Amorphis
Silent Waters

THE REVIEW

Can a band with sixteen years of honorable career still amaze and surpass itself album after album? In the case of the Helsinki sextet, the answer is affirmative, and with this lead single "Silent Waters," all the premises for an absolute masterpiece are there.

Two songs loaded with emotion, delicacy, poetic lyrics bravely combined with the tectonic strength of guitars that are never tamed and capable of carving melodies like soberly romantic statues.

Sumptuous yet laden with fragility is the piano intro of "Silent Waters", accompanied by the acoustic lapping of a melancholic six-string that acts as a backdrop to an electric riff full of folk epicness. Joutsen's voice narrates lyrics filled with nostalgia between the mid-low tones of a velvety verse and the explosive chorus to sing at the top of one's lungs while the guitars paint relentless solos of crystalline class. An inevitable praise is deserved by the concluding leads from an inspired Holopainen that take us back a full 13 years to when the "lacustrine" melodies of the incomparable "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" dominated.

The b-side "Sign" further accentuates the epic-triumphal aspect in our sound, employing a bold and powerful chorus well supported by sharp yet always harmonious rhythmic tunes. The vocals alternate "open" growls and clear high notes at the edge of power-heavy, keeping the emotional pace always high and highlighting the band's clear intent to let us relive the charm of previous works (in this case, certainly "Elegy").

The conclusions lead us to imagine that the imminent new chapter of the Amorphis saga will take fans back a decade but will not overlook the innovative aspect present in the guitar sound and rhythmic structure that, having heard some tracks in preview, suggests a very intriguing rapprochement with the Swedish band Opeth.

The pinnacle of Finnish heavy that far surpasses dozens of useless and repetitive bands, A MUST HAVE!