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AMORPHIS
Finland's kings of Progressive Metal just keep pioneering and opening the doors to new and more creative music. Tuonela is the kind of album that makes you wonder how the band ever got from their primitive Death Metal days to this type of layered, neo-progressive state of affairs. However it happened, I'm glad it did because the band are far better for it and have truly placed themselves among the elite and unique of their country. Elegy showed the band evolving towards the more melodic and mainstream while still staying somewhat inaccesible to the masses by retaining their deathly edge. Tuonela however, reveals the band shedding that element, save for one track, and blazing new trails. The intricacy that made Elegy what it was is not as prevalent this time around but that doesn't mean this one hasn't got its share of hooks. The catchiness the band have come to embody is about as strong as its ever been and the first four tracks on this album are the most memorable. The experimental nature of the band is at its purest here and the listener can expect to be taken across several tiers of new and innovative Metalisms. I can only wonder what it was like in the band's rehearsal room as they sought to develop this type of creativity. Vocally, this is the best the band have thus far offered and the album is almost entirely sang cleanly. Its hard to classify AMORPHIS as they have managed to evade common labels by staying ahead of the rest of the pack and if you're in the market for something you've never heard this album is your ticket. At the pace of change the band have been at it wouldn't surprise me if they somehow ended up some sort of non-Metal act in the future so revel in this while you can.
