By:
Nathan Harrison
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 18/05/2018
Label: Nuclear Blast
it is a near perfect
melding of death metal, folk, prog, hard rock, orchestral and choral music and
a number of other elements which mean that no song stands still for long yet
every fleeting, tiny moment of each one has impact
“Queen of Time” CD//DD//LP
track listing:
1.
The Bee (5:30)
2.
Message In The Amber (6:44)
3.
Daughter Of Hate (6:20)
4.
The Golden Elk (6:22)
5.
Wrong Direction (5:09)
6.
Heart Of The Giant (6:32)
7.
We Accursed (4:59)
8.
Grain Of Sand (4:44)
9.
Amongst Stars (4:50)
10.
Pyres On The Coast (6:19)
The Review:
From
their death metal beginnings 25 years ago, Amorphis have slowly
progressed further and further towards a more melodic sound, which culminated
in their quite frankly stunning 2015 release “Under the Red Cloud”. That album was centred around an entirely
epic feel, catchy guitar riffs and choruses that couldn’t help but elicit huge
singalongs on the tour that followed. With their latest album, “Queen of Time”, this approach has been
altered slightly. All of the above is intact, but it has been added into a much
richer, more complex mix with a heavier focus on synths and, for the first time
in the band’s history, the use of a choir and orchestra. Needless to say, all
of this combined leads to an engaging and varied record which reveals more and
more secrets with every listen, as any good progressive release should.
Opening
the album in style is ‘The Bee’,
which immediately signals the band’s desire to do something a little different
to “Under the Red Cloud” – whereas the
latter opened with a haunting piano refrain, this newest effort begins with
heavy synths which slam into an even heavier riff. Throughout the track the
synths and guitars constantly intertwine as vocalist Tomi Joutsen veers sharply
from powerful, deep death growls which could tear the head off a bear, to
tender mournful clean lines which show off his rich, clear tone which, cutting
across even the most thunderous moments throughout the album.
‘Message in
the Amber’
deftly introduces sounds that wouldn’t be out of place on a Jethro Tull song, with a folky, thoroughly 70s English prog
riff standing out wonderfully. ‘Daughter
of Hate’ takes things in a darker but still mind-bending direction, with
black metal screams and dissonant guitars somehow working exceptionally well in
the same track as a saxophone solo and a spoken word section courtesy of the
grizzled sounding Pekka Kainulainen, the band’s long time lyricist. His work
here, as with most Amorphis releases, is
based around the Finnish national epic poem, “The Kalavela”. For a non-Finnish listener, this does make some of
the lyrics a tad obscure, but this does not distract from the sheer beauty and
other-worldliness of the imagery which does not require context to be
appreciated.
The
next two tracks, ‘The Golden Elk’
and ‘Wrong Direction’ dial up the
melody, the former pacey and catchy, the latter an emotional and accessible
centre-piece to the album which hints at a more poppy approach that Amorphis could easily and convincingly take in future (the
visually stunning video for this song is also certainly worth a watch). ‘Heart of the Giant’, with its distinctly
oriental main riff, demonstrates how expertly the band have used the orchestra
and choir on this record – they are used sparingly and subtly throughout so
that songs like this where they are brought to the fore have a lot more impact.
‘We Accursed’ makes use of soaring
strings as the backing to its thundering chorus and that unmistakable 70s prog
sound makes a welcome return towards the middle of the track. ‘Grain of Sand’ offers more of the
fantastically effective oriental sound, combined with a soaring chorus, where
Joutsen’s powerful, melodic cleans duel with his equally impressive growls
before leading into a pummelling outro where the solid riffing of Esa
Holopainen locks in with the powerhouse drumming of Jan Rechberger to create a
compulsory head banging moment.
A
very special guest crops up on ‘Amongst
Stars’ in the form of Anneke Van Giersbergen of The Gathering,
The Gentle Storm and Devin Townsend Project.
A more perfect contrast to Joutsen’s vocals could not have been chosen – the
fact that her strange, ethereal tones have not graced an Amorphis
record before now seems rather an oversight. ‘Pyres on the Coast’ is an impressive closer, a brooding atmosphere
permeating the entire track despite its ever-changing heaviness and speed.
It
is this last song that neatly sums up what Amorphis have done with
this record and how it relates to their entire career to date – it is a near
perfect melding of death metal, folk, prog, hard rock, orchestral and choral
music and a number of other elements which mean that no song stands still for
long yet every fleeting, tiny moment of each one has impact, is meaningful and
shows just how talented a band Amorphis are to bring
so many diverse sounds into a cohesive and highly enjoyable whole.
“Queen of
Time” is
available here
Band
info: facebook
