Eclipse (Amorphis album)
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| Amorphis studio album | ||||
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Publication |
February / March 2006 |
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| Label (s) | Nuclear Blast | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP |
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Title (number) |
10 (Limited Edition: 11) |
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running time |
41 min 47 s (Limited Edition: 45 min 22 s) |
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Studio (s) |
Sonic Pump Studios, Finnvox Studios |
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Eclipse is the seventh studio album by the Finnish metal band Amorphis . It was released by Nuclear Blast in February and March 2006 . With the new singer Tomi Joutsen and a change in music style, Eclipse represents an important album in the history of Amorphis. It is the first Amorphis album since the album Elegy , on which growl vocals are used again in addition to normal clear vocals and after Tales from the Thousand Lakes only the second that lyrically deals with the Kalevala .
Creation and publication
After longtime singer Pasi Koskinen left Amorphis in August 2004, the band only found a replacement in spring 2005 in Tomi Joutsen. After a tour in the United States in the early summer of 2005, the album Eclipse was recorded at Sonic Pump Studios in July 2005.
Eclipse was released on February 15, 2006 in Finland, two days later in non-German speaking Europe, on February 24 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and on March 21 in the United States. Black Lodge Records also released a limited version on record on June 23, 2006 . The first single House of Sleep was released on January 4, 2006 in advance of the album release. On June 7, 2006, The Smoke was released a second single, which contained the video for House of Sleep in addition to the title track . Since Amorphis had separated from Virgin Records , the album was released by Nuclear Blast.
In addition to the normal version, there is also a limited edition of the album in a digipack with the additional track Stone Woman , which was already published on the single House of Sleep as B-side . Stone Woman was also included on the vinyl version.
Track list
- Two Moons (Holopainen, Kallio) - 3:22
- House of Sleep (Holopainen) - 4:10
- Leaves Scar (Holopainen) - 3:38
- Born from Fire (Kallio) - 3:59
- Under a Soil and Black Stone (Kallio, Koivusaari) - 4:13
- Perkele (The God of Fire) (Etelävuori) - 3:31
- The Smoke (Holopainen) - 3:39
- Same Flesh (Kallio) - 4:40
- Brother Moon (Holopainen) - 4:47
- Empty Opening (Holopainen) - 5:48
- Stone Woman (bonus track) - 3:35
style
music
With Tomi Joutsen as the new singer, the band mixes clear and growl vocals for the first time in two albums. Overall, Eclipse is much heavier than the previous albums, according to Esa Holopainen, this style change is due to the new singer:
"Tomi is a fan of our old stuff and really wanted to work a bit in that direction, he just came up with some parts, and we thought that was pretty cool."
The album also features influences from 1970s psychedelic rock , as well as elements from traditional Finnish music. Amorphis is not developing in a completely new direction, but rather combines the familiar elements of the previous albums.
Texts and covers
Like Tales from the Thousand Lakes , Eclipse deals with the Finnish national epic Kalevala . The texts come from Paavo Haavikko's Kullervon tarina (1982), a theater adaptation of the Kullervo cycle of Kalevala . The cycle describes the tragic life story of the character Kullervo . He was enslaved as a child and returned to his parents after taking revenge. After he unknowingly seduces his sister, she commits suicide. After the death of his parents, Kullervo throws himself into his sword.
The Eclipse album cover was designed by Travis Smith, who previously worked for Katatonia . He was inspired by the Tuonela artwork. The cover shows a circle, the upper half of which is stylized as a sun, the lower half is supposed to represent the moon. Esa Holopainen said of this symbolism: "The sun and the moon in the picture reflect the state of mind of our protagonist." ( Esa Holopainen in an interview with the music magazine Orkus )
Successes and criticism
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Both the album and the first single went to number 1 in the charts in Finland. Elke Huber writes for Powermetal.de: “An album without significant weaknesses, with great variety and a certain arc of tension.” ( Elke Huber in the review of Eclipse ) Metal.de goes one step further and means “wonderful songs […] and monumental ones Goosebumps melodies make "Eclipse" a milestone in the band's history. "( Thomas in the review of Eclipse )
Tomi Joutsen is attacked by The-Pit.de because of his clear singing. The magazine writes about the album's first single, House of Sleep , that Tomi Joutsen delivers "such a slippery vocal performance [,] which, especially in verse, would offend even a Ville Valo from HIM." ( The-Pit.de in the review zu Eclipse ) Other reviews describe Tomi Joutsen as an equivalent replacement for Pasi Koskinen. Laut.de writes : “Even if Pasi was an integral part of Amorphis with his voice, the new man on the microphone fits in perfectly with the sound of the Finns. What could doom other bands to demise seems to have been nothing less than an additional push forwards with Amorphis. "( Laut.de in the review of Eclipse )
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Martin Kreischer: Feuerteufel in Orkus 101 , p. 101, March 2006
- ↑ a b Elke Huber: Review: Eclipse on PowerMetal.de, February 10, 2006 (German, accessed July 30, 2007)
- ^ Vampster: "Eclipse" on February 17, December 4, 2005 (German, accessed July 27, 2007)
- ↑ Charts DE Charts AT Charts FI
- ↑ Thomas: Review: Eclipse on Metal.de, February 16, 2006 (German, accessed July 30, 2007)
- ↑ Stefan Kaufhold: Review of Eclipse at The-Pit.de, February 17, 2005 (German, accessed July 26, 2007)
- ↑ Michael Edele: Review of Eclipse on laut.de, (German, accessed on July 28, 2007)