Amorphis - Circle

Published April 10 2013

*=Staff's pick	Shades Of Gray Mission* The Wanderer* Narrow Path* Hopeless Days Nightbird's Song* Into The Abyss Enchanted By The Moon A New Day

Genre	Heavy Metal	Tomi Joutsen	Vocals
Tracks	9	Esa Holopainen	Guitar
Running time	46 Min.	Tomi Koivusaari	Guitar
Label	Nuclear Blast	Niclas Etelävuori	Bass
Release	17 April 2013	Jan Rechberger	Drums
Country	Finland	Santeri Kallio	Keyboard
Producer	Peter Tägtgren
Similar artists	Sentenced, Paradise Lost

Amorphis now release their eleventh studio album and frankly, I haven't listened to this band since the records Am Universum and Far From The Sun about a decade ago, so I had no idea what to expect out of this new release. From what I remember, I hear many clear similarities with these older records, yet with Circle, it's like starting my Amorphis experience all over again.

It's not that easy to categorize and put a label on Amorphis' music. It's all from heavy metal with elements of folk metal, to doomy parts, a few lighter or melodic death metal moments and all the way to symphonic rock. All this executed with and surrounded by primitive Finnish melancholy. Despite these differences, there's a straight line throughout the record, making it musically genuine as a whole.

Many choruses are rather smooth and catchy with a distinct coldness and the verses are filled with guitar and keyboard leads, immersed in a darker aura. The vocals from Tomi Joutsen are passionate, embracing and empathic, well balanced for this unit. Although the lyrical contents aren't uplifting, this band finds ways out of the darkness with harmonic melodies.

This album turns out greater for every single time I listen to it, as I find more nuances for my mind to build this album to a solid piece of art. I curse myself for giving up on them so easy before. Now I will have a hard time catching up, but it's something that's got to be done and I truly hope that their latest albums are just as solid as Circle is.