Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi
Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal
act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including
heavy metal, progressive metal, and folk metal. They frequently use the Kalevala,
the Epic Poem of Finland, as a source for their lyrics.
History = Formation and early years=
In 1989, Jan Rechberger and Esa Holopainen played in a thrash metal band
called Violent Solution, which Tomi Koivusaari had left the previous year to
form the death metal band Abhorrence. Violent Solution slowly dissolved and
Jan Rechberger and Esa Holopainen put together another death metal band. In
early 1990, Tomi Koivusaari became the vocalist and Oppu Laine became their
bassist. During that time, Koivusaari also
performed rhythm guitar, leading to the band dumping all original compositions
and starting over again. Koivusaari's other band, Abhorrence, split up and he
found himself with more time to put into Amorphis. A demo tape, Disment of Soul,
was recorded in 1991 by Timo Tolkki at TTT studios.
= The Karelian Isthmus and Tales from the Thousand Lakes=
After the band recorded their first studio demo tape, Relapse Records
offered Abhorrence a recording contract. Since Abhorrence was no longer active,
they sent their own demo in the return mail and got signed to a worldwide
recording deal. Soon after getting signed they released their death metal
debut, The Karelian Isthmus under the new name Amorphis and later released the
Privilege of Evil EP. The EP featured Abhorrence's original vocalist, Jukka
Kolehmainen, on vocals on the Abhorrence cover song "Vulgar Necrolatry".
In 1994, Amorphis released their second studio album, Tales from the Thousand
Lakes, a concept album based on the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala.
This 1994 release, while still rooted in death metal, was their first step toward
a new direction as melodic clean vocals were added, provided by Ville Tuomi.
Tales from the Thousand Lakes won the band a fan base thanks to its innovative
sound and fusion of death metal with traditional folk, psychedelia, and
progressive elements. This album went on to influence the signature Amorphis
sound. = Elegy and Tuonela=
During the subsequent tours Kasper left the band, to be replaced by Kim Rantala.
Jan was replaced by Pekka Kasari, and a sixth member was recruited, singer Pasi
Koskinen. The third album, Elegy was released in 1996. Lyrics were again
adapted from Finnish mythology, in this case, the Kanteletar, a collection of
ancient folk poetry. Pasi and Tomi shared the vocals on an equal basis,
with Pasi's providing only clean parts. After a year and a half of touring
following the release of Elegy, the band members took a time-out. Their next
offering, 1999's Tuonela was a mellow guitar album, although toward the end of
the studio sessions, Santeri Kallio of Kyyria was brought in to add some
keyboard tracks to the songs. New instruments were introduced and the
death growls were reduced, as all vocals were performed by Pasi.
The tenth-anniversary compilation Story was produced, and the band experienced
another line-up change. Following the breakup of Kyyria, Santeri joined
Amorphis as a full-time member. Bassist Oppu was replaced by another ex-Kyyria
member, Niclas Etelävuori, to tour with Amorphis on their third U.S. tour.
= Am Universum and Far from the Sun= Am Universum was released in 2001, which
included more emphases to keyboards and saxophone work, the latter contributed
by Sakari Kukko. It was an experimental album and Amorphis' most psychedelic to
date. In 2002 the band contributed to the soundtrack for the movie Menolippu
Mombasaan. The commissioned piece was a cover version of a 1976 Finnish pop hit
"Kuusamo", it is currently the band's only song in their native language.
Amorphis' last album with Relapse Records was Far from the Sun. In 2003,
Relapse released the retrospective Chapters, which included a DVD featuring
the band's videos from "Black Winter Day" to "Alone". Far from the Sun was
produced by the band itself, which had been rejoined by original drummer Jan
Rechberger after Pekka Kasari had quit to concentrate on family duties. Pasi
left the band in 2004 after nine years. = Eclipse and Silent Waters=
While searching for the new vocalist Amorphis received over a hundred demo
tapes from prospective vocalists but none of them became the new frontman of
the band. Eventually Tomi Joutsen got an audition through word of mouth and he
became their next singer in 2005. Joutsen, best known for his work with
metal band Sinisthra, urged Amorphis to return to the use of contrasting vocal
styles for their next album. His first album with the band, Eclipse, was
released in 2006. It was a critical and commercial success, hailed as a return
to form by some critics, and achieving gold certification in Finland for the
first time in the their history. Just after Joutsen joined, Amorphis
performed under name Amorjens to perform at least one gig in Finland.
Amorphis followed Eclipse with gigs and festival appearances throughout Europe,
all the while writing new material for its follow-up. They released their next
album, Silent Waters, on September 3, 2007, achieving gold certification in
Finland for the second time. The album marked the first time in the history of
the band an album was recorded with the same personnel as the previous one. In
support of Silent Waters, Amorphis launched their third headlining tour in
North America alongside supporting acts Samael and Virgin Black.
= Skyforger and The Beginning of Times= In November 2008, Amorphis entered Sonic
Pump Studios to begin recording their 9th album. The result of those studio
sessions, Skyforger, was released in Finland on May 27, 2009, throughout
Europe two days later, and in the United States on June 16. Initial presses of
the album had mastering errors, which prompted Nuclear Blast to issue
replacement CDs. The album was certified gold in Finland on July 7, 2011, making
it the third Amorphis album in a row to do so.
On November 20, 2009, while touring in support of Skyforger, Amorphis filmed a
show at Club Teatria in Oulu, Finland for their first-ever live DVD. The show
was released alongside another show from Summer Breeze Open Air 2009 and a
documentary, titled "Tales from the 20 Years", as a part of the CD/DVD set
Forging the Land of Thousand Lakes on June 25, 2010.
On September 15, 2010, Amorphis released "Magic & Mayhem – Tales from the Early
Years", a re-working of a dozen tracks from their first three albums with
slightly different arrangements, better audio quality and featuring the band's
current lineup, plus a cover of Light my Fire as a bonus track. During the tour
that followed, the band briefly reunited with Pasi Koskinen and other past
members on stage, to perform some of the older songs.
On September 30, 2010, Nuclear Blast announced that Amorphis had started work
on a new album. On January 24, 2011, the band released an update which revealed
recording was almost finished, except for vocals which would be completed at
the home of producer Marco Hietala. The album The Beginning of Times was
released on May 27, 2011 in Europe and June 7, 2011 in the USA and features
cover art by longtime collaborator Travis Smith.
= Circle and Under the Red Cloud= On August 21, 2012, Amorphis announced
on their website that a new album was in the works. On January 17, 2013, the band
announced the title and release date for their next record. Circle was released
on April 19 in Europe and April 30th in North America. Tomi Joutsen on the new
album, "Circle represents integrity. Back in the days, when there was
something special to talk about, wise men used to sit in circle. Not everyone
was invited to join them. But in this story, the protagonist was invited among
the wise men's circle.” On September 16, 2013, Circle won Metal
Hammer´s “The Album of The Year” award. Esa Holopainen on the award, "For us,
Album of the Year award is a great recognition for the work done so far.
Especially when we got it from our 11th studio album."
On August 4, 2014, Amorphis announced on their website and through social media
that they would be playing a number of special Tales from the Thousand Lakes
20th Anniversary shows where their 1994 album would be performed in its
entirety. Tales from the Thousand Lakes 20th Anniversary shows included
festivals such as Wacken Open Air, Maryland Deathfest, and 70000 Tons of
Metal with many other tour dates and festivals included.
The band began demoing new songs at the start of 2015, and in 4 March of that
same year, it was announced that Amorphis will begin to record a new in
album in April 2015, at Fascination Street Studio, Örebro, Sweden with Jens
Bogren and with an album release date sometime in September 2015.
The lyrics will be written once again by Pekka Kainulainen, who says "Like
'Kalevala', they are descriptions of natural phenomena, seasons and the human
mind. Reoccuring situations where hope and uncertainty alternate. Attempting to
gain advice from higher powers. The poems do not form a complete story per
se, but they are drawn together by a certain theme. We live under a red cloud
and once again, time weighs us." The release of the new album will be
followed by a world tour, starting with shows in the band's home country of
Finland, then other parts of Europe with Nightwish & Arch Enemy in November 2015.
In 15 June 2015, it was announced that the title for the Twelfth Studio
Full-length LP Album is Under The Red Cloud, with the artwork and tracklist
revealed and with a release date of 4 September 2015.
= Timeline= Discography
Studio albums The Karelian Isthmus
Tales from the Thousand Lakes Elegy
Tuonela Am Universum
Far from the Sun Eclipse
Silent Waters Skyforger
The Beginning of Times Circle
Under the Red Cloud References
External links Official website