AMORPHIS
TUONELA
ALBUM NUCLEAR BLAST RELEASE: FEBRUARY 15, 1999 REVIEW: JUNE 1, 1999
Amorphis from Finland has been going for quite a while now. In the early days they played rather good death metal but throughout the years their sound has changed in a positive direction, I would say since I find most death metal rather boring. Now they play some kind of doomy metal with touches of melancholy but sometimes with growling vocals. I wish the vocalist could've abandoned the growling completely because it doesn't improve the result, at all. It's a little bit wasted cause when he sings normally he does it really good like in the title track "Tuonela" which really kicks ass. Apart from that song there are a few quite good songs and some boring ones.
The album is alright but could've been better with stronger material and good vocals throughout the entire album.
JOHAN ASTEMARK