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Amorphis - Unveil New Album Title, Cover, Release Date


The Finns Amorphis have finally finished recording their upcoming new studio album, revealed to be entitled Queen Of Time. The record is scheduled for a May 18th release, via Nuclear Blast. In comparison to its predecessor, Under The Red Cloud (2015), the album will include the use of real strings, flutes, orchestral arrangements and even choirs! In addition, this will be the first time that people will be able to hear their lyricist Pekka Kainulainen on the album as he contributes a speech in Finnish. The band just unveiled some more details on the production, the album title, the album cover and on working with their new/old bassist Olli-Pekka Laine. The band will soon release their first single.

The album was once again produced by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Amon Amarth, Kreator, and many others).

Esa comments: "I guess Queen Of Time turned out as a massive surprise to all of us. During the rehearsing and pre-production we didn't have any idea that Jens had this huge picture inside of his head about the landscape of the album. It's a very natural continuation to Under The Red Cloud but with steroids. The songs are more aggressive but there's more dynamics, harmonies and orchestral arrangements present. The result is Amorphis as something you've never heard before! Essentially, working with Jens worked really well. As a person he is very similar to us - we share the same kind of weird humor and we all like to work hard."




The cover artwork, which was created once again by French artist Jean "Valnoir" Simoulin from Metastazis, captures the feeling of the lyrics and the music. With Pekka Kainulainen's (lyricist) words, the lyrical theme is universal: "Cultures rise, flourish, and are destroyed. The story of man is the story of searching, finding, and forgetting. A single spark can set the world afire, a single idea can give birth to a new culture. The greatest can stagnate into insignificance, the smallest can hold the power for change. The lyrics on this album are distant echoes of ancient forest peoples, from a time when meaning was proportioned by the cosmic forces that govern birth and death. If the connection was lost, they sought for a strand of knowledge, found a new direction, and a new age began."

Queen Of Time will be also the first album with their old/new bass player Olli-Pekka 'Oppu' Laine following the departure of Niclas Etelävuori in 2017. Oppu was one of the founding members in 1990 and recorded the first seven records with Amorphis before he parted ways with the band in spring 2000.

"To be honest, 'Oppu' was the only guy we could imagine being in Amorphis. It was funny - when we started to play our first shows together again last summer it all felt so familiar. He was involved with arranging songs and he also even brought some new songs to the table... really good ones, too!" says Esa.

And Oppu adds: "Even though the last year with Amorphis has been exciting, nostalgic and fun, it's also been truly comfortable to be with the guys again. As a clichéd expression, it's been like returning home from a lengthy odyssey. After eighteen years, it feels like we are picking up where we left off from the good ol' days! I'm really looking forward for the upcoming tour. The new album itself is a really strong package, the only hard thing will be picking which songs to play live! It's safe to say we are set to pull off some killer shows over the next few years. After that, I'm predicting a long and fruitful career for the band in its current form..."

Source: nuclearblast.de
Band profile: Amorphis
Posted: 22.02.2018 by BloodTears


Comments

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Comments: 17   Visited by: 304 users
22.02.2018 - 17:52
Metren
Dreadrealm
I really enjoyed Under The Red Cloud, but statements about orchestra and choirs are making me somewhat cautious with regard to this album now... I honestly can't remember the last time that classical/symphonic elements being introduced to the sound of any band made them better instead of worse
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My one-man project's Bandcamp with free downloads: https://dreadrealm.bandcamp.com/
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22.02.2018 - 18:27
LeKiwi
High Fist Prog
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG.
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22.02.2018 - 19:05
Reaper_Redeemer

Cover art is poor. The worst made for this band.
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22.02.2018 - 20:59
Pimpelmee
Amazing Mapman
Written by Reaper_Redeemer on 22.02.2018 at 19:05

Cover art is poor. The worst made for this band.

Because?
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22.02.2018 - 21:07
dark_mar

Cover similar to :
Orphaned Land - Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs

Mozaika style is probably modern.
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22.02.2018 - 21:46
Bulletpr00fMonk

Haven't been this excited about a new release in a long time. Amorphis' latest 6 albums have all been amazing, though TBoT not quite held the same level as the others. However, I'm a little worried about the orchestral additions. I hope it won't turn out to be some kind of symphonic metal album.
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22.02.2018 - 22:04
moe5512

I'm actually excited about the orchestral shit.
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22.02.2018 - 23:09
Akula

I like how ALL the bands state their new albums: "its something like you never heard before!. our most ambitious project".
Jesus, they sound like retarded football players.
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23.02.2018 - 02:23
Tuonelan

Really looking forward to hearing this, and to Oppu's return. He was involved in the writing of lots of classics, and his contributions to Barren Earth always had that Tales/Elegy feel to them. Niclas played some really tasty bass lines, but I think Oppu will have a bigger impact on the writing and arranging end.
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Hopepunk living on a grimdark timeline
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23.02.2018 - 11:06
Xyanade

Written by Metren on 22.02.2018 at 17:52

I really enjoyed Under The Red Cloud, but statements about orchestra and choirs are making me somewhat cautious with regard to this album now... I honestly can't remember the last time that classical/symphonic elements being introduced to the sound of any band made them better instead of worse



That is strange, I thought they might try something similar to the show An Evening with Friends at Huvila with some jazz feelings (which is quite fun, despite less "metal-ish"), not sure if that's how the new album to get some "orchestral" touch tho.
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23.02.2018 - 11:30
Sword_Chant

I don't mind the artwork. If the music is anything like their last album, I will love it.
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23.02.2018 - 22:27
SonOfOden

Okay, it's not their greatest cover, but ain't that bad... I don't mind if the songs quality will reach the usual level what Amorphis wrote and delivered to us over the years.

I'm really excited.
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23.02.2018 - 23:46
ScottyM

Written by Pimpelmee on 22.02.2018 at 20:59

Written by Reaper_Redeemer on 22.02.2018 at 19:05

Cover art is poor. The worst made for this band.

Because?


Because MS users are required by contract/MS's terms of service to shit on every single album cover for every single band. He's just fulfilling his contractual obligation.
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24.02.2018 - 09:23
SoUnDs LiKe PoP

Written by ScottyM on 23.02.2018 at 23:46

Written by Pimpelmee on 22.02.2018 at 20:59

Written by Reaper_Redeemer on 22.02.2018 at 19:05

Cover art is poor. The worst made for this band.

Because?


Because MS users are required by contract/MS's terms of service to shit on every single album cover for every single band. He's just fulfilling his contractual obligation.


Don't forget bitching to high hell every time a band implements more symphonics or melody into their albums. "0mG not h3avy en0ugh n3eds more spe3d and guiTArs"
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I lift weights and listen to metal
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24.02.2018 - 17:55
metalwolf

Why do I have the feeling that I already know who'll win the MS Awards next year?
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Cthulhu for President! Why settle for the lesser evil?
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26.02.2018 - 13:36
musclassia

Written by metalwolf on 24.02.2018 at 17:55

Why do I have the feeling that I already know who'll win the MS Awards next year?


I mean they've definitely dominated the heavy/melodic metal category for the past decade, but whilst they are an established band releasing consistently quality music (in mine and many other people's opinions), it doesn't help that the other bands nominated in that category are usually 80% former heavyweights trying to stay relevant or new copycat bands, with maybe one or two tops vaguely interesting other nominees. I'm not sure I've even voted in the category in the past 5 years when Amorphis have not been nominated, just because none of the other nominees were interesting enough for me to feel like any of them merited a vote.
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02.03.2018 - 09:30
ScottyM

Written by ScottyM on 23.02.2018 at 23:46

Written by Pimpelmee on 22.02.2018 at 20:59

Written by Reaper_Redeemer on 22.02.2018 at 19:05

Cover art is poor. The worst made for this band.

Because?


Because MS users are required by contract/MS's terms of service to shit on every single album cover for every single band. He's just fulfilling his contractual obligation.

Nah, those pretentious assholes just like to either join the hive mentality and shit on something because all the cool kids are doing it, or are incapable of critical thinking and understand that just because they think it's not up to their standards, anyone who does like it is beneath them and should be flogged and shunned from the community.

Actually, I've seen a lot of instances here where you could interchange musical direction and album art, and the above is equally relevant. Took me a while to grow up and realize this, I'm hopeful more can follow my lead.
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