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colin040
Metal freak

Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:00 pm
Posts: 7608
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 4:54 am 
 

Since I've been recently been listening to them a lot, I decided to make a topic about them; discuss your favourite albums, songs, new album, ect.

Personally I think Amorphis are a great band cause they've never released the same album and changing their styles over and over again. I don't get what's so awesome about ''Tales From the Thousand Lakes'' though. Sure, it's a solid album, but the lyrical shitness and the, in my opinion to deep vocals ruin it. At the moment I really like ''Eclipse''. Relaxing album, anyway discuss!

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morbert
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 2:36 am
Posts: 1276
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:04 am 
 

well, I only know the Disment Of Soul demo and the 'Privilege of Evil' EP, which I both like and because I was really 'into' Abhorrence.

I heard 'Elegy' once a lot of years ago and that scared the shit out of me... I'll give it another spin and see if it has a different impact now that I'm older...

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Napero
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Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:16 pm
Posts: 8817
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:07 am 
 

Well, there is at least three albums with relatively little progression happening between them, from Tuonela to Far From the Sun, and I'd say the last one of those is the album where Amorphis almost ran aground. They are currently an excellent live band, definitely worth seeing if you have the chance, and Joutsen beats all the earlier vocalists in every way.

The "lyrical crappiness" you find on Thousand Lakes is a relative thing, because I suspect you don't know the Kalevala stories behind them. The lyrical content is sometimes confusing to an outsider, but I believe Skyforger will still keep the same subject going. Getting to know the things behind the lyrics would not hurt enjoying the albums, certainly, but I doubt it would be worth your time and would definitely take a lot of effort on your part.
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cultofkraken
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Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 1:18 am
Posts: 3013
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:48 am 
 

Napero wrote:
Well, there is at least three albums with relatively little progression happening between them, from Tuonela to Far From the Sun, and I'd say the last one of those is the album where Amorphis almost ran aground. They are currently an excellent live band, definitely worth seeing if you have the chance, and Joutsen beats all the earlier vocalists in every way.

The "lyrical crappiness" you find on Thousand Lakes is a relative thing, because I suspect you don't know the Kalevala stories behind them. The lyrical content is sometimes confusing to an outsider, but I believe Skyforger will still keep the same subject going. Getting to know the things behind the lyrics would not hurt enjoying the albums, certainly, but I doubt it would be worth your time and would definitely take a lot of effort on your part.


Joutsen is not a better growler than Pasi or Tomi Koivusaari, clean vocals yes I'll give you that and that alone.

Best release for me will always be the Karelian Isthmus, Disment of Soul demo and the Privilege of Evil EP.
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PsyMoN_MDA
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 4:06 pm
Posts: 248
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:48 am 
 

I do enjoy this band, top album is Tales. The atmosphere is incredible.
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Napero
GedankenPanzer

Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:16 pm
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Location: Finland
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:48 am 
 

I beg to disgree, cultofkraken. Even if he doesn't really go down to guttural DM growl, the growls fit most song better than the originals, especially in a live setting. It's perhaps a question of what to appreciate, but I prefer his vocals, traditional DM or not. And he certainly does better job on the Tuonela era songs than Koskinen ever did. Koivusaari was very good, though.

Also, on stage he doesn't look like a totem pole. Koskinen did.
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tomcat_ha
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Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:05 am
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Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:44 am 
 

elegy is my personal favorite.

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Negru_Voda
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 4:37 pm
Posts: 301
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:47 am 
 

Pretty good band, not one of my favourites lately, though. I haven't heard all their albums but I've heard most. My favourite is Elegy. I'm glad they finally ditched the death metal cliches on this one and decided to focus on the melody and songwriting. The lyrics on it are great too. Tales is my second favourite, though it got kind of boring for me lately. Drowned Maid is a great tune. I'm actually wearing a Karelian Isthmus shirt right now, although, as with Tales, this album got boring for me. I should probably get rid of it.

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Ulflesh
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:01 am
Posts: 265
Location: Romania
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:08 am 
 

the karelian isthmus is a fvcking classic dm album...and of course the very best of amorphis.
elegy and tales are good too, but less intense than the first one.

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kwellada
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 11:48 am
Posts: 197
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:19 am 
 

Elegy is one of the highlights of the mid 90s. Really inspired record, still sounds great today.

I'm not sold on the new vocalist, though. Something about his delivery puts me off, but I haven't really listened to more than a few tracks so perhaps it just takes getting used to.
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Shadoeking
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Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2007 10:34 am
Posts: 1254
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:25 am 
 

Elegy is my favorite album although I like a lot of their stuff. I do like the new singer and even enjoy some of the more progressive stuff. Amorphis is a band I listen to when I want to relax.

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Sir_Lucario
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2009 9:20 pm
Posts: 173
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:26 am 
 

Their only album I've heard is Tales. It's great.

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Konig_ov_Hel
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:22 am
Posts: 485
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:31 am 
 

cultofkraken wrote:
Napero wrote:
Well, there is at least three albums with relatively little progression happening between them, from Tuonela to Far From the Sun, and I'd say the last one of those is the album where Amorphis almost ran aground. They are currently an excellent live band, definitely worth seeing if you have the chance, and Joutsen beats all the earlier vocalists in every way.

The "lyrical crappiness" you find on Thousand Lakes is a relative thing, because I suspect you don't know the Kalevala stories behind them. The lyrical content is sometimes confusing to an outsider, but I believe Skyforger will still keep the same subject going. Getting to know the things behind the lyrics would not hurt enjoying the albums, certainly, but I doubt it would be worth your time and would definitely take a lot of effort on your part.


Joutsen is not a better growler than Pasi or Tomi Koivusaari, clean vocals yes I'll give you that and that alone.

Best release for me will always be the Karelian Isthmus, Disment of Soul demo and the Privilege of Evil EP.


Pasi never growled in Amorphis. It was always Tomi Koivusaari that did the growling.

Actually, the only time that Pasi actually did any sort of growls, to my knowledge, is on the Tuonela.
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OzzyApu
Metal freak

Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2006 12:11 am
Posts: 10821
Location: Seattle
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:34 am 
 

Remember getting into them back in 2006 through Tales and I loved it. Forever cherished it. Koivusaari was my favorite and still is my favorite member to this day. His growls were tamed but they were very relaxing. Then I heard Elegy and I thought holy shit two for the price of one. Then I ventured upwards until Eclipse and then shot straight back to their debut.

I'm a fan of every album except Far From The Sun. It's just so bland, boring, and just uninteresting.
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Expedience
Metal freak

Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:22 am
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:00 am 
 

Tales and Tuonela are my faves. Tuonela probably just edges Tales out though.

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Smoking_Gnu
Chicago Favorite

Joined: Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:22 pm
Posts: 4797
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:20 pm 
 

I started with Tales and was a bit put off by the vocals at first, but they grew on me. I really like the laid-back atmosphere on that one and how its mixed with the aggression of the rest of the record.

Elegy would also have to be my favorite, though. All the amazingly upbeat riffs and melodies, and how the drastically different vocal approaches work with each other perfectly instead of sounding forced and awkward. And all the other random influences, like that almost techno-sounding part in Cares.

Silent Waters was pretty good, nothing spectacular like their original records, but I liked the toned-down, reflective atmosphere. (Although, truth be told, the ballads sucked-"Her Alone" and particularly "Black River" were tedious.)

And I actually just got Eclipse last night. It's better than I was expecting-I was a bit put off by how simple and radio-friendly "House of Sleep" sounded when I saw the video, but the rest of the album seems to have a bit more depth-catchy, without being repetitive, and the thicker guitar tone is nice, too. I'll have to give it a few more listens before making a verdict.

As for the rest...I don't dislike acoustic/prog rock by any means, but Amorphis' take on it on those three albums never really clicked. It'd really be great if Tuonela had more songs like "Greed", as the flute-theme on that album would've been interesting to see applied to more metal songs as such.
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Star-Gazer
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Joined: Fri May 14, 2004 1:21 pm
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 1:27 pm 
 

Tales... was the first death metal I heard that incorporated clean vocals

14.5 years later iit is one my top 5 albums

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sopclod
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Fri Sep 26, 2008 2:02 pm
Posts: 12
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 2:20 pm 
 

einvolk wrote:
Tales... was the first death metal I heard that incorporated clean vocals

14.5 years later iit is one my top 5 albums


I hardly ever post here but I have have the EXACT same feeling about this album. I'm not as "active" anymore when it comes to metal but I will never forget what it was like to listen to this album back in... about 1994. For me it was somewhat of a gateway album and I still listen to it periodically.

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DerekBuhr
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri Feb 29, 2008 8:45 pm
Posts: 129
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 2:21 pm 
 

First heard them when Eclipse got released. Didn't really hit me at first, thought it was too slow, folksy, and not aggressive. That was right as I was getting into metal, though, and eventually I went back to it after hearing them a few times on shuffle. Then it just kind of hit me all at once, started liking the heavy folk metal that I still love to date. Never will call the new stuff death metal. Silent Waters wasn't as great of an album as Eclipse but certainly had some killer songs. The recent releases are a little mainstream, but I like what sounds good, regardless of where it ends up commercially.

Haven't gotten around to listening to their back catalog yet. Don't think I ever will either. I've never been a fan of downloading music and I don't have the money or urge to listen to whole discographies when there is so much amazing stuff coming out that I need to listen to. Seems like Tales and Tuonela are the way to go if I ever do decide to listen to their older stuff.
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morfumax
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:04 am
Posts: 651
Location: United States
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 2:28 pm 
 

THe Karelian Isthmus is their best in my opinion, because of the Bolt Throwerish vibe.

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cultofkraken
Veteran

Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 1:18 am
Posts: 3013
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:01 pm 
 

Konig_ov_Hel wrote:
cultofkraken wrote:
Napero wrote:
Well, there is at least three albums with relatively little progression happening between them, from Tuonela to Far From the Sun, and I'd say the last one of those is the album where Amorphis almost ran aground. They are currently an excellent live band, definitely worth seeing if you have the chance, and Joutsen beats all the earlier vocalists in every way.

The "lyrical crappiness" you find on Thousand Lakes is a relative thing, because I suspect you don't know the Kalevala stories behind them. The lyrical content is sometimes confusing to an outsider, but I believe Skyforger will still keep the same subject going. Getting to know the things behind the lyrics would not hurt enjoying the albums, certainly, but I doubt it would be worth your time and would definitely take a lot of effort on your part.


Joutsen is not a better growler than Pasi or Tomi Koivusaari, clean vocals yes I'll give you that and that alone.

Best release for me will always be the Karelian Isthmus, Disment of Soul demo and the Privilege of Evil EP.


Pasi never growled in Amorphis. It was always Tomi Koivusaari that did the growling.

Actually, the only time that Pasi actually did any sort of growls, to my knowledge, is on the Tuonela.


I thought I was sure that Pasi did some growling in Amorphis, regardless I still think the death metal vocals were much better than those of this Joutsen character. Joutsen sounds way too generic when it comes to dm vox, back on the earlier material you knew exactly who it was just from the vocals alone. Also, I don't think Joutsen would fit any of the earlier material vocally so I don't know what that guy is talking about.
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hakarl
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Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:41 pm
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Location: Finland
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 3:13 pm 
 

Elegy is the final album to feature Koivusaari on vocals, and Koskinen handled all vocals ever since till his departure in 2004. The growls in "Greed" (off "Tuonela") are by Koskinen, for example. He did some random growls on Am Universum, but very little.

He did also growl on Elegy, however. Listen to "Against Widows" at 2:00. Compare it to the other harsh vocals on the album, and then compare it to "Greed" and Pasi Koskinen's voice in general.
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Razakel
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Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:36 pm
Posts: 6232
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 4:25 pm 
 

I love Amorphis. They've always released excellent albums and never stop evolving. I can't pick a favorite because of this reason. If I chose a top three it would probably be Tales, Tuonela, Eclispe/Silent Waters. I can't decide between their most recent two albums, but it seems that most people prefered Eclipse. I loved the melencholic vibe on Silent Waters, though. I also prefer Joutsen over Pasi and I also seem to be in the minority there as well.

I can't wait for Skyforger!

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Empyreal
The Final Frontier

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PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 4:31 pm 
 

Only heard The Karelian Isthmus, and it is pretty damn good atmospheric/epic Death Metal. It needs some time to grow on me though.
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colin040
Metal freak

Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:00 pm
Posts: 7608
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 9:36 am 
 

Napero wrote:
Well, there is at least three albums with relatively little progression happening between them, from Tuonela to Far From the Sun, and I'd say the last one of those is the album where Amorphis almost ran aground. They are currently an excellent live band, definitely worth seeing if you have the chance, and Joutsen beats all the earlier vocalists in every way.

The "lyrical crappiness" you find on Thousand Lakes is a relative thing, because I suspect you don't know the Kalevala stories behind them. The lyrical content is sometimes confusing to an outsider, but I believe Skyforger will still keep the same subject going. Getting to know the things behind the lyrics would not hurt enjoying the albums, certainly, but I doubt it would be worth your time and would definitely take a lot of effort on your part.


About the lyrics, I'm sure the Kavalera thing or whatever it's called is a beautiful poem, but Amorphis related their lyrics to on a wrong way. (Just hear lines such as ''And there I, a hen, was lost'' or other lines which have no logical connection with each other.

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~Guest 123274
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:17 am
Posts: 307
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 4:08 pm 
 

I have the first couple albums and an E.P. or two, but the Elegy album is where they lost me.

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dk555
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:50 pm
Posts: 23
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:17 pm 
 

What genre would Amorphis' post-tales albums be under?

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hakarl
Metel fraek

Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:41 pm
Posts: 8816
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:19 pm 
 

dk555 wrote:
What genre would Amorphis' post-tales albums be under?
Which of them?
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the16th6toothson
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:22 pm 
 

Noctir wrote:
I have the first couple albums and an E.P. or two, but the Elegy album is where they lost me.


indeed, i like the stuff prior to Elegy only
but even Tales.../BWD EP didn't age too well with me
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dk555
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:50 pm
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:26 pm 
 

Ilwhyan wrote:
dk555 wrote:
What genre would Amorphis' post-tales albums be under?
Which of them?
Albums with Tomi Joutsen.

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Oberst_Orlok_SS
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 11:09 am
Posts: 416
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:46 pm 
 

Elegy is the best. If you want to get into Amorphis, go there first.

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spermicide
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2003 7:47 pm
Posts: 207
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 8:44 pm 
 

colin040 wrote:
Since I've been recently been listening to them a lot, I decided to make a topic about them; discuss your favourite albums, songs, new album, ect.

Personally I think Amorphis are a great band cause they've never released the same album and changing their styles over and over again. I don't get what's so awesome about ''Tales From the Thousand Lakes'' though. Sure, it's a solid album, but the lyrical shitness and the, in my opinion to deep vocals ruin it. At the moment I really like ''Eclipse''. Relaxing album, anyway discuss!


I'm going to give Eclipse a chance,I heard House of Sleep and found it to be a little on the poppish side.
As for Tales yes, since you really need a lyric sheet the guttural style can get a bit old but that cd is just full of great progressions and the downtuned guitars actually intensify all the darkness of that disc.

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cultofkraken
Veteran

Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 1:18 am
Posts: 3013
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 9:34 pm 
 

dk555 wrote:
Ilwhyan wrote:
dk555 wrote:
What genre would Amorphis' post-tales albums be under?
Which of them?
Albums with Tomi Joutsen.


That wouldn't be post Tales then, it would be post Far From The Sun.
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morfumax
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2008 12:04 am
Posts: 651
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 10:33 pm 
 

Is it me or is everyone just ignoring The Karelian Isthmus?

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Pale_Pilgrim
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2009 4:01 pm
Posts: 998
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 10:37 pm 
 

Eclipse is all I've heard by them in terms of albums, there's a few great tracks on there, methinks.

I need to check out some of their music videos from before "House of Sleep" and see what I can see.

EDIT: Find myself disliking "Alone".... not too struck on that vocalist, I prefer Joutsen. Going back further, I *greatly* enjoy Tomi Koivusaari's vocal work on "Black Winter Day", wow.... a very different Amorphis back in the 90s, eh? That's a great tune, nice video too (yay 90s!)... I must look up more old Amorphis.


Last edited by Pale_Pilgrim on Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:58 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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dk555
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:50 pm
Posts: 23
PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 10:40 pm 
 

cultofkraken wrote:
dk555 wrote:
Ilwhyan wrote:
dk555 wrote:
What genre would Amorphis' post-tales albums be under?
Which of them?
Albums with Tomi Joutsen.


That wouldn't be post Tales then, it would be post Far From The Sun.
Well whatever, I just want to know where it would fall as a genre...

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hakarl
Metel fraek

Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:41 pm
Posts: 8816
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:26 am 
 

dk555 wrote:
Ilwhyan wrote:
dk555 wrote:
What genre would Amorphis' post-tales albums be under?
Which of them?
Albums with Tomi Joutsen.
Your typical melodic metal/modern rock with some folk and gothic influences.
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~Guest 123274
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2007 1:17 am
Posts: 307
PostPosted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 12:35 pm 
 

the16th6toothson wrote:
Noctir wrote:
I have the first couple albums and an E.P. or two, but the Elegy album is where they lost me.


indeed, i like the stuff prior to Elegy only
but even Tales.../BWD EP didn't age too well with me


It definitely requires a certain mood. I'm thinking nostalgia may play a significant role, regarding the time period when I got the album.

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