneers-amorphis-blazed-finnish-metals-path-into-the-mainstream

[WardySI]

My brick and mortar finally got copies in on LP and grabbed mine but after getting it home and putting #1 LP on the turntable realized the second LP was missing?  A double 2xLP with only the one LP!?

Wonder if anyone else has experienced the same thing, if ever even as never heard of it happening before?  Hopefully a one-off and wasn't a batch worth of Halo (are the LP's still placed into their protective sleeves and jackets by hand these days or machine I wonder?)...

Anyway frustrating and back to the local to hopefully get an exchange or re-order, was so happy to finally have this one UGH but ya know, first world problems and all that

[WardySI]

Our local replaced my copy and have this on the turntable already 

There's nothing to skip and having trouble listing faves but these would be those given can't quite get it down to just 5...

On The Dark Waters
The Moon
Halo
When The Gods Came
Seven Roads Come Together
The Wolf

[wolfking]

Finally got around to spinning my copy of Halo and obviously a lot to take in on first listen.  Doesn't seem to be as many instant melodies as there were on QOT but I really liked everything going on here.

Our local replaced my copy and have this on the turntable already 

There's nothing to skip and having trouble listing faves but these would be those given can't quite get it down to just 5...

On The Dark Waters
The Moon
Halo
When The Gods Came
Seven Roads Come Together
The Wolf

I think I'd list those 5 also on first listen.  The title track is incredible.

[WardySI]

Cool.  And personally think the beauty of Halo is the fact it isn't as immediate and is the perfect example of an album taking several full listens before being able to truly start appreciating it, the very definition of a grower!

While on the other hand I immediately loved On The Dark Waters and it remains a favorite The Moon didn't do a great deal for me until I heard it as part of the album tracklist and it is clearly now high on the list of faves also.  And so too were other songs such as the title-track which just got better with every damn listen. 

Have actually taken a deliberate breather from Halo as was playing it so much was worried would wear it out so have about another week before I am allowing myself to return to it...

Cannot begin to tell you how damn excited I am to finally get back onto it \m/

[lonestar]

Amorphis canceled their Berkeley show tomorrow  :'(


Very bummed, was looking forward to really letting loose for this one, they were so good on the Queen of Time tour just the one show, they state they'll still be playing in LA Saturday, so my guess is mechanical issues with the van or something.

[gazinwales]

Tomi Koivusaari just posted an Instagram pic of him in the studio with producer/Thunderstone guitarist Nino Laurenne.
'Something is cooking' was his message, hopefully a heavy side project with Tomi K on lead vox