Amorphis - Forging The Land Of Thousand Lakes DVD (2010) V01dV

Melodic death/progressive doom metal from Finland, music DVD released in 2010.





Amorphis is a Finnish progressive/melodic metal band, and formerly death/doom band started by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari and Esa Holopainen in Helsinki, Finland in 1990. Amorphis absorbed and incorporated influences from many metal genres, and with time passing their sound evolved dramatically. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but with time they have evolved into making music that is more classifiable as doom metal with folk influences, and, more recently, progressive metal and hard rock, utilizing increasingly complex arrangements and a less brutal sound. Amorphis is also well known for their use of the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, as a source for their lyrics.

In 1989 Jan Rechberger and Esa Holopainen played in a speed metal band Violent Solution, which Tomi Koivusaari had left the previous year to form the death metal band Abhorrence. Violent Solution slowly withered away as the musicians became interested in other things and styles of music. At this point, Jan Rechberger and Esa Holopainen had the idea of putting together a death metal band. In early 1990, Tomi Koivusaari was asked to be the vocalist and Oppu Laine to be their bassist.

During that time the band asked Tomi to pick up the slot of rhythm guitarist as well as singing, which led to the band dumping all original compositions and starting again. With the band starting to move along, Tomi’s other band (Abhorrence) split up and he found himself with much more time to put into Amorphis. The band went into gear and started churning out new brutal music.

Shortly after the band had recorded their first studio demo tape, Tomi got a letter from Relapse Records offering Abhorrence a recording contract. Since Abhorrence was no longer active, they quickly sent their own demo in the return mail and eventually got signed to a recording deal. The deal would later almost destroy the band, due a very long commitment and poor artist relations. They quickly released a death metal classic Karelian Isthmus and would later release the original demo as the Privilege Of Evil EP. The EP featured Abhorrence’s original vocalist, Jukka Kolehmainen, as a vocalist on the Abhorrence cover song Vulgar Necrolatry.

The band quickly adopted new ways of making music and started incorporating different styles in with the original death metal aspect, creating a very unique and complex soundscape. Their musical growth has not stopped and the band consistently strives to excel in the creativity and unique soundscapes which has always been the band’s backbone.

Eclipse, is the result of this uncompromising attitude and while the band sheds their musical skin, the fans can rest assured that the direction of the music is still in the same distant horizon as it was when they went in to studio to records Tales from the Thousand Lakes.

Amorphis’ eighth release was Silent Waters, which was released in 2007 and continued in similiar vein with Eclipse. Again based on Kalevala, the album tells the story of Lemminkäinen.

Skyforger was released in May 27 2009, and it contains 10 songs. The digipack version has one bonus song; Godlike Machine.

Forging The Land Of Thousand Lakes was released in July 2010. It is available as a 2 DVD & 2 CD package (2 digipacks in a box) or as a 2 DVD set. DVD 1, and the CDs, contain a live concert in Oulu (Finland) in 2009. The second DVD contains a shorter set from Summer Breeze Open Air 2009, a 60 minute documentary and all (most?) Amorphis videos plus a photo gallery.

Magic & Mayhem – Tales From The Early Years was released in September 2010. It contains 12 tracks from the first three albums plus a bonus track Light My Fire. They have all been re-recorded with the current line up. Some arrangements have changed - essentially they are the songs as they have evolved through many concert tours, recorded in a studio environment.

In May 2011, The Beginning Of Times was released and went straight to number 1 in the Finnish album charts and number 16 in the German charts.






2010 Forging The Land Of Thousand Lakes DVD


Tracklist:

DVD 1:

I. Live in Oulu, Finland, 2009:

1. Silver Bride
2. Sampo
3. Towards And Against
4. The Castaway
5. Smithereens / The Smoke
6. Majestic Beast
7. Alone
8. Silent Waters
9. Divinity
10. Elegy Medley (Against Widows / Cares / On Rich And Poor)
11. From The Heaven Of My Heart
12. Sky Is Mine
13. Magic And Mayhem / Black Winter Day
14. Sign From The Northside
15. House Of Sleep
16. My Kantele

DVD 2:

II. Summer Breeze Open Air, Germany 2009

1. Leaves Scar
2. Towards And Against
3. From The Heaven Of My Heart
4. Against Widows
5. The Castaway
6. Sampo
7. Silver Bride
8. Alone
9. The Smoke
10. My Kantele
11. House Of Sleep
12. Magic And Mayhem

III. Tales From The 20 Years (documentary)

IV. Video Clips

1. Black Winter Day
2. My Kantele
3. Against Widows
4. Divinity
5. Alone
6. Evil Inside
7. House Of Sleep
8. The Smoke (live 2006)
9. Silent Waters
10. Silver Bride
11. From The Heaven Of My Heart
12. My Kantele (Jyrki TV show, 1996)
13. Amorphis interview (JYRKI TV show, 1996)

Label: ?Nuclear Blast


In the eyes of many Amorphis fans, a live DVD is something that was long overdue, but truth be told, there could not have been a more opportune moment for this monster of a release to be revealed to the world. This four-disc package of brilliance marks the twentieth anniversary of the band and succeeds in portraying every angle of the complex entity that has always been Amorphis. Instead of continuing to read this review, I recommend you put your time to better use and start watching Youtube videos of Amorphis live, or you could keep reading and have me describe to you how buttfucking amazing they are. Take your pick.

Still with me? Let’s get started then. But where to start? How about with DVD 1. This disc contains a lengthy headlining show, shot in Oulu, Finland, and is the centerpiece of the lot. Before anything really happens you can already tell that the presentation is quality, and soon you’ll discover that the performance follows suit. After the recorded intro finishes, the band burst into Silver Bride, off the latest album, Skyforger. The sound quality is impeccable, with every instrument being sufficiently audible. Sampo is up next, and this is the first spine-chiller of the show. The diversity of the song shows the band weaving in and out of different styles and succeeds in giving the viewer a good example of what Amorphis is all about. This is also when Tomi Joutsen first showcases his immense vocals range; the chorus is sublime, while the crushingly heavy section is simply startling:

Into the blaze I shove them back,
To lose their forms to the hungry fire.
Again and yet again,
I start my work anew.
Again and again,
I start my work again.

Despite not being as instantly catchy as Silver Bride, I think this would have made for a better opener. The heaviness only increases with Towards and Against off 2007’s Silent Waters before the band bust out the old Tales From the Thousand Lakes classic, The Castaway. Joutsen breathes a lot of life into the doominess of the early material, while the timeless melodies still speak for themselves. Smithereens/The Smoke is the first of three medleys in the set, and proves to be a gorgeous melding of two powerful tracks. Still, it’s absolutely nothing compared to the Elegy medley, which appears a while later. This is my personal favourite moment of the entire package, as it truly displays the diversity that Amorphis are capable of. A lot of people seem to have problems with medleys, saying they’re a cheap way for a band to get through a bunch of material that doesn’t fit into the set otherwise. Sure, that might be the case much of the time, but this is how medleys should be done. Even though Elegy is Amorphis’ masterpiece, this outstanding assortment does complete justice to the album as a whole. It begins with the ragingly catchy opening of Against Widows, through the beautiful chorus, and carries on to the absolutely crushing verse during the breakdown:

The devil weds a widow,
The grave one twice wed.
A widow’s hand is rougher
Than a dry spruce bough
With which she strikes the playful,
Grabs the one who laughs.
A widow has had her games
And spent a marry evening.

Immediately following this, the composition seamlessly transitions into partway through Cares for a cleanly sung verse and then into the whirlwind of melody that is On Rich and Poor. After returning for the end of Against Widows, the piece concludes by teasing with a few notes of Better Unborn. I can only hope I get to see this performed live one day.

In between the heaviness, Amorphis aren’t afraid to whip out a ballad or show off their impressive progressive rock material. Midway through the set, we’re treated to several of the band’s softer pieces such as the timeless anthem, Alone, which is one of the best tracks from their mid-era, as well as the first Amorphis song I ever heard. Silent Waters is as beautifully melancholic live as it is on the album. The keyboards really stand out on this one and that chorus is just something else entirely. Divinity is the only song off the fantastic Tuonela, but holds its own nicely and is a fair deal heavier than on record.

A medley of Magic and Mayhem/Black Winter Day is what closes the main set, showcasing the band at their doomiest and gloomiest. It’s a treat to hear the beautiful riffs and melodies of these songs with such clarity and it’s a reminder of how classic a song like Black Winter Day is. It’s easy to see why this is the most well known song of their early albums. If you thought that was heavy, though, you’re in for a real shocker when Sign From the North Side kicks off the encore. This proves that Amorphis can still do death metal, and do a fine job of it at that. Still, this larger-than-life rendition brings to light the melodic nature of song writing that was present even on the band’s 1993 debut album, The Karelian Isthmus. In an utter contrast to this death metal devastation, House of Sleep boasts one of the band’s catchiest melodies and is one of their strongest ballads, especially with the crowd participation during the chorus in this version. Closing the set is, in my opinion, the greatest song of Amorphis’ career. My Kantele is another example of a song that shows all aspects of the wildly versatile spirit of Amorphis. Everything about the performance of this song is gorgeous and filled with such passion. The clean opening melody has been engrained in my mind ever since I first heard the song, and Joutsen’s vocal performance couldn’t be more perfect. He belts out the beautiful lyrics which concern the origin of music itself in a manner so effortless that I’m simply convinced that his destiny has always been to play in this band. Listening to him carry that fucking chorus should be enough to turn anyone and their grandmother into a raging Amorphis fan. To make this rendition of the song even more memorable, the band have included the serene instrumental present on the acoustic version of the song. I really can’t imagine a more satisfying conclusion.

I don’t feel the need to go into too much detail about specific members, because each one performs flawlessly and continuing to single out highlight after highlight would be redundant. Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari are a superb guitar duo who work excellently together on every track. I guess that’s the result of twenty years of playing together. Still, it’s hard not to admit that Tomi Joutsen steals the spotlight most of the time. And so he should, being the majestic beast of a front man. If you haven’t heard this man sing, please make a point of it. His death growls are almost unprecedented and his clean singing is enough to make a grown man weak in the knees. When the songs call for a diverse vocal performance, which is most of the time, he shines the brightest. Legend has it that he uses those crazy looking microphones because normal ones can’t handle his immense power. It’s also a pleasure watching him windmill those ass-length dreads.

Alright, on to DVD 2. This one contains a shorter festival show, every music video, a photo gallery, an old interview from 1996, an awesome acoustic performance of My Kantele from 1996, and an hour-long documentary which documents the history of the band.

The set from Summer Breeze is of superb quality, and is generally a bit rougher and heavy sounding than the Oulu show. The setlist only consists of two songs that weren’t already performed on the first disc, namely Leaves Scar and a full version of Magic and Mayhem, but these are both major highlights of the entire package. Magic and Mayhem is probably the heaviest, most insane performance of the lot with that crazy techno-like jam in the middle and Joutsen going absolutely nuts behind the mic. The crowd is also a bit louder for this show, perhaps because it’s at a giant open air festival, or simply because of the mixing.

The documentary is naturally the most interesting part of this release for the die-hard Amorphis fan, such as myself. Similar to the documentary on Dark Tranquility’s Where Death is Most Alive DVD, it follows the band’s history chronologically from its beginnings to the present day. It’s basically divided into chapters in which each album is brought up and discussed by not only current members, but also various past members. In addition to discussion about the albums, the band also share amusing anecdotes and explain being fucked over by Relapse records. Apparently up to and including their mid-era, they were hardly making jack-shit from their music, all the while reading in metal magazines about how many thousands of copies Tales From the Thousand Lakes had sold. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, former vocalist Pasi Koskinen is not interviewed in the documentary, which leaves a bit of a gap as far as a thorough documentation goes, although he is shown in some old clips that are used.

So there you have it. This is basically every Amorphis fan’s wet dream, or at least should be. Releases like this really set a new standard for live DVDs and put to shame bands that churn out live recordings with no thoughtful extra content. Although it might seem strange for a live DVD to be your first purchase of a band’s work, this would actually make a great introduction to Amorphis for the newcomer. The Oulu show presents material from all nine of Amorphis’ albums and shows the band in all their glory. If you already happen to be a fan of the band, then this is a release that you should definitely add to your collection.

Thank you for this gift, Amorphis, and here's to many more years of music for the soul.