Amorphis - The Beginning Of Times

This past week, Finnish metal icons, Amorhpis released their 10^th studio album, The Beginning Of Times. This new record follows success of 2009’s Skyforger and marks more than 20 years of their brand of progressive heavy metal. Following the tradition of storytelling in their previous releases, this album takes the listener on the journey of Väinämöinen, an important and powerful God in Finnish mythology. It’s believed that Väinämöinen was a shaman and creator of the world.

“Battle For Light” opens the albums with a graceful piano and orchestra background, soon followed by singer Tomi Joutsen’s grand vocal style. The theatrical styling continues, punctuated with heavy riffs and intense growls. This song sets the stage for the entire record, showing that Amorphis is comfortable drawing from all the musical styles that they’ve amassed over the years. Lending backing vocals on several songs, is Netta Dahlberg, who elegantly accompanies Joutsen’s clean and growling styles. You can hear her on “Mermaid,” a song that tears along, bristling with energy supplied by tight riffs and plenty of synth runs. This song reminds me of “The Sky Is Mine,” from Skyforger.

The first single and video was “You I Need.” Released just prior to the rest of the album, this track gave us all a taste of what to expect from Amorphis. Heavily rooted in their Joutsen-era material and set in apocalyptic scenery, this demonstrates Amorphis pushing forward while delivering the epic prog-tinged metal that we’ve come to enjoy over the years.

The middle of the album continues through incredible storytelling. This is also the kind of record that requires the listener to sit down with the lyrics to absorb the story. Songs like “Three Words” and “Soothsayer” are standout tracks. The latter tune also features vocalist Netta Dahlberg more prominently. The duet with Joutsen is perfect as the song ends.

The Beginning Of Times finishes as strong as it started. The complex and varied “Crack In A Stone” is one of my favorites on the album. It begins subtly enough, blooming into a dense, powerful song until charging full bore in sheer chaos. “The Beginning Of Time” and “Heart’s Song” (bonus track) build on the musical themes established throughout. The use of flutes and keyboards alongside double-bass and death growls keeps each song interesting. There’s something new to find with every listen. This is clearly a band at the top of their game. Amorphis continues to write elaborately heavy and technical metal and The Beginning Of Times stand outs as another amazing chapter.

Have you heard the new Amorphis? Let me know what you think. Check out my last post about Amorhphis: http://greenchamberstudio.blogspot.com/2011/04/amorphis-forging-land.html