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Amorphis: Eclipse

10/07/08 || Daemonomania

What makes a quesadilla delicious? Is it the two layers of tortilla, the optional fillings like chicken or steak, the toppings like salsa or sour cream?

Nay, my friends, it is the CHEESE.

And said cheese is what makes “Eclipse” so tasty. The songwriting on this piece of plastic rivals the demonic Abba in terms of catchy hook-ridden composition. If you make it out of this album without a chorus stuck in your head, you are one hardcore motherfucker. Either there is no more room left in your brain for infectious and oft-repeated refrains, or you listen to so much old school Napalm Death you are not interested in hooks at all.

Each song is chock full of layered vocals, orchestral sections (read: keyboards), simple lyrical passages and repetition. Amorphis want you to remember this shit. They are not fucking around. Despite your innate metallic nature rebelling against the radio-ready anthems that fill “Eclipse,” you will have a favorite song in no time. And that favorite song will co-inhabit your brain with the choruses from three or four other songs and THEY WILL NOT GO AWAY. Somewhere, someone you know is suffering from “Same flesh” syndrome right now. It hurts.

To sum it up, this shit is hookier than a tacklebox. Cha-ching.

How did they cook up such an insidious treat, after years (by all accounts) of lackluster releases? The band’s history may hold our answer. Let me tell you a story. Long, long ago Amorphis was a death metal band. So long ago, in fact, that the band themselves forgot this and turned kinda progressive, then downright poppy. They even changed their logo, a sure sign of trouble ahead. Some shit went down in 2004 that messed up the band and the lead singer of many moons left, leaving his slot open for someone else who could do both growls on a very limited basis and clean vocals on a much larger scale. So the ‘Morph found themselves searching for a new vocalist. They combed the magical land of Finland, searching every saari, mounting every mäki, fording every fjord. And they found Tomi Joutsen, and it was good.

He could sing like a big dude who has an emotional side. He could growl like a big dude who thinks about evil sometimes. He could subtly manipulate his voice to drive choruses directly into a listener’s brain like the helmeted dude drove nails into male and female genitalia in Nailgun Massacre. “Perfect,” said Amorphis. And so “Eclipse” was born, and though it was simple it garnered praise. While it contained a modicum of actual metal, it was embraced by the less brahutahl members of the metal community. Some believed it was a return to form from their more deathy days of old. Amorphis was pleased. The half-metal quesadilla they had cooked had poisoned the minds of many. Their 18 year career could continue until the world will cease to be.

Fast forward to present day (actually about a month ago). A metalhead interested in expanding his classic death metal collection has heard good things about Amorphis’ old stuff like “The privilege of evil.” His fiance lurked in the background while he played songs from their MySpace page. “Leaves Scar” came on, and the little lady’s ears perked up. “I want this,” she said, and she would not take no for an answer.

In the end Amorphis’ unique abilities to capture both the less and more metallic has claimed another victim. They know that goddamn Juusota quesadilla is sizzling and squeaking at home, knowing that it will be consumed once again.

7 tales from 1,000 hooks out of 10.

Information
Released: 2006
Label: Nuclear Blast
Website: www.amorphis.net
Band
Tomi Joutsen: vocals
Niclas Etelävuori: bass
Jan Rechberger: drums
Tomi Koivusaari: guitars
Esa Holopainen: guitars
Santeri Kallio: keyboards

Tracklist
01. Two Moons
02. House of Sleep
03. Leaves Scar
04. Born from Fire
05. Under a Soil and Black Stone
06. Perkele (The God of Fire)
07. The Smoke
08. Same Flesh
09. Brother Moon
10. Empty Opening

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