Customer Reviews

Tuonela

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This has got to be one of the best records of the year. The songs are great, best when the lyrics are read. The lyrics to "Summers End" and "Nightfall" are very talented. Musically, the record is very diverse, their sound is exclusively Amorphis but similar at times to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Ambient, Oriental, The Doors, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple and a bit of Grunge. I've listened to Amorphis since 1992(The Karelian Isthmus). I can tell they're really comfortable with this sound. All the elements from the past have come together to find Tuonela a reflection of the "Real Amorphis." The keyboard player and Sakari Kukko are awesome. Production is louder and more sonic/dynamic than ever. Of course, if all you listen to is metal you probably won't dig this record. It's rock and damn good rock at that. If you only like the old Amorphis, you might buy it for "Greed" which is in the vein of a melodic(and better produced)Karelian Isthmus. Unfortunately, there are plenty of people out there, like the "2 stars" on this ratings board, who refuse to leave the underground. The appropriate response is: that's not what music is all about. When a band is together 10 years they sell out when they don't change. Amorphis changes, and does so successfully. I'd recommend the album to anyone who is a music fan.

You won't discover everything there is to love about this album on the first listen--it takes a little time. The lyrics--this time wrriten by singer Pasi, instead of lifted from folk poetry--are good; thought-provoking, mysterious, and very individual. They take a while to sink in. I was worried that Amorphis might lose some of their traditional color when they switched back to writing their own lyrics, but they say their own things with all the strange phrasing and twists of words that have always made their lyrics seem out of the ordinary. The music tends toward atmospheric wash, rather than simple crisp riffs, but the songs are still very memorable. The opening track, "The Way", is very catchy and you will be singing along with choruses on most songs. The flute on "Rusty Moon" is phenomenal. Dvinity stomps through its verses then opens wide in the bridge--you will definitely yell along on this one.

With regard to the vocals--Pasi doesn't have the gutsiest, most powerful voice imaginable, but he has a lot of control and very individual phrasing, and he puts a lot of passion into each of his words. It ends up communicating more than the relatively monotone growls on previous albums--not that I didn't love those too; in fact, when "Greed" comes up on this album I'm totally psyched for something gutteral. But this is like having a whole new dimension.

How does it compare with "Tales from the Thousand Lakes"? Apples and oranges. But you can love them both. This is a masterpiece, recommended 100%.

Relapse records: the home of ridiculous, boundary pushing grindcore and sonic extremity. Amorphis hardly qualify as extreme, but boundaries they do push... Tuonela is a logical progression for Finland's finest metal export. In fact, it barely resembles metal at all, a transition furthered with Am Universum. Instead, Amorphis weave abstract keyboard and organ playing with pyschedelic guitars and the occasional power chord. Tuonela is lush, organic and beautiful... imagine cruising through the desert at night, tripping on Peyote. This is the soundtrack.

"Elegy" saw Amorphis going explicitly for a psychedelic/folk sound, and "Tuonela" carries the band even further in that direction. While "Tales from the Thousand Lakes" remains by far my favorite Amorphis CD, "Elegy" and "Tuonela" each have unique things to offer.

"Tuonela" features a more direct songwriting approach than Amorphis has taken in the past. Also, the gruff vocals are almost completely gone, returning only on the song "Greed," where they fit the lyrics most adeptly, I might add!

While going for a more direct, simple approach to songwriting, the songs are also (paradoxically?) more diverse than on "Elegy." A frequent complaint against "Elegy" is its repetitiveness, but this complaint holds no water against "Tuonela." I believe Amorphis have simply gone for a different approach with "Tuonela": "Elegy" was intended to be listened to as a complete album, while on "Tuonela" the individual songs stand on their own. Those songs are, on the whole, structured simply and straightforwardly, with an emphasis on catching the listener with a few, readily identifiable hooks.

While those of us with a more experimental turn of mind will be spinning Arcturus, Nightwish, or Opeth, "Tuonela" should have wide appeal to a general metal audience. Amorphis remains hard, though perhaps barely metal, and catchy.

AMORPHIS - Tuonela
-
Evolution is a dangerous thing for many bands, especially when your transition changes you from a Death Metal band into a Prog-Rock band. Criticisms are bound to be made, mainly by those evil metal purists. Luckily for myself I explored Amorphis with an open mind, getting Thousand Lakes, Elegy, Tuonela all at once. Personally I love this music... It's good Progressive Rock & Roll without the guilt of listening to generic mainstream garbage (A la Matchbox 20.)

73 Reviews and not one play by play... so here it is:

-This CD opens `The Way' which has Gilmore-esc guitar work, and comes across as almost sounding a bit like the great Porcupine Tree. Perfect opener... this song just grabs your attention.
-Track 2 is `Morning Star' which has an almost doom-inspired Rock feel blended with some 90's era grunge.
-`Nightfall' opens with some horns, which sound amazing... It also has big middle-eastern vibe which makes the track even more beautiful.
-Fourth is the title track which has a ridiculously catchy chorus and some more spacey Gilmore-esc guitar work.
-Now as much as I'm praising the prog-side of Amorphis, my favorite track is easily track five `Greed'. Mr. Akerfeldt steps in to do some of his trademark growls which blend perfectly with the raunchy guitar riff. In fact just about anything Mikeal Akerfeldt touches is pure gold.
-`Divinity' is the next track, which has, yet another, infectious chorus. It has a really cool solo (Almost sounds like a slowed down Children of Bodom solo.) and even chucks in a few little growls for good measure.
-`Shining' has some beautiful melodic guitar work, though the chorus seems a bit similar to some of the earlier tracks it flows well within context of the album.
-Track eight is `Withered' which returns with the middle-eastern vibe mixed with some great progressive rock, this song is probably the most beautiful track on the entire album.
-`Rusty Moon' digs deeply into the folk traditions and even includes some really amazing flute work another. Progression is a wonderful thing, especially when you can pull it off like this.
-The closer, `Summer's End' is a nice somber ending to the CD... this song probably wouldn't have fit anywhere else on the album, but the subtle build works great as the albums closer.

Recommended for Fans of Porcupine Tree, or any other modern Prog-Rock bands... Also for open minded fans of older Amorphis. Sure it may be stripped down a bit and lacking the growls we all love so much... but if you listen based on this material alone it is an amazing CD.

Favorite Songs: Greed, Withered, Morning Star and The Way.
-4.5 Stars.


IF YOU LIKED, AGREED OR APPRECIATED THIS. PLEASE CLICK YES FOR:
"Was this review helpful?"

The Finnish delight in doom metal, Amorphis, has made one of the best cd's in the pre-apocalyptic year of '99. After the magnificant "Tales from the thousand "lakes" and "Elegy" they now offer us 'Tuonela": simply a new dimension into their already astonishing music. Of course they have followed their way which they began to walk on with "Elegy". The death grunts are almost gone and the music maybe isn't as doomy as on "The tales...". But that's only after two or three listenings. When you really start to get into thsi music, you can hear that the music hasn't been so melancholy and deep ever in their career.They have written some of their best songs of their lifes, and they have put in some new ingredients which make the songs only better. After "Elegy" they began to experiment with psychedelical- and '70's-influences. These influences are now put into their music in a very subtile way, just as the eternal Finnish folk-influences, which are again present. All these influences you can hear only after at least three listenings, so you should really try to listen to this music very good. What more can I say now? Maybe that it just isn't true that (what probably many so-called fans and music-journalists say) Amorphis is now definitively not a metal band any more. Indead, it's just what the title of this cd tells us (Tuonela is an (old)-Finnish word which means "underworld"): they have never been so deep into the underworld as ever! This was all i could say about this magnificent piec of work. I only want to say now: everyone who loves doom- or gothicmetal should listen to IN THE WOODS, a superb band who is so experimental and weird that nowbody knows them and that you even can't buy their super-cd's "Omnio" and "Strange in stereo" at Amazon (shame on you, Amazon! ). And furthermore everyone who likes Amorphis should try the newest of Tiamat and My Dying Bride!

Amorphis's Tuonala, a very controversial album indeed. Maybe writing a review for this is pointless since everyone seems to have a differing opinion, but I'll give it a shot though. This is where they changed from Death metal to more melodic metal. All songs feature clean vox and only one song has death vox on it. This is just fine with me, Pasi has improved a lot at singing since Tales From the Thousand Lakes and while the death vox were awesome too they were more restrictive than helpful to Amorphis's sound. As for the music it's almost the same as Elegy. Just a bit more mellow and more atmospheric. The best comparision I could think of would be Draconian Times era Paradise Lost, only a bit more wispy sounding. They also use a lot more intruments that aren't typical for metal on this album, flute, saxophone, sitar. I don't think these were neccassary but they don't hurt the album in any major way either. In my eyes Tuonela ranks up there with the best from Katatonia's later stuff, Anathema, Paradise Lost and all the other bands that make similar music. This is one of my favorite Amorphis albums and may even be their best. Like I said before though, everyone seems to have their own opinion about it so it would probably be benifical to listen to it before purchasing it.

This is the CD that introduced me to Amorphis, so it's no wonder I prefer the newer stuff. I was sitting there listening for the first time just going "Wow" It makes me angry that talent like this goes unnoticed. The thing is too, that certain songs from these guys' newer albums could actually be played on the radio if so desired. This is, at times, some pretty mellow, and breathtaking s*it. Except for the song Greed of course, where some of the vocals are done in a traditional death metal vein, and masterfully I might add. The vocals are in word, um, what is it?? I guess "Melancholy" would be the word. The guitars weaving catchy hooks at some times, and other times propose odd time changes that are just awesome to listen to. Bass and drums also excellent as well. Just get the god*amn thing. High points include "The Way", "Morning Star", "Divinity", and "Rusty Moon", for someone wanting some samplers before purchasing. The flute and saxophone elements included in some songs may need some getting used to, but you'll find they add a lot to the songs. Ok enough out of my ass, support this band!!

Tuonela, although a dramatic change from 1996's Elegy, was foreshadowed in their My Kantele release, a 5-track EP featuring the two-part "The Brother Slayer". Equal parts death-metal and 70's prog-rock, the band was showcasing a new sound that would later dominate their forthcoming albums.

With only one track featuring death-metal grunts, the raw "Greed", Pasi Koskinen has taken over the role of primary vocalist. The album was received with mixed opinions by fans, but lauded by critics. This is only natural - critics applauded the creative maturity, but fans were shocked by the tremendous shift from death-metal to retrogressive rock. Songs such as "Nightfall" are decorated by saxophones and a whimsical flute makes an appearance on "Rusty Moon", one of the album's standout tracks. Despite the changes, the album still has its hard-rockers. The opening track "The Way" has hints of Elegy-esque melodies and vocal arrangements, while "Divinity" is the new sound's aggressive style.

Although the album has its great selections, it does have its formulaic, repetitive pieces that add little to the mix ("Summer's End" for example). To separate the album more from its predecessors, the lyrics are new, band-written (as opposed to the Finnish poems from which the band derived their previous albums' lyrics). The album is no longer the melodic thrash that characterized the band's most prized creations, but it is still worth a listen. For its creative merits (and stunning stand-outs), Tuonela is greatly appreciated.

See also: Amorphis - Am Universum, Green Carnation - A Blessing in Disguise

I just HAVE to here! The review next most recent complains that there is too much wah on this CD. I can sort of understand the complaint, although I completely disagree with it. HOWEVER, he then states that "Elegy is their best!" when that album had BY far the most excessive use of the wah pedal! Makes no sense to me... anyways, I've had this album for just over a year now, and I still get thrilled by it when I listen! Although there are some standout tracks (IMO, the first 2 and last 3), every song is strong, and the result is that, unlike many CDs that 'blend' together, you can actually remember almost every song after only one or two listens! The saxaphone and flute playing add incredible depth, especially on "Nightfall", with its thrilling Eastern-tinged speed metal riff, on the amazing "Rusty Moon" where it creates an almost Celtic sound, and the epic finale "Summer's End", where the song fades out in a VERY psychedelic wash of keyboards! That brings us to maybe the CD's strongest point: the songs consistently have the feel of grand epics, yet none of the tracks are more than six minutes long! It takes talent to fit so much depth into short, catchy songs, but Amorphis pulls it off wonderfully! The sound is prog-rock tinted, but you'd never be able to accuse the band of being pretentious, because they always play for the song. Even the solos, which by the way are fantastically stated, fit perfectly without seeming indulgent. Other standouts are "The Way" with it's thrilling buildup dynamic, and the swirling "Morning Star", where the wah pedal is shown to be as perfect for a rhythm guitar as it is for a lead! "Greed" is a very good throwback to earlier albums (it would have fit right in on Elegy), while the piano outro for the title track shows how this band has matured so much. Not that Amorphis were ever immature, but they've come so far in only a short amount of time. Highly recommended. By the way... it STILL sounds like Tomi is singing on "Greed"! Either that, or Pasi does a very good impersonation of him!