Review Summary: A picture of consistency
Finland’s Amorphis need no introduction. A band so steeped in the history of melodic death and progressive metal are synonymous with quality, a picture of consistency over their 30 plus year career. From the groundbreaking days of 1994’s “Tales from the Thousand Lakes” to the current “Borderland”, Amorphis have forged a reputation for melody in motion that skirts between the dualities of light and darkness.
Whilst their last decade featured the enhanced realizations of their sound in albums “Under the Red Cloud” and “Queen of Time”, last release “Halo” faltered slightly with less memorability, to set up this career juncture which has coalesced into “Borderland”. With a lifetime of experiences comes “The Circle”, a gentle rekindling and easing in song which features a cameo death growl amongst the synthesized guitar harmonics and smooth bottom rhythm.
The eastern tinged “Bones” is Amorphis in their element, faithful to their melodic folk vision that favours an easy listening experience over any specialized niche. “Borderland” is a wide embrace of their fanbase but also beyond, and they stand on the edge of full pop with songs like “Dancing Shadow”, a track that raises both spirits and eyebrows. Amorphis know this but are comfortable with this direction in their 15th full length. As safe as their music is now, it’s nonetheless enjoyable and offers plenty of highlights like in the winding “Fog to Fog”, the modern template “Tempest”, and the shimmering “Light and Shadow”.
For a band as stable as Amorphis, they could get insular but this notion is countered by the very fact they are looked up to and serve as legends in the Finnish melodic metal scene, the country boasting more metal bands per capita than anywhere else on the planet. They stand alongside Dark Tranquillity, Wintersun and Soilwork as venturers and now veterans of Scandinavian melodic death metal who have slowly dropped the death with age for more folk focused symphonic sensibilities.
The best exemplars of “Borderland” are found within these contemporary borders in “The Lantern” and the closer “Despair”, this pair rising as the darkest and most epic of the ten, a shade that better suits Amorphis and the comparatively superior album art. How “Borderland” will stand the test of time will be tested in time, but for a legacy band like Amorphis it can only add to their legacy and well established repute.
