One of the great things about heavy metal and music in general is that there is a bit of everything out there for everyone and no matter what your taste you will be able to find something that you really love and can identify with and becomes part of your life. I feel this way when a great band or musician can create an album that envelopes me completely and sucks me into the story they are telling whether it is in a single song or an entire album with a complete concept. Dawnbringer gave this to me last year with their stellar release Into the Liar of the Sun God. This release to me was a perfect amalgam of what a great band can do with a well thought out story and the ability to translate that story to music. Stephen King does it in books, sometimes over 1000’s of pages; musicians only have about 60 minutes in which to do the same thing. So no matter what, it takes some time and effort to put forth a great album with a great story (ies) to satisfy the masses of music listeners and fans.
Amorphis are ready to release their 11th studio album Circle and continue the story and saga they began nearly 20 years ago. They have taken their once death metal tendencies and morphed them into what is now a melodic, folk, power metal sound. The guttural screams of their death metal past rear their heads throughout the album but are used more for atmosphere than for song construction. Additionally, I don’t believe it is easy to continue to milk the teat of an ancient Finnish legend of music and inspiration through 11 albums and several musician changes but as Amorphis’ name suggests (without determinate form, shapeless) they have been willing to “adjust” or “morph” their sound to suit the music they are creating.
So has Amorphis been able to continue with the wave of success they have been surfing on these past few years? Yes and no! The album Circle is an interesting turn for Amorphis as they have definitely moved into the full on power metal field and left the melodic death behind. There is no mistaking that this album was meant to be grandiose and with the inclusion of more symphonic/orchestral keyboards/synth and power metal breaks on this album than any I have heard on previous releases they have achieved this. But what Amorphis has achieved in sound I think they have lost in overall quality of the album as well as the production. This album has three distinct types of song on it: The Good, The Bad and the Forgettable! Instead of going song by song I will just categorize them for you so you understand what is worth downloading and what is worth staying away from. The Good: 'Shades of Gray', 'The Wanderer', 'Nightbird’s Song', 'Hopeless Days'; The Bad: 'Narrowpath', 'Into the Abyss'; The Forgettable: 'Enchanted By the Moon', 'A New Day'.
I am going to be honest, I really wanted to like this album and give it a great review. Not only because I am a fan of Amorphis but because it is my first review for the fine folks at Ech(((o)))es and Dust. Amorphis’ previous recordings had given me hope that they were finally taking heart in their progressive side and would be working more toward that sound in their music as it was obvious that they had decided to move on from their death and melodic death roots. But alas, I was wrong and instead of working off of the growth of their previous few releases they instead embraced the power metal side of their sound and created an album that is technically smart but lacks any aggression and in turn any emotion. Additionally, and maybe this was just my copy of the album but it also seemed like the production was really over-produced and compressed and this doesn’t allow the music to sound as I think it really should. All in all, there are some songs that really stand out on this album but they do so, on an album that is not that memorable.
Until Later, Peace!
