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Amorphis - Elegy review




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Reviewer:
8.5

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8.48
Band: Amorphis
Album: Elegy
Release date: May 1996


01. Better Unborn
02. Against Widows
03. The Orphan
04. On Rich And Poor
05. My Kantele
06. Cares
07. Song Of The Troubled One
08. Weeper On The Shore
09. Elegy
10. Relief
11. My Kantele (Acoustic Reprise)

Back in 1996, I was still quite new to the ways of Metal, and I was more looking for brutality than melody. So when I first listened to this album, the melodic side didn't appeal to me, and I haven't cared that much.
But, later on, after discovering Amorphis's previous album Tales From The Thousand Lakes, memories from Elegy came back to haunt me? The electro break of Cares? The mesmerizing riff of Against Widows? And now that I listen to this album again, I realise that it is a masterpiece!

This album is, as their previous one, based on a compilation of Finnish tales, called the Kanteletar (whereas Tales From The Thousand Lakes was inspired by another work called the Kalevala). Quoting the booklet: " the Kanteletar reflects the everyday joys and sorrows of the Finnish people, including their philosophical and religious beliefs, and paints a comprehensive picture of the society that inspired it. Although it's impossible to determine the age of some poems, many are literally thousands of years old. " This feeling is, as usual with Amorphis, very well transmitted with the music? The mood is mostly melancholic, but not always.
The folk side of the music is not overwhelming, being used lightly. For example, the riff from Against Widows is a humppa (kinda polka from Finland) melody, but it sounds really metal because it's played as usual, with guitars and distortion. Overall, this adds more to the mood of the album, which is to me a visit in Finland's past and folklore, made just more understandable for us modern people by adapting it with modern music.

Amorphis does not hesitate to add very modern sounds in their metal (in Cares most notably), going further this way than they did in their previous album, on the song Magic & Mayhem.
Finally, this album is pivotal in Amorphis career, making the link with their Death metal roots and their more gothic present. And singer Pasi Koskinen joined the band for this album?
Conclusion: death, melodic, folk, a bit of electro, centuries old lyrics. All this to create a definitive classic. And you haven't listened to it yet? What are you waiting for?

Highlights: all, but I prefer Against Widows, Cares, Song Of The Troubled One

Written by Darkside Momo | 02.05.2005




Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.


Comments

Comments: 6   Visited by: 172 users
15.05.2008 - 20:10
Rating: 9
Shadowcross
The Summoner
Looking back at this album it is practically perfect to me. Not overcrafted at all, every track is a jem.
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27.11.2008 - 14:56
Rating: 7
Powerslavex
Alexskywalker
I didnt like many of the tracks on this album, but still a good album
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08.02.2010 - 20:27
Uirapuru
Liver Failure
Against the Widows is my favorite song. A huge step forward from ''Tales From the Thousand Lakes'', great album.
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member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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24.07.2010 - 02:12
Rating: 9
Morphis

Great album not better than thousand lakes for me but still very good one.

Favourite music: On Rich And Poor
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16.08.2013 - 18:50
Rating: 10
Kuroboshi

"So when I first listened to this album, the melodic side didn't appeal to me, and I haven't cared that much."
^this. When I listened to this album for the first time in years (6 perhaps?) yesterday, I was overwhelmed! An awesome album, fantastic melodies, amazing albums. Leaps and bounds better than their previous album, and probably their best ever. Listening to this again made me a fan of Amorphis again, even though I dislike many albums in their discography.
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05.09.2017 - 19:23
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
I hated all this new sound when I listened it first time, but re discover it whit My kantele acoustic. As young child I did enjoy only previous ones, but I grow out of DM even old DM is good, but this band and Karelia, Finland, more calm vocals and great lyrics somehow puts deep emotions into this one. Amazing album and lyrics.
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

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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