AMORPHIS - 'Under The Red Cloud' (2015)

25 September 2015

No matter how big AMORPHIS fan I am, it is pointless to go around telling how great are their previous two albums – “The Beginning of Times” and “Circle”. “The Beginning Of Times” was more or less okay, but paled in comparison to the previous masterpiece – “Skyforger”. “Circle”, on the other hand, was all over the place and disappointing, especially considering the high expectations laid on the producer Peter Tägtgren.

In hindsight, neither of the two albums stands out much, except for the occasional great song and the fact that in the latter Tomi Joutsen introduced black metal screeching.

Objectively speaking, there is no band which consistently puts out magnificent albums, so I learned never to bring the big basket and to spare myself the disappointments. I was still hoping that “Under The Red Cloud” would be better, if not radically new.

It, however, surpassed my expectations, which, as I already said, were not very high, and beyond any doubt is an exceptionally pleasant surprise. In it we get more of the better moments from the previous two albums plus a magnificent heavy album with lots of progressive elements and unexpected, or rather well forgotten AMORPHIS beauties from the “Elegy” and “Tuonela” era.

I got the first taste of what was to come in the early afternoon of June 25 when the Finnish Radio Rock aired the first single – “Death Of A King”. The sitar intro immediately reminded me of “Tuonela”'s “Greed”. So I picked up the big basket and headed to the official listening session in Suomenlinnan Studios in the Suomenlinna fortress on the Helsinki archipelago.

My first impression from “Under The Red Cloud” was that this is indeed a magnificent album – surely the best since “Skyforger”, which is generally considered the best in the 10-year Tomi Joutsen era.

When the last notes of “White Night” faded, the 30-ish international journalists, crammed on the sofa and the chairs in one of the studio rooms, sat in stunned silence, while the producer Jens Bogren (he has worked with greats such as Opeth and Paradise Lost) was sitting anxiously in the corner by the door. Then the applause began and Jens breathed a sigh of relief. Considering how much effort he put into this album, his apprehension was easily explained.

As early as the first spin two songs stood out: “Sacrifice” – as the most boring and predictable song from the album, which, quite predictably is a radio single, and “Enemy At The Gates” – as my personal favourite.

The hypnotic beginning, the sitar, the flute and its general sound strongly remind of “Tuonela” (an AMORPHIS favourite of mine). Unlike in “Tuonela”, which was somewhat low-key, however, “Enemy At The Gates” has a strange epicness, mostly thanks to the amazing vocals of Tomi Joutsen who sings sweetly as an angel and growls and hisses like Satan.

Among the generally remarkable songs in “Under The Red Cloud”, other two songs that stand out are “The Skull” – the only song by Tomi Koivusaari in the regular edition of the album and “White Night”.

The former is one of the more progressive and complex songs on the album with remarkable lyrical piano passage in the middle, which ends almost as abruptly, as it began, and moves on to brutal growls.

“White Night” – the last song in the regular edition of “Under The Red Cloud”, is yet another of those special songs on the album that emanates hypnosis. It starts with the ethereal vocals of Aleah Stanbridge (Trees Of Eternity) and explodes into Tomi Joutsen's brutal growls, accompanied by the sitar. The clean chorus is underlined by the massive sound of the other band members, while the guitar solo is enchanting.

Worth mentioning are also “Tree Of Ages” - full of pub cheer, thanks to the Celtic flutes of Eluveitie's Chrigel Glanzmann (also appears on “Death Of A King” and “The Four Wise Ones” and the bonus track on the Japanese edition - “The Wind”) and “Bad Blood” with its memorable chorus.

The hidden gem in “Under The Red Cloud” is the second bonus track in the digipack edition – “Winter's Sleep”. The magical duet between Tomi Joutsen's voice and Esa's guitar create a sweet melancholic feeling. It is amplified by Santeri Kallio's keyboards, which are strangely reminiscent of Kasper Mårtenson's work in AMORPHIS' first albums and more recently in Barren Earth. The combination between the keyboards and the guitar is simply amazing.

Another Easter egg is the bonus track in the Japanese edition – “The Wind”, starting with Jethro Tull flute, played by Eluveitie's Chrigel Glanzmann and turning into a 1970's progressive eargasm with crushing guitar and keyboard solos.

As a whole “Under The Red Cloud” is exceptionally monolithic and strong album, with songs varying from very good to magnificent. It practically lacks filler songs. Even the bonus tracks, which as a general rule are a bit forced with the sole purpose of extracting more money from the fans, are of such high quality, that can easily be included in the album as full-fledged tracks.

Grade: 6=

Source: RadioTangra.com

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