Description

Box wth with Halo album on green/blue marbled vinyls, a 4-page inlay, slipmat, flag, button and the Live In Europe 2018/2019 cd. Limited 500 copies

Rock and metal music have always been a haven for those who have bigger stories to tell; who have grander emotions to convey. For more than thirty years, Finnish figureheads Amorphis have done their best to carve their very own niche in heartfelt yet aggressive, melancholic yet soothing tunes. On Halo, their staggering fourteenth studio effort, the Fins underline their trailblazing status as one of the most original, culturally relevant and rewarding acts ever to emerge from the land of the thousand lakes. In the past, mythology and legend took the role of today’s pop culture: Stories and a set of values uniting us by giving us a voice and a tapestry on which we can find each other and identify with something. By weaving the tales of Finnish national epos Kalevala into their songs and interpreting them in a timeless way, Amorphis combine the role of ancient minstrels and luminaries of the modern world, honouring tradition without getting stuck in the past. The vibrant, lively, and touching beauty that is Halo highlights their musical and storytelling mastership on a once again soaring level: It’s a progressive, melodic, and quintessentially melancholic heavy metal masterwork plucked from the fickle void of inspiration by original guitarists Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari, bassist Olli-Pekka Laine, drummer Jan Rechberger, longtime keyboardist Santeri Kallio and vocalist Tomi Joutsen, the band’s long-standing lyrical consciousness Pekka Kainulainen and a selected group of world class audio professionals led by renowned Swedish producer Jens Bogren. Considering the band’s prolonged journey in the forefront of innovative metal music, it’s difficult to grasp how Amorphis manages to raise the proverbial bar time and time again, presenting a more than worthy finale to the trilogy begun with 2015’s Under The Red Cloud followed by 2018’s Queen Of Time. It really is a great feeling that we can still produce very decent music as a band, says Holopainen, a founding member of the band. Perhaps a certain kind of self-criticism and long experience culminate in these latest albums. To the songwriter himself, Halo sounds both familiar and different. It is thoroughly recognizable Amorphis from beginning to end but the general atmosphere is a little bit heavier and more progressive and also organic compared to its predecessor, he elaborates. Tomi Joutsen, the man with vocal cords capable of unleashing colossal, bear-like growls as well as singing soothing, mesmerizing lullabies, adds, To me, Halo sounds a little more stripped down compared to Queen Of Time and Under The Red Cloud. However, don’t get me wrong: when a certain song needs to sound big, then it sounds very big. This is not only an album for fans or metal connoisseurs. It’s a must for every imaginative mind out there with a soft spot for cinematic soundscapes, triumphant melodies and breathtaking dynamics measuring the borderlands of light and dark. However, no Amorphis album would be complete without the imaginative.

Track list:
1. Northwards
2. On The Dark Waters
3. The Moon
4. Windmane
5. A New Land
6. When The Gods Came
7. Seven Roads Come Together
8. War
9. Halo
10. The Wolf
11. My Name Is Night

Cd track list: Live in Europe 2018/2019
1. Death Of A King
2. Sacrifice
3. Amongst Stars-with Anneke Van Giersbergen
4. Sky Is Mine
5. Message In The Amber
6. Her Alone-with Anneke Van Giersbergen
7. The Castaway