Double album on blue and white custom galaxy merge vinyls withgatefold cover and 4 bonus tracks

To stand out in a field where the obvious signifiers are themost common, and therefore the most clichéd, elements, one has toknow when to try something different. Amorphis had already shownitself to be a more than competent end-of-the-century Scandinavianblack metal outfit, but there were plenty of others equally able tosay the same. The inspired turning point had two points of origin —recruiting another lead vocalist, Pasi Koskinen, to sing with TomiKoivusaari, and deciding to record an album infused with earlierFinnish folk influences, both musically and lyrically. The choiceof lyrical inspiration, Finland’s national epic The Kalevala, isn’tnecessarily surprising given how often metal of all kinds hasfavored tales of dungeons and grue. But Amorphis wisely eschewConan the Barbarian grotesqueries in place of the often grimexistentialism found in the original poems, more like a medievalnorthern Metallica (or even a Joy Division, if you like) than aprancing Dio. The result is a powerful release that, if anything,feels like an equivalent to Sepultura’s own inspired combination ofpast and present, Roots. Esa Holopainen’s use of sitar on certaintracks, like the opening “Better Unborn,” as well as the continueduse of keyboards shows the band avoiding some sort ofretro-unplugged move — it’s still Amorphis ripping through thingswith a number of prog touches as they go, but wanting to bring allsorts of musical options to the fore (as with the folky dance breakin “Cares,” where the guitars almost sound Hawaiian). Koskinen’smuch clearer vocals nicely offsets Koivusaari’s subterraneangrumble, ensuring that the lyrics aren’t lost in the flow. For allthe darkness of the lyrics and delivery, there are some jauntymoments as well, like “On Rich and Poor,” which for black metal isactually a pretty upbeat song, at least at the opening! With agentle acoustic version of “My Kantele” closing things out, Elegyis an inspired leap forward.

Track listing:
1. Better Unborn
2. Against Windows
3. The Orphan
4. On Rich And Poor
5. My Kantele
6. Cares
7. Song Of The Troubled One
8. Weeper On The Shore
9. Elegy
10. Relief
11. My Kantele-acoustic reprise
12. Better Unborn-live
13. Against Widows-live
14. The Castaway-live
15. Black Winter Day-live

Condition cover: nm

Condition vinyl: nm

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