Review AMORPHIS „Halo“

Band: AMORPHIS

Album: Halo

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Duration: 55:36

Release: 11.02.2022 (via Atomic Fire Records)

Zur deutschen Version geht es hier.

Are you familiar with the feeling of listening to the first tunes of a new album and it gives you immediate goosebumps? That was the feeling I had listening to the new AMORPHIS album titled Halo which will be released this Friday, on the 11th of February.

The Finns, centered around their front man Tomi Joutsen, manage to create sound monuments which touch their listeners right at their cores.

But let’s start properly: The album is opened by the epic song Northwards, which already gives us the direction that this is ging to go. Detailed instrumental parts, ingenious sound design and a exceptional vocal performance dominate the song, as well as the whole album. They give us everything imaginable and then some! It’s unmistakably AMORPHIS but they’re not afraid to include new details which makes this album sound very fresh and new. 

The energy they focussed on is kept throughout the album and is especially continued in the song On The Dark Waters. The use of arabic-sounding melodies and sounds builds the perfect bridge not only to Under The Red Cloud (2015), but also to earlier works such as The Castaway from Tales From A Thousand Lakes (1994). This can be heard throughout the album, such as in the song War. 

My personal highlight, however, is the song The Moon, which has been accompanying me since its release.The melancholic atmosphere is in large parts carried by the slightly brighter clean vocals in the chorus. It’s a song that truly sticks with you and also shows how much the bands profits of the collaboration with lyricist Pekka Kainulainen, who has been working with the band since Silent Waters (2007).

I was especially touched by the ballad My Name Is Night, which is significantly more solemn than we know these Finns to be. Nevertheless, this duet with Petronella Nettermalm is heartfelt and sensitive.

AMORPHIS mange to open new doors for themselves and also present a worthy successor for Queen Of Time (2018), which used to be my favorite album so far. The stylistic outbursts into Prog-Metal (Windmane) or more classic Death-metal (The Wolf) are still so engulfed in the AMORPHIS essence that no one can actually criticize this. 

The Finns are able to combine advanced and catchy songwriting and to still remain themselves while doing so. Their originality can be experienced with the aforementioned details  which push this album to the next level. AMORPHIS make a statement and have delivered a contender for Top Album 2022!

AMORPHIS sind:

Tomi Joutsen | vocals 

Esa Holopainen | guitars 

Tomi Koivusaari | guitars 

Santeri Kallio | keyboards 

Olli-Pekka Laine | bass 

Jan Rechberger | drums