Elegy (Amorphis album)
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| Amorphis studio album | ||||
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Publication |
May 14, 1996 |
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| Label (s) | Relapse Records | |||
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CD |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
56 min 36 s |
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Studio (s) |
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Elegy is the third studio album by the Finnish band Amorphis .
It was released in 1996 and on the one hand marked the entry of the longtime singer Pasi Koskinen and thus the beginning of the temporary departure from death metal influences, on the other hand the band achieved their commercial breakthrough in their homeland with this album.
Emergence
In the run-up to the recordings, the band had to deal with several departures. In addition to keyboarder Kasper Mårtenson, who appeared for the first time on the previous album Tales from the Thousand Lakes , drummer and founding member Jan Rechberger and singer Ville Tuomi, who also joined the band before the last album, left the band. The two instrumentalists were replaced by Kim Rantala ( keyboard ) and Pekka Kasari ( drums ), the singing post initially remained vacant. Only after all the pieces had been composed and the recordings had already started did the band find a suitable singer for the clear vocals in Pasi Koskinen, while guitarist Tomi Koivusaari continued to provide the growls .
As with the previous work, the recordings themselves began in the Stockholm Sunlight Studio under the direction of Tomas Skogsberg. In contrast to the previous album, Skogsberg was also scheduled as a producer, whereas Tales from the Thousand Lakes was still mainly mixed by the band. The recordings were delayed when guitarist Esa Holopainen broke his arm in a fall. After the injury break, the band had to continue production in other studios, as Skogsberg had started renovating his studio. The MD Studio and Finnvox Studios (both in Helsinki ) were therefore used for additional recordings . Mixing took place at Parr Street Studios in Liverpool and was performed by Pete Coleman and Dave Buchanan.
The album was released on May 14, 1996 via Relapse Records . In Europe the distribution took place under license from Nuclear Blast . The album cover and illustrations in the booklet were made by Swedish artist Kristian Wåhlin , the band photo on the back of the CD case was taken by Joullo Lehtola.
In 1997, one year after the album, the track My Kantele (Acoustic Reprise) was released for an EP ( see there ). In 2004 Relapse Records released a new edition of the album in digipack , which contained four live recordings as bonus tracks .
Track list
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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- Better Unborn (Holopainen) - 5:50
- Against Widows (Laine) - 4:04
- The Orphan (Holopainen & Laine) - 5:16
- On Rich and Poor (Holopainen & Rantala) - 5:18
- My Kantele (Holopainen) - 5:00
- Cares (Koivusaari, Holopainen & Laine) - 4:27
- Song of the Troubled One (Holopainen & Laine) - 4:06
- Weeper on the Shore (Laine & Rantala) - 4:50
- Elegy (Rantala) - 7:19
- Relief (Laine) - 4:07
- My Kantele (Acoustic Reprise) - 5:55
Total playing time: 56 min 36 s
style
music
Characteristic of this album in relation to its predecessors is the high proportion of clear vocals, for which the entry of singer Pasi Koskinen was mainly responsible. The music tended to gradually move in the direction of rock .
The keyboard parts by Kim Rantala are also remarkable. Kai Wendel, editor of the German magazine Rock Hard , sees Rantala's contribution as a clear reminiscence of the hard rock of the 1970s and draws comparisons to Jon Lord , the organist of Deep Purple :
“This approach offered an ideal field of activity, especially for the new keyboardist, and he could really let off steam on his Hammond organ. Exactly these 70s sounds, which are very reminiscent of Jon Lord's playing style, make up the ingenuity of the record. "
Also noteworthy is the compositional technique used for the first time on Tales from the Thousand Lakes , a theme-like melody that goes far beyond the scope and meaning of a riff , to be the focus of some songs and to process it through counter-theme and variation. The song On Rich and Poor is particularly noteworthy . Wendel summarizes this technique as follows:
“[...] The structures of the songs have also changed. Instead of the usual stanza-lead-stanza pattern, the basic theme is now given at the beginning of each piece, which is then broken down and repeated with nuances, in the style of classical composing. "
In addition, Cares is an experimental piece on the album that combines folk metal with dance rhythms. Also noteworthy is the fact that at the end of the album the song My Kantele once again experiences a recapitulation carried by acoustic guitar . There is also a purely instrumental piece at the end of the album, Relief .
Texts and covers
The texts come from the Finnish collection of poems Kanteletar . This is a collection of old orally transmitted songs compiled in the 19th century. The Kanteletar is the lyrical "sister work" of the Finnish national epic Kalevala , which was thematized on the previous album.
The new band logo was used for the first time on the album cover.
Criticism and reception
The album received excellent reviews. In the German magazine Rock Hard , the album was voted second on the Richter scale in issue 109 and was given an average of 8.29 out of 10 points by the editors. In the review, editor Kai Wendel called the album a “masterpiece” , but also added that the album “only becomes really accessible to the listener after several runs.” In the online magazine The Metal Observer , author Frodi Stenberg emphasizes Difference to the previous work:
"Elegy" was at least as big a surprise for me as a lot of other fans. […] People still argue today which AMORPHIS album is better, "Tales from the Thousand Lakes" and "Elegy", which is a tough decision, but I would say "Elegy" because the songs are richer and that one Sound is better. "
Commercially the album was very successful. It reached eighth place in the Finnish album charts and was able to bring the band into the top 100 albums in Germany for the first time, where it reached number 56.
My Kantele EP
Origin and description
The acoustic recapitulation of the song My Kantele was released for an EP , which was released on May 27, 1997. In addition to the title track, which was newly recorded, the two new and related songs The Brother-Slayer and The Lost Son as well as the cover versions Levitation (by Hawkwind ) and And I Hear You Call (by Kingston Wall ) were included. The recordings took place again in the MD Studios and in the Finnvox . The EP also had an artwork similar to the album and was released on CD in a jewel case and in a digipack with embossing.
Musically, the EP was kept calm compared to the album. The title song is mainly carried by the acoustic guitar and Hammond organ . The new songs also have a more psychedelic atmosphere through synthesizers and various guitar effects and merge into one another, with The Lost Son mostly consisting of a solo on the electric guitar. The cover versions, on the other hand, take up the style of the album, the band even integrated growls into the song of their compatriots from Kingston Wall.
It is noteworthy that The Brother-Slayer was the first song composed by Pasi Koskinen to be recorded.
Track list
- My Kantele (Acoustic Reprise) - 5:57
- The Brother Slayer - 3:37
- The Lost Son (The Brother-Slayer Pt. II) - 4:36
- Levitation - 5:52
- And I Hear You Call - 4:41
Total playing time: 24 min 43 s
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Charts DE Charts FI
- ↑ a b c RH website (accessed August 13, 2007)
- ↑ metal-observer.com Metal Observer review on Elegy (accessed August 13, 2007)