Under The Red Cloud

Description

There is power in a name, as ancient wisdom claims. And sometimes a prophecy. It was a moment of rare foresight when guitarist Esa Holopainen. Derived from "amorphous" (without determinate form, shapeless), the choice of Amorphis would subsequently prove more apt than anyone could have imagined at the time. It was the fall of 1990, and the band's two founding members, Esa and drummer Jan Rechberger, had recently joined forces with guitarist/vocalist Tomi Koivusaari and bassist Olli-Pekka "Oppu" Laine to leave their mark on the emerging Finnish death metal scene, only to transcend it by far and set their sights on new horizons. From the outset, Amorphis were determined to follow no vision but their own. Asked a few months after the band's conception whether Amorphis would ever change style if some new trend came along, Esa answered: "We'll change our style only if we manage to create something ourselves." At the peak of the second decade of their musical journey, these Finnish melancholic dark rock/metal masters AMORPHIS gave birth to their eleventh mind-child named "Circle" in 2013. The nine tracks contained on "Circle" once more prove Amorphis' ability to intertwine new and established ingredients. "To put it in a few words, it's compact, brilliant, fresh and still has all the elements you expect from AMORPHIS", as guitarist Esa Holopainen points out. Continuing to add progressive and psychedelic elements to their sound, it continued to broaden their audience and delivered their most successful UK release to date, culminating in a dazzling mainstage appearance at the Bloodstock Festival. 2 years on and Amorphis return with possibly their most complete album to date. Esa comments: "Under The Red Cloud is produced by Jens Bogren who did amazing job with the album. There's a lot's of elements in the songs but every note and element is in perfect harmony so that the result is fucking heavy and melodic. All I can say is that Under The Red Cloud will be in my personal Top 3 AMORPHIS albums that we've ever done." The band also continue their tradition for stunning artwork. "The artwork is done by Valnoir Mortasonge," Esa states. "Valnoir is well known from his works for LAIBACH, PARADISE LOST, WATAIN, BEHEMOTH and many more. It was a great pleasure to work with him as he caughtthe lyrical topics really well. The colours and details describe the music perfectly."