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Amorphis - The Karelian Isthmus



7.6 | 457 votes |
Release date: 1 November 1992
Style: Death metal

Owners:

503 have it
36 want it
1 trades it


01. Karelia
02. The Gathering
03. Grails Mysteries
04. Warriors Trail
05. Black Embrace
06. Exile Of The Sons Of Uisliu
07. The Lost Name Of God
08. The Pilgrimage
09. Misery Path
10. Sign From The North Side
11. Vulgar Necrolatry [Abhorrence cover] [bonus]

Featured in "Getting Into: Amorphis"

Guest review by
The.Messenger
Rating:
7.5
The 45 seconds of traditional melody of "Karelia," capturing pristine nature with blue rivers and green forests, maybe isn't an attractive intro for an album in a genre like death metal in the early '90s, but when this cool introductory wind is replaced by the long and insidious solo of "The Gathering," we find ourselves standing on an isthmus under the dark side of the moon; a swift sword sprays the smell of blood and iron over this canvas, combining with this watery grassland until the end of a frightening battle that now rests on another clean landscape under the light side of the moon.

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published 08.11.2020 | Comments (11)

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Comments

Comments: 12   Visited by: 662 users
05.08.2012 - 16:25
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Great friggin' album.
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05.08.2012 - 18:22
Darkside Momo
Retired
Indeed
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"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you"

"I've lost too many years now
I'm stealing back my soul
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06.08.2012 - 05:20
Rating: 6
Troy Killjoy
perfunctionist
Absolutely; quite possibly the best Amorphis release for me, although I've always been more inclined to think that of Tales...
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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09.01.2013 - 21:10
Rating: 6
CobiWan1993
Secundum Filium
It's definitely an interesting side to Amorphis that I'm not used to hearing from them quite as often. I do enjoy my standard death metal every once in a while, however I prefer their later melodic work way more. That's just me though.
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Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe (Lao Tzu).
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22.06.2013 - 15:33
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
This is exelent, old school album, maybe most unique in their carear, more meaning then rest of band works 1992, lost Karealia, colapse of ussr, ideas of getting back stoller Theriory, symbolic album, even musicaly I prefere Tailes Of The 1000 Lakes, but this is awesome to
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Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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03.08.2014 - 17:00
Rating: 9
Alex F
Slick Dick Rick
Goddammit I love this album so much. Definitely among my favorite "old school" death metal albums
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06.08.2014 - 01:25
ManiacBlasphemer
Black Knight
Ok, I find this one to be just another case of a debut album mania. While it ain't bad, and I do admit it has some hints of what the band would turn out to be on subsequence releases, this is just your average death metal played in order to garner some attention, a fan-base. Amorphis had the profesionalism and insight to do much better, but like any other new band, they needed to record something that would fit with a trend, to garner a solid fan-base and then to start experimenting with other sounds.

In many ways, this path seems very similar with Paradise Lost's debut, Therion's first three or Ulver's first three (with the exception that Ulver was actually quite good in playing black metal, even though they deny ever playing this genre). The Karelian Isthmus is not a bad album, far from it, but it is aeons behind Tales From A Thousand Lakes. It is just in a completely other league. I would recommend this album only for the die-hard fans of the band, to see the very inception of this band. Amorphis was not the kind of band that would take the world by storm with their debut, they are the kind of band that started to become solid with time.
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24.08.2017 - 16:02
RikkiTikiTavi

Granted, rather standard DM release but still has some really damn good and catchy riffs.
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16.04.2018 - 04:05
Rating: 7
Ahab1777

A very "Bolt Thrower" thing to it with a glimpse of something that i would later identify as "the amorphis aesthetics".

Reaching halfway into the album everything is already very repetitive em dull without a clear cool logic to the flow of things.

And as ManiacBlasphemer said, i would only recommend to to die hard fans. Its a very OK DM album.
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25.11.2018 - 06:54
Maco
Pvt Funderground
The artwork for this album is completely stunning for a reason.
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Crackhead Megadeth reigns supreme.
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26.06.2020 - 18:37
ickoriss

Not the best Amorphis record, but a decent debut. It's a good death metal album, but just lacking all the fun dynamics they'd start to incorporate later in their career.
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29.11.2022 - 15:41
Rating: 7
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
So this is where it all started for this great band, it's actually not a bad debut, it sounds very old school now, but it's very good for it's time, and still sounds good today imo. The vocals are great and it has some great riffing especially on "Sign From The North Side", and it's still their heaviest release to date.

It's incredible to see how far they've come, and it's a joy just listening to how their music has been evolving, they've become one of the most original and unique bands around. I know you can say the same for most bands, but Amorphis are a prime example of how progression can be a great thing if done right.
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