Amorphis

12-01-2019
Doornroosje, Nijmegen
Amorphis and Soilwork

After the amazing new release of Amorphis, I was really stoked to see them live. So when the tour with Soilwork, Jinjer and Nailed to Obscurity was announced, I obviously had to go. Unfortunately I could only catch Soilwork and Amorphis, but you should also check out the other bands, they both released some awesome new music this year.

Soilwork started just after I got inside with the intro track of their newest album, which only came out a day before the show. After the intro ended, the band came on and kicked in with the first single of that album, Arrival. I absolutely love the blast beats and guitar leads that carry this track, as well as the vocal melodies in the chorus. This was such an epic track to start the show with, it immediately set a great mood for the rest of their performance. Unfortunately, the mixing of the live sound wasn’t what I hoped it would be. Vocals and guitar leads were often lost in the mix, which is a shame, because when you could hear them well, they sounded really good. I also thought this was the case with the set of Amorphis, but I’ll get into that later. I wasn’t that familiar with Soilwork’s music, yet they convinced me to listen to them more and I think that is everything I could’ve asked for.

Like Soilwork, Amorphis also started with the opening track of their latest album, The Bee, which instantly gave me so much energy by the great build-up with a synth lead and a choir in the background, after which it hits you with a wall of guitars, drums and the brutal growls of Tomi Joutsen. I already got into the great vocal abilities of him in my review of Queen of Time and likewise, he pulls this off amazingly on stage. The other band members were incredible as well, the songs were played really tight and they all looked like they had great fun playing on stage. This translated well to the crowd, as everyone seemed to have a wonderful time, like I did as well.

A highlight of the show was definitely the song Heart of the Giant. The epic sounding string and guitar section at the beginning and about three quarters into the song works great in a live setting. Also I really loved the synth solo by keyboardist Santeri Kallio on this track. As I only discovered Amorphis when they released their newest album, I hadn’t heard a lot of their older projects. Fortunately for me, they played a lot of songs of their last two albums, so I knew a big part of the setlist. Songs I wasn’t yet familiar with like Sky is Mine and House of Sleep sounded great too and I’m definitely starting to go through their back catalogue because of that. Especially Sky is Mine had a nice live-touch to it, since they played it a little bit faster than on the record.

One thing I was somewhat disappointed by was the live mixing. While a song like Message in Amber did sound great, it underwhelmed me a bit. The album version has a lot going on, which makes it an outstanding track for me, yet the live version didn’t capture this that well. Some things were lost in the mix or weren’t that prominent. Also, like with Soilwork, some lead guitar and vocal parts were a little too low. I’m not saying it was bad, it just could’ve been better, especially for a band like this whose performance is phenomenal.

If you haven’t already, you should really see them live. If you’re lucky you may even catch them on this tour, because the supporting bands are all amazing too. Overall I thought it was an incredible show, although I would love to see them again with a better live mixing so they can really blow me away.

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This lineup was pretty great. We unfortunately missed most of Nailed to Obscurity due to travel time from outside of Stockholm, but we did catch the end of their set and they sounded great.

Jinjer was a fun live band even if I'm not hugely into their music. The whole band is talented, but their bassist and vocalist stole the show for me.

Soilwork I've never been that into, but Verkligheten is a great record and that material was super electric. The band was tight and happy to be playing to sold out crowd on a Tuesday night in Stockholm. There was a lot of love going on there between the band and the crowd and that was super fun to watch.

Amorphis was awesome, as well. The last time I saw them was in 2000 when they were supporting Tuonela. And I can say that this was a much tougher show than I remember them playing 18 years ago. Tomi is a fantastic vocalist with great presence. And while the band is on the more stationary side, the music is so engaging that the crowd really just steals the show. The setlist was a good cover of newer stuff, but I would've loved to hear something from Tuonela or Elegy. Or also Silent Waters, which I think is a criminally underrated record. Still, though, no complaints.

The show was great and the vibe was pretty electric at times. It's the second time I've seen seriously electric shows at Fryshuset. When bands make _do_ make it to Stockholm, it's pretty fun.

The Finnish band Amorphis has been making music for 30 years, the Headliner who came after them was Delain; a Dutch symphonic metal band. While they are a great band, they are very commercial in Europe, which is why they headlined with only a fraction of the background in experience, time and collection of music in the business. Amorphis played fantastic! This was the first time I finally got to see them, I've had tickets for a year. Their mixer did a great job of not letting one instrument or mic overpower the performance...you could hear everything. Amorphis' music has changed many times through the years, but they have finally struck a great balance with current singer Tomi; death growls blended with great melodic vocals! Their last 3-4 albums are fantastic and they are getting better with every new album. You can't go wrong with Queen of Time. Their opener last night was, The Bee, awesome song! The topped off the show with , Among Stars, accompanied by female vocalist Anneke Von Giersbergen, sporting her angelic voice in this awesome song. I've turned many friends onto Amophis over the years, so Spotify or Pandorum them up if you haven't done so and be prepared to be impressed with this unconventional band...listen to them well and I guarantee you'll become a fan!

Standing imposingly on stage, dressed head to toe in black with tattoos covering every available surface of their bodies and the lead singer’s dreads being whipped around so ferociously and at such a fast pace I was scared his head was about to fall off… it’s safe to say I was a little intimidated of Amorphis. This six piece band are no laughing matter: six giant blokes with hair longer than mine and voices so low and powerful that they barely seemed real. However, they were real. Real good. Heavy metal fans proceed. All others, proceed with caution. Encompassing several genres, from death to folk metal, I had never heard anything the likes of this band before. Their unique folk twist, derived from Finnish folk stories and legends, added another dimension to the heavy metal. The lyrics were often terrifying and aggressive yet oddly captivating: the band often use the Kalevala, the Epic Poem of their home country Finland, as source material for their lyrics. Amorphis played a number of heavy metal hits, but the stand out tunes were ‘Better Unborn’ which possessed an almost middle eastern tune at the beginning, and ‘Silent Waters’ which had the entire crowd screaming along for more.

Amorphis is a Finnish band that was formed in the year 1990 by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen. They perform a wide variety of music that is categorized as metal, ranging from death, progressive and folk metal. They are mainly classified as a Heavy Metal band though. They have released 11 studio albums and counting since their creating in 1990. I had the chance to watch them perform at the Rock Hard Festival in the year 2011 in Rockpalast, Germany. I took up this opportunity and I am sure glad I did. They concert was performed at an outdoor venue. They didn't use any props but they had some visuals such as lights and they used smoke. A very large audience showed up to greet this amazingly talented band. The band met everyone's expectations by performing passionately and interacting with the audience at any moment that seemed fitting. The atmosphere that was created at this performance was fantastic. I had never had so much fun before this concert and I absolutely can not wait until I am given another opportunity to watch this band perform again. I would recommend that anyone who has a chance to watch this band should take that chance. It will be money well spent!

Geil!!! Habe Amorphis vor 5 Jahren das letzte mal mit der "circle"-Tour hier gesehen und bin treuer fan seit über 20 Jahren. Damals wie heute live eine großartige, überwältigende Bank (sic!). Entertainment auf den Punkt, die Musiker sind top aufeinander eingespielt und die Lieder wirken live stets anders als auf den Alben. Sehr fresh! Hervorzuheben ist natürlich die unglaubliche Bühnenpräsenz von Sänger Tomi, aber die Spielfreude und ultrapositive Stimmung aller Musiker unter einander ließ den Funken schnell auf die komplette Garage überspringen. Die Vorbands waren nailed to obscurity, jinjer und soilwork. NTO gefielen mir mit ihrem an my dying bride angelehnten Sound. Jinjer bediente eher schräge Geschmäcker (m.E. gab es zu viel Schlagzeug-Gekloppe), der Deathrock von soilwork bewegte sich, mit manchen Längen allerdings, im Spannungsfeld von Alice in chains und depeche mode(!!!). Ein guter Abend mit tollem Entertainment.

Great evening. The first three bands were good but the sound (especially on vocals) was very low. Second band, Damnus I think, had issues with their guitar, but live environment, shit is bound to happen. They still did awesome.

Anneke was EXCELLENT, her voice continues to be incredibly good, the choice of songs was fantastic and she was very interactive with the crowd. Loved her.

Amorphis crushed it, excellent choice of songs, they sounded great and they knew how to pump the crowd up. Definitely worth the wait after the cancellation in 2017. Hope more European bands continue to come to Ottawa. We crave Metal.

One of the best shows I have EVER seen. So much energy and the sound was great. In a word,"Awesome!" Amorphis has been a favorite of mine for over twenty years. I finally got to see them. They did one hell of a job. Swallow the Sun was a good choice for touring with. They put on a great show as well.

This was one hell of a show. The sound was great and the set list had the perfect blend of classics and new songs. If you have the chance to go do not miss it. The songs were played to perfection and you get a solid 90 minutes.

This is one of the best bands you can see. Amazing sound along with an amazing setlist. These guys keep putting out great album after album. If you have the chance do not hesitate to go see them.