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Amorphis

12.12.12  Helsinki

Amorphis decided to end this year with a Finnish tour. On 12/12/12 the band stops by the legendary Tavastia club. I was pretty surprised to see so many people inside the venue.
It seems Amorphis has a solid fan base in Finland. Tavastia was filled with numerous and demonstrative fans tonight. I´m glad to see that the band gets the credit it rightly deserves at least in its own country. I have the feeling anywhere else Amorphis is just underrated and the band doesn´t get enough credit. I´m not saying it´s an “underground” metal band and unknown, however, they definitely don´t have the same status of a classic band as they have in Finland. For instance in Paris, expect for last European “The Beginning of Times” tour, Amorphis had always played in rather small venues before. It´s a shame considering their good and diverse discography. It´s even more a shame considering how good they are live. Tonight´s show just reinforced my impression.

Amorphis delivered a good performance tonight, as expected. Tomi Joutsen is such a charismatic front man, and the leading a crowd is an easy game for him. He´s got amazing confidence on stage, and a great presence. His voice is irreproachable – it sounds as good as on the albums. Plus, his capacity to switch from clear vocals to growls is amazing.
But Amorphis isn´t all about Tomi Joutsen. The whole line-up is really solid, from the pit you never get bored at whoever you look at. If you can´t miss Tomi Joutsen and his crazy deadlocks, it´s still not less interesting to watch the other musicians. Holopainen´s and Koivusaari´s guitar parts are perfectly executed and their rhythm sections are securely handled. It´s nice to see Esa Holopainen playing so confidently. Santeri Kallio does his job behind the keyboard in a sharp and quite entertaining manner, actually. The members all together convey a really relaxed and laid-back feeling. They play quietly and all seem to have fun. They all seem to be enjoying the nice and warm feedback given by the audience. Amorphis fans were not afraid of frankly showing their appreciation tonight.

The performance itself was strong and intense mainly due to the songs of the band. To make it short, Amorphis includes two key elements in its music: some death metal parts with growls mixed with some melodic songs. I need to say that combination works very well, especially live. It gives a certain rhythm to the show. A one hour long death metal set might get boring sometimes…with Amorphis we get those melodic songs ( “Silent Waters”), which gives another kind of atmosphere to the show.

I´m still enjoying and the show is already over – it went by so quickly. In my opinion, it was brilliant. I guess the fact that the crowd was very supportive and enthusiastic also contributed to that impression, fans singing along and cheering immediately gets the show to work. A show can´t be bad anyway as long as there is an exchange between the band and the audience, I´m glad that interaction took place tonight.

At the end of the show I felt “why does that band get more attention in Europe ? How can you miss such a great band ?” In Finland Amorphis doesn´t need to prove they´re amazing anymore. The rest of Europe doesn´t seem so convinced about it, though. In Europe, I have the feeling the band still has something to prove – that they´re a good and worthy band. Maybe the band´s upcoming album – which sounds promising – will help to make the band´s reputation grow out there.

Marine Crepiat

- no longer active - - Reports - Reviews - Photos Passionate and curious by nature, I'm interested in ways through which I can express my opinion and communicate my feelings. Writing, photography, singing, drawing, languages... are the main things I keep myself busy with ! As for music, my favorite genre is music that speaks to me and that conveys a certain atmosphere. It can a be a pop or a metal song, some thrash or death metal tune... so the actual genre doesn't really matter to me.