The Joutsen-fronted era of Amorphis is certainly consistent, even if these Finns haven’t released anything that truly captures the groundbreaking and game-changing magic of Elegy since… well, Elegy. After swapping Pasi for Tomi some eight years ago, Amorphis has released five full-lengths, plus the unnecessary re-recordings on Magic And Mayhem. Each of those discs exhibits only minor variations upon Amorphis’ now signature melodic folk/goth/prog/death sound. Some are better (Skyforger), others not as strong (The Beginning Of Times), but none of them stray too far in any one qualitative direction to repeat either past glories or the hard rock stumbles of Far From The Sun.
And though there are some twists, the end result is strikingly familiar. Ultimately, a circle it is, and it goes around one time again, unbroken…
Some of what Amorphis circa 2013 gains in consistency, it loses in the largely interchangeable nature of its songs. The last five albums have ultimately been variations on a theme – quite literally, since most of them are based on the Finnish folk epic Kalevala, though Circle is not. Those fans forever holding the flame will be very pleased with the nine tunes that comprise this Circle, and conversely, those who feel no need to further follow will remain unconvinced. Like those of the records immediately before, these arrangements exhibit chunky rhythmic guitar riffs beneath Esa Holopainen’s folk-dancing leads, dramatic melancholy, and only scattered hints of the band’s more extreme past. Like a Finn-folk Paradise Lost, Amorphis inhabits a world both dark and light, dour and majestic – jaunty folk melodies sit beside and beneath gothic clean vocals, the pairing equally complementary and contrasting, downtrodden and uplifiting.
I must concede that I unintentionally drug my feet in covering this record, largely because the last few Amorphis discs haven’t quite captured me like Tales From The Thousand Lakes and Elegy did a thousand moons ago, but my sluggishness here proved in the band’s favor, since it forced me to live with the material longer than planned. An initial listen to Circle shows mostly only another Amorphis album, but this one has more depth than a mere facsimile.
Where Circle most dramatically stands above those that came before is in the production. Realizing that they’ve made the same record several times now, at least in terms of process and assembly, Amorphis switched producers, switched studios, and even switched lyrical themes. Initially, the band expressed concern with the increased focus that Peter Tagtgren added to the guitars, but it’s just that change that pushes Circle forward – Tomi Koivusaari’s rhythm guitars benefit drastically from Tagtgren-born improvements, taking a greater chunk of the spotlight alongside Esa’s leads. Santeri Kallio’s keyboards are here, certainly noticeable, but overall, they’re given less prominence than on past records, often more of a supporting player. That shifts lends Circle a more muscular quality, making it more metallic and stouter than the last few. Though I miss Kallio’s keys from time to time (splitting the difference between then and now might be the perfect answer), the overall sound is crystal-clear, perfectly polished, and the kind of sharpening that reveals how rote The Beginning Of Times really was. (Even Skyforger, the band’s best thusfar with Joutsen, is sonically duller than Circle, though its material and its instrumental balance might be a bit better realized.)
Production improvements aside, Circle must ultimately live or die on the strength of its songs, and therein it does both or either, depending on your predisposition: It falls wholly in line with Amorphis’ modern standard, just with chunkier rhythm guitars and fewer keyboard solos. From the standpoint of the fan I am, it’s a good record, a good collection of songs, and largely, it is that because it delivers exactly what’s expected. There are no great creative surprises, aside from the lyrical shift away from the Kalevala and on to an original concept of self-discovery and survival penned by outside lyricist Pekka Kainulainen, and even that goes by largely unnoticed. (Kainulainen has handled all of Amorphis’ lyrics since 2007’s Silent Waters.)
Opening with a painfully emo couplet (“I never wanted, wanted to be born / into this cruel world, into this cruel world I was torn.”), lead single “Hopeless Days” is predictably Circle’s most accessible and by-the-book moment, and thankfully it’s surrounded by stronger tracks. “Shades Of Grey,” “Enchanted By The Moon,” and “Nightbird’s Song” exhibit Joutsen’s formidable growl, a facet of the band’s sound that should be even further re-introduced as a coloring tool. That opening number (“Grey”) and late-entry “Enchanted” are among Circle’s greatest successes, with harder-edged riffing and the death-growled verses offset by the tragic-and-triumphant goth-tinted chorus in perfect Amorphis fashion. The flute-laden intro to “Narrowpath” treads close to Falconer-esque Ren-Faire tropes, but it’s redeemed by the appearance of Koivusaari’s hefty rhythms – it’s further testament to Tagtgren’s skill that, given the band’s earlier production, this song and the likes of “Into The Abyss” would be far less effective, far less powerful.
Amorphis these days is anything but amorphous – their sound is set within what appears to be a pretty well defined formula. But having a distinctive sound and approach is hardly a detriment when a band is strong, and Amorphis is also that. Circle tweaks the band’s attack, if not their overall aesthetic, and it’s better for the change, even if it’s only a few small but important steps away from that which came before. If you’ve been unimpressed with the band’s previous handful of discs, Circle may not change that, but it’s closer, a marked improvement, a slight but solid upswing. Here’s hoping the circle keeps turning, further for the better…
