What can we find in “Under The Red Cloud”, the new album of the iconic finnish band Amorphis? Basicly 4 reasons to listen to one of best metal albums of the year for sure, and you’ll get that feeling at the first hearing like the ravenous guitar sound on the stronger songs “The Four Wise Ones”, “Bad Blood” and “Dark Path”. Some splendid folk shamanic melodies that only this band in the heavy metal world can deliver as you’ll notice on “Under The Red Cloud”, “Death of A King”, and “Tree of Ages”. This last one could be one of the best folk metal songs ever written.
If you think I would forget the progressive side of the band, you couldn’t be more wrong, specially if you listen to the fantastic keyboard work, that will transport you to another dimension and fulfill the songs in a majestic way, like in “Sacrifice” and “Enemy At The Gates”. Tomi Joutsen’s clean vocals are getting better and better, as the albums come out since the day he join the band. There’s also female voices, for example on the song “White Night”, making it more exotic.
To end this review, because I want to go listen to the album again, Chrigel Glanzmann from Eluveitie participates in the album and the lyrics (free to interpret the way the listener wants too) continue to not overtake the music itself, lettings us take a breath to appreciate the guitars and the keys.
10/10
