### Amorphis: Silent waters

#### 16/07/07 || Euthanatos

Amorphis made history with “Tales From the Thousand Lakes”. It was perfection, the epitome of diverse metal. Since then, a lot of stuff has happened, most importantly, they’ve switched vocalists; Pasi Koskinen left, Tomi Joutsen came in. With that, the band released “Eclipse”, which wasn’t a huge hit, but it wasn’t a bad album either.

“Silent Waters” is the album, at least to my mind, that all Amorphis fans were expecting since 2006. Fuck, this is the album I’ve been waiting for since 1994. I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is that makes me love this album so much, especially in comparison to the previous one. It might be the fact that Tomi is singing his ass off, a lot more comfortable with the band’s sound and showing off all his versatility. The vocal lines and performance alone deserve a perfect 10 here, and that’s saying something. Great mix of growls and clean vocals.

“A Servant”, for instance, which is the second track on this album… It’s absolutely gorgeous. A lot of melodies that remind me of “Tales..” and the better moments of “Tuonela”.

While “Eclipse” showed the band going back to its heavier moments left behind in the Pasi days, “Silent Waters“continues down that path, with the exception that the more soothing, melodic moments are amazingly haunting and appropriate. The title track is the perfect example of this, as well as the beautiful “I of Crimson Blood”.

“Her Alone” is godly, with a folksy violin playing along with the guitar harmonies. “Enigma” also treads that folk path, an acoustic refreshing moment that will anticipate the equally compelling “Shaman”.

Did you happen to notice how many times I mentioned the word “perfect” in this review? That’s not lack of vocabulary, my friends (although one could make that argument). Sometimes a band simply does achieve that. Perfection.

The cover: It’s a red swan in a very cool black and gray background. Awesome.

10 perfectly perfect perfections out of 10.

PS. I swear to fucking Satan, this is the last 10 I’m giving an album this year. It’s becoming ridiculous. Oh, and I suppose I don’t have to mention that once again the lyrics are based on the Kalevala. You all know that. If you don’t know what Kalevala is, go search Wikipedia, you dolt. DS.

- Information
- Released: 2007
- Label: Nuclear Blast
- Website: www.amorphis.net
- Band
- Tomi Joutsen: vocals
- Esa Holopainen: guitars
- Tomi Koivusaari: guitars
- Niclas Etelävuori: bass
- Santeri Kallio: keyboards
- Jan Rechberger: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Weaving The Incantation
- 02. A Servant
- 03. Silent Waters
- 04. Towards And Against
- 05. I Of Crimson Blood
- 06. Her Alone
- 07. Enigma
- 08. Shaman
- 09. The White Swan
- 10. Black River