Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.

The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.
Band
Amorphis
Title
Skyforger
Type
LP/EP
Company
Nuclear Blast
YOR
2009
Style
Progressive
7/17/2009 - Review by: Raising Iron
Every song relishes and regales in its purpose
Amorphis have always been a band who've defied metalheads' desire to pigeonhole a group into a certain style – yeah, I know, the first couple o' releases were mostly straight up death metal, though of a certain progressive and unique bent – but it can now be said that the guys have quintessentially transcended all genre defining borders. Hell, this argument could be made going all the way back to Elegy really, but with their latest effort, Skyforger, any vestige of confines that may have yet remained are stripped; the sextet casting aside any temptation to rest on laurels; pushing and pressing for perfect proclamations of song-craft the likes of which are rarely achieved.

Many questioned Tomi Joutsen's ability to fill the shoes of longtime vocalist Pasi Koskinen after his departure in 2004, but 2006's Eclipse and especially 2007's Silent Waters proved him more than capable, and now with this latest release, those fears are permanently laid to rest; the man once again throwing every ounce of emotion and resplendent dynamism into his singing. Not sure who's doing the death growls on this release – possibly guitarist Tomi Koivusaari, who served as the guttural guide of the band in the early years, but it sounds like Tomi Joutsen – no matter though, as they are somewhat sparse throughout the disc, though used to precise and desired effect.

It's an absolutely unbelievable level of compositional creativity these guys are now peaking at; the multitudinal layers of melodies and riffs found within each piece coalescing into a singular work of measured warmth, blending fury and melancholy into a consummate whole. There isn't a moment of filler to be found on Skyforger; every song relishes and regales in its purpose, leaving the listener filled with a renewed sense of animus. Keyboard interlacing is of course once again prominent within the constructs, judiciously used to impeccable effect, morphing the dimensions in which these refrains reside.

Once again being mixed and mastered at the monumental Finnvox Studios, you'd be hard-pressed to find a gripe about the production (warning: ironically enough the initial pressing of the digipak version did contain volume anomalies on a couple of songs that are being rectified via subsequent pressings; Nuclear Blast has available at their website correct versions of these songs until the problem is fixed), and the clarity enjoyed on previous releases is still present for all to absorb.

For those who simply enjoy well-written and superbly performed music, no matter what the genre or style, I implore you, if you only purchase a small handful cds this year, make Skyforger one of them, it'll be money well-spent, guaranteed.
  • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
    5 :AVE RATING

ALL REVIEWS FOR: AMORPHIS
TITLE
DOR
COMPANY
REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
Circle
2013
Nuclear Blast
Eric Compton3/25/2013
4.5
Eclipse
2006
Nuclear Blast
Eric Compton3/21/2006
-
Far From The Sun
2004
Nuclear Blast
Ken Pierce7/25/2005
4
Magic & Mayhem - Tales From the Early Years
2010
Nuclear Blast
Ravana12/14/2010
4
Queen of Time
2018
Nuclear Blast
Eric Compton6/4/2018
3
Silent Waters
2007
Nuclear Blast
Etiam1/11/2008
3
Skyforger
2009
Nuclear Blast
Raising Iron7/17/2009
5
The Beginning Of Times
2011
Nuclear Blast
Eric Compton6/3/2011
4
Under the Red Cloud
2015
Nuclear Blast
Eric Compton4/15/2016
5

ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: AMORPHIS
INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE


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