Amorphis
Tuonela

THE REVIEW

The year 1999 is a turning point for Amorphis.
When "Tuonela" is released, little to nothing is left of the raw death metal that characterized their previous works, vanished and blurred into the notes of "The Way"... and it immediately becomes a classic.

Perhaps driven by wonderful albums such as "Elegy" and "Tales From The Thousand Lakes," "Tuonela" is often recognized as one of the band's most overrated albums, but it cannot be denied that at the root of this lies a fundamental confusion stemming from this deep stylistic change, which goes to the heart of old fans' beliefs. "Tuonela" represents the new, and the new, often, is frightening.
Now there's Koskinen's clean voice that only in a track like "Greed" timidly hints at the ferocity of the past. There's the saxophone and flute of Sakari Kukko, which in pieces like "Nightfall" or especially the intense "Rusty Moon" accentuate those folk influences the band had already previously drawn upon. There's the love for Pink Floyd, for their complexity and delicacy in arrangements, as well as subtle nods to seventies rock that blend with metal in the progression of the sound ("Divinity," "Tuonela," "Shining"), there are oriental echoes ("Greed") as well as the more essential and at the same time enveloping riffing ("Summer End"), progressive tones that delicately underline a clear decadence.

Amorphis are inspired in "Tuonela," no longer as exalted as in the past but still capable of stirring emotions before today's disappointing performances. For those nostalgic for the past (and not only), welcome to Tuonela.