Line #17 Music/Amorphis


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amorphis.png]] [[caption-width-right:350:From left to right: Santeri Kallio, Jan Rechberger, Olli-Pekka Laine, Tomi Joutsen, Tomi Koivusaari and Esa Holopainen]]
2
3	Amorphis are a Finnish metal band from Helsinki, and regarded as one of the more influential bands in modern Finnish heavy metal scene.
4
5	Formed by Tomi Koivusaari, Esa Holopainen and Jan Rechberger in 1990, they started as a underground DeathMetal band playing very classic garage sound death. After a couple of demos they released their debut, ''The Karelian Isthmus'' in 1992 - which, despite the title, was more about occultism, ancient warfare and Celtic mythology. Their real breakthrough was in 1994 with their sophomore release ''Tales From the Thousand Lakes'', which showcased most of their soon-to-be trademark elements; melodic riffs, [[SopranoAndGravel mixing growls and cleans]], influences of FolkMusic and ProgressiveRock, and above all lyrical themes taken from the Finnish National Epic Literature/{{Kalevala}}.
6
7	''Tales''' sequel ''Elegy'' was another big success, and the two albums are generally regarded as classics. With a new clean vocalist Pasi Koskinen they switched in it from DeathMetal to a more progressive HeavyMetal. Since then their career became rather eclectic, with [[GenreMashup stylistic experiments]] and line-up changes, [[NewSoundAlbum no record sounding like the one before]], until band got stuck in CreativeDifferences and lack of motivation which resulted in Pasi being fired from the band in 2004.
8
9	Many were close to declaring the band dead, but they found a new vocalist Tomi Joutsen soon and released the album ''Eclipse'' in 2006. It was a new breakthrough for them, and they've been going steady ever since, with successful albums and no new line-up changes. They released their 13th album ''Queen of Time'' in May 2018, which saw the return of the original bassist Olli-Pekka Laine.
10
11	[[folder:Members]]
12	Current:
13	* Esa Holopainen – lead guitar (1990–present)
14	* Tomi Koivusaari – rhythm guitar (1990–present), harsh vocals (1990–1997, 2010)
15	* Santeri Kallio – keyboards (1998–present)
16	* Jan Rechberger – drums (1990–1995, 2002–present), keyboards, synthesizer (1990–1993)
17	* Tomi Joutsen – lead vocals, occasional acoustic guitar (2005–present)
18	* Olli-Pekka Laine – bass (1990–2000, 2017-present)
19
20	Former:
21
22	* Niclas Etelävuori – bass, backing vocals (2000–2017)
23	* Kasper Mårtenson – keyboards (1993–1995)
24	* Kim Rantala – keyboards (1995–1997)
25	* Pekka Kasari – drums (1995–2002)
26	* Pasi Koskinen – clean vocals (1995–2004)
27
28	Other:
29	* [[Music/{{Tarot}} Marco]] [[Music/{{Nightwish\|Band}} Hietala]] — vocal producer, backing vocals (''Far from the Sun'', ''Eclipse'', ''Silent Waters'', ''Skyforger'', ''The Beginning of Times'')
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Discography]]
33	!!'''Albums:'''
34	* ''The Karelian Isthmus'' (1992)
35	** ''Privilege of Evil'' EP (1993)
36	* ''Tales From The Thousand Lakes'' (1994)
37	** ''Black Winter Day'' EP (1995)
38	* ''Elegy'' (1996)
39	** ''My Kantele'' EP (1997)
40	* ''Tuonela'' (1999)
41	* ''Am Universum'' (2001)
42	* ''Far From The Sun'' (2003)
43	* ''Eclipse'' (2006)
44	* ''Silent Waters'' (2007)
45	* ''Skyforger'' (2009)
46	** ''Magic And Mayhem - Tales From the Early Years''[[note]]A compilation album of [[RearrangeTheSong re-recorded tracks]] from ''Isthmus'', ''Tales'' and ''Elegy''.[[/note]] (2010)
47	* ''The Beginning of Times'' (2011)
48	* ''Circle'' (2013)
49	* ''Under The Red Cloud'' (2015)
50	* ''Queen of Time'' (2018)
51	* ''Halo'' (2022)
52	!!'''Notable songs:'''
53	* Early Days [[note]]''The Karelian Isthmus, Tales From The Thousand Lakes, Elegy'' ("Golden Age")[[/note]]:
54	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDH0yl1luk0 Sign From the North Side]]
55	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxG5pjI8wLk Black Winter Day]]
56	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSliC1mdV54 Magic and Mayhem]]
57	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKfeTutinFM My Kantele]]
58	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezgL8ttbL2A Against Widows]]
59	* Middle Era [[note]]''Tuonela, Am Universum, Far From the Sun''[[/note]]:
60	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxzycU7US1o The Way]]
61	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym72x_F7vXQ Divinity]]
62	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz04FHL6U_I Alone]]
63	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSHUA8wZfTQ Evil Inside]]
64	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbj5eLQTmuk Far From the Sun]]
65	* New Era [[note]]From ''Eclipse'' onward ("Joutsen Era")[[/note]]:
66	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CleR2nYASdo House of Sleep]]
67	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkRxjrlgzp0 The Smoke]]
68	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb2gjwq1WXg Silent Waters]]
69	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qjiWb1O_L4 Silver Bride]]
70	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKGm441XmYI Skyforger]]
71	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rs-or7As0k You I Need]]
72	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY0bUjF0YQ8 Hopeless Days]]
73	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt9_xAiYQJ8 Shades of Gray]]
74	[[/folder]]
75	----
76
77	!!Tropes related to Amorphis (YMMV tropes go [[YMMV/{{Amorphis}} here]]):
78
79	* AudienceParticipationSong: Joutsen usually makes the crowd to sing the chorus of ''House of Sleep''.
80	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: This apparently happened to Kimi Rantala, the former keyboardist; according to the ''Tales from the 20 Years'' dockumentary, they practically lost contact with him after ''Elegy'' tour and had to get Santeri Kallio to play keyboards in ''Tuonela''.
81	* ConceptAlbum: ''Tales'' and ''Elegy'' take their lyrics almost straight from the ''Kalevala'' and the poetry collection ''Kanteletar''. The "Joutsen era" albums have a recurring theme of being based on one of the main characters of Kalevala (''Eclipse'' is about Kullervo, ''Silent Waters'' about Lemminkäinen, ''Skyforger'' about Ilmarinen, and ''The Beginning of Times'' about Väinämöinen). ''Circle'' switches the format by telling an original story, while based on Finnish folklore.
82	* CoverVersion: They've covered songs from Music/TheDoors, Music/{{Hawkwind}}, Music/KingstonWall, and Music/{{Abhorrence}}.
83	** CoveredUp: It's more than likely that you've heard ''Vulgar Necrolatry'' [[note]] The Abhorrence cover in ''The Karelian Isthmus'' [[/note]] first via Amorphis, as Abhorrence were fairly shortlived and obscure band that Tomi Koivusaari was in before Amorphis.
84	* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to the previous Joutsen Era albums, which were generally evolving towards more serene and melodic sound, ''Circle'' takes a turn to overall gloomier and heavier direction.
85	* ForeignLanguageTitle: ''Tuonela'' is a Finnish name for the realm of the dead.
86	* GenreMashup: Melodic folk death heavy metal with influences of jazz and progressive rock.
87	* HarshVocals: Common. Since ''Elegy'' they've been usually [[SopranoAndGravel accompanied with clean vocals]] (formerly by Koivusaari & Koskinen duo, recently by Joutsen handling both).
88	* HeavyMithril: Most of their lyrics are based on Myth/FinnishMythology in general and Literature/TheKalevala in particular.
89	* LighterAndSofter: Evidently when they shifted from Death Metal to a more progressive sound.
90	* LyricalDissonance: Frequently deliberately invoked. Much of the ''Elegy'' album, in particular, uses this shamelessly, given that it's quite harsh melodeath but all of its lyrics are taken old Finnish folk songs.
91	* MelodicDeathMetal: One of the first bands to play the style with ''Tales From The Thousand Lakes''. Possibly the UrExample, as a few songs from ''The Karelian Isthmus'' could certainly fit in the genre and predate the commonly accepted {{Trope Maker\|s}}, ''Heartwork'' by Carcass.
92	* MyspeldRokband: "Amorphis" comes from the word ''amorphous'', nicely fitting their changing musical style.
93	* NewSoundAlbum: Aplenty! Most notable are ''Elegy'' compared to ''Thousand Lakes'' (from Death Metal to a more progressive direction, with a new clean vocalist), and ''Eclipse'' compared to ''Far From The Sun'' (from progressive rock to a more straightforward HeavyMetal, with a change of vocalist).
94	* OneSteveLimit: {{Averted}} with two Tomis (Koivusaari and Joutsen). In the earlier line-up there was also bassist Olli-''Pekka'' Laine and drummer ''Pekka'' Kasari.
95	* PowerBallad: ''Her Alone'' and ''My Sun'', among others.
96	* RearrangeTheSong: The 20th anniversary compilation album ''Magic and Mayhem'', which consists of remade songs from the pre-Joutsen era.
97	* RecordProducer: They've been a technical DIY variety for a long time, as despite the albums having a nominal producer, the band has usually done the work themselves. For ''Circle'' they seem to have collaborated in mutual understanding with Peter Tägtgren.
98	* ReplacementGoldfish: "Silver Bride" tells the story of how the blacksmith Ilmarinen tried to make a new wife for himself from gold and silver after Kullervo killed his first one, only to fail miserably.
99	* ShoutOut: The opening melody of "Magic and Mayhem" is borrowed from an old Finnish folk song "Soittajapaimen". Similarly, the main riff of "Smithereens" is from the main theme of ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''.
100	* TruckDriversGearChange: Used in "The Smoke" and "White Swan", for example.
101	* {{Yarling}}: Pasi Koskinen's usual vocal style. He is one of the few metal vocalists to use this style, along with [[Music/{{Godsmack}} Sully Erna]], [[Music/AliceInChains Layne Staley]], [[BreedSevenSeven Paul Isola]], and a couple others.

Context Music / Amorphis