Amorphis - "Eclipse" (Nuclear Blast)

One magazine likened Amorphis to Nightwish (I think it was the well intentioned, if lamentably edited Zero). This is wholly inaccurate.

Eclipse sees the band returning to a more gruff, muscular sound than their previous few releases. New vocalist, Tomi Jousten, in particular has brought a completely new element to the band's sound. He doesn't sound anything like previous vocalist, Pasi Koskinen, and sounds all the better for it. His vocals are actually an interesting blend of styles - at times pure Death Metal (or "grunts", as the press release describes them), at others coming across as groove-laden, soulful singing. Even many of his roars and screams retain a high level of melody (something I've only come across before with Anders Friden, of In Flames).

The band are not attempting to live in the past, instead they are trying to move forward, while remembering where they came from.

The music as a whole still retains a certain "bounce" to it (probably the result of the Finnish folk music influence), particularly in the guitar work, and especially evident on "Leaves Scar" and "Brother Moon".

As for specific songs of note, "House Of Sleep" sounds like a progression of Elegy (1996) and Tuonela (1999), assuming Am Universum (2001) and Far From The Sun (2003) never happened, while both "Perkele (The God Of Fire)" and bonus track "Stone Woman" sound like even earlier material than that.

Definitely a progression, different approach to the Amorphis of old, forging ahead with a (largely) new identity. If you were not a fan of previous Amorphis albums, I would still recommend giving Eclipse a listen, as you might be pleasantly surprised with what you find. As for existing fans, this should please fans of all types, coming across like a career retrospective in many ways.

Highly distinctive, without sounding like anyone else, this dark and melancholy album is highly recommended.

www.amorphis.net