Anyone else looking forward to the new Amorphis?

[Erik]

It's not an urban myth, but you can never be sure if it works in the devices it's intended to work in or if it doesn't where it "should." Besides, it's so easy to defeat it's silly.

Anyway. IF THERE IS _ONE_ PLACE WHERE THE "PROTECTION" MAKES _ANY_ SENSE IT IS ON THE PROMO COPIES, AND ON THE PROMO COPIES ONLY.

"Um, we don't want the album to leak out onto the Internet, so we don't protect the advance copies... That way, when the protected album is released to the public, all the people who would've downloaded it anyway will ALREADY have gotten rips of the promo, and the ones who actually buy the album get fucked over by us! Hooray!"

This sort of thing pisses me off to no end.

 

[JayKeeley]

Anyway. IF THERE IS _ONE_ PLACE WHERE THE "PROTECTION" MAKES _ANY_ SENSE IT IS ON THE PROMO COPIES, AND ON THE PROMO COPIES ONLY.

Of course. But that would make way too much sense.

"Um, we don't want the album to leak out onto the Internet, so we don't protect the advance copies... That way, when the protected album is released to the public, all the people who would've downloaded it anyway will ALREADY have gotten rips of the promo, and the ones who actually buy the album get fucked over by us! Hooray!"

This sort of thing pisses me off to no end.

It's weird I know. The whole industry makes no sense anymore. Right now in the USA, there are tv commercials from Apple, suggesting that you can download MP3's from their site on to the iPod handheld - and it only costs $0.99 per song.

I mean, hello? And this is from the company who's tagline is "Think Different", which also happens to defeat every law in the Queen's English rules of grammar.

 

[Demonspell]

I agree, the industry needs to protect promotional copies from being leaked in order to discourage illegal distribution...

 

[Erik]

Demonspell, I basically agree, but of course, the "protection" they use is actually no protection at all.

 

[Shakermaker]

Not only is it $21, it's also "copy protected." Fuck Amorphis and their label. If I'm going to get this I'm going to download it out of principle. None of my money is going to go towards crippled "protected" discs. I sure do feel like mailing Amorphis and telling them that I've purchased all their previous albums but that I won't be getting this, and why.

i agree that copyprotection is a creation of the devil... and i also agree that amorphis shouldn't have gone to a major label.
BUT, the new album fucking rules and the virgin copy protection is no obstacle for my computer... so i'll probably buy it.

 

[JayKeeley]

BUT, the new album fucking rules

Have you heard the whole thing? How does it compare to their other efforts then?

 

[Shakermaker]

yeah, i've heard the whole album. actually, i like am universum a little bit better, mainly because of the use of saxophones (which are absent on far from the sun ). i had hard time getting into far from the sun, but i can enjoy every song now. IMHO it's closer to tuonela than to am universum, which is not a bad thing. don't expect anything absolutely new or innovative - this is trademark amorphis stuff (not to say it sounds rehashed, but it just isn't a big step in another musical direction).
the catchy single "day of your beliefs" is the opener - good song, but a bit repetitive. planetary misfortune, the second track, is a standout tune: very tuonela-ish, with some middle-eastern influences. "evil inside", the third track is a very catchy rocksong with great hammond-sounds in the verses. song number four, "mourning soil", was the last song i got into and i'm still not too fond of it. it's some kind of semi-ballad with good verses but a crappy chorus IMHO. the title track then is a real standout song, i just love it. full of cool trademark amorphis melodies and harmonies... and that godly chorus!
"ethereal solitude" then is quite a cool little ballad with a "groovy" verse and good lyrics. next up is "killing goodness" which really surprised me when i first heard it. it's a fast, heavy rock song - sounds just like the band doing a jam session and having some fun. OK, the main riff is clichéd, but who cares, it sounds great... very cool hammond melodies in this one. IMHO it sounds a little bit like something the spiritual beggars would do. "higher ground" then is a song i don't really care about... nice oriental influences in the verses and a solid rock chorus, but imho nothing too great.
but then! the closing smithereens is a fucking killer track - melodic, sad and very pink floyd influenced. great guitar work here.
all in all this is a really addictive album, yet it has a major flaw which prevents me from giving it a kingly rating: far from the sun is too streamlined. most of the songs just LACK something. it drives me nuts to hear all the potential in the material which could easily have been used to the full extent by doing longer guitar-solos or by adding other instruments like the saxophone on am universum.
so all in all, this is a very solid album which will probably be in my player for a long time but which could be much better if the band had only incorporated more experimental stuff... it's quite sad to see that there no REAL progression has taken place this time.
i'd give it a 7,5 out of 10. someone who thinks tuonela is their best would probably give it a higher one...

 

[JayKeeley]

...i'd give it a 7,5 out of 10. someone who thinks tuonela is their best would probably give it a higher one...

Thanks for this write up. Much appreciated, and welcome to the forum by the way.

I'm certainly intrigued in this new release. Sounds like a good soundtrack for some summer days.

 

[Shakermaker]

Thanks for this write up. Much appreciated, and welcome to the forum by the way.

I'm certainly intrigued in this new release. Sounds like a good soundtrack for some summer days.

thanks
i've been lurking around at UM since 2001 but i never *really* started posting

yeah, summer soundtrack, but more for warm and long evenings than for crowded beaches

oh, i forgot to describe "god of deception" in my little review... a shame, because it's a great rockish song with a cool chorus (imho the choruses are really great on far from the sun, with the exception of mourning soil) and a deep melancholic edge.

 

[Erik]

I think "Tuonela" is their best. I've heard three tracks ("Day...", "Evil Inside", "Killing Goodness" -- obviously I chose to sample those with the most grim names) from the new one and the single B-side "Darkrooms". I dunno. I like those songs better than "Am Universum" which I didn't like at all, but "Tuonela" had this really special atmosphere/feeling for me that I can't quite put my finger on. Anyway I will not be purchasing copy-"protected" albums.

 

[JayKeeley]

thanks
i've been lurking around at UM since 2001 but i never *really* started posting

Voyeur. Check out our webzine - feel free to offer your opinions. We're always interested in hearing from new guests.

yeah, summer soundtrack, but more for warm and long evenings than for crowded beaches

Crowded beaches suck! Unless it's string bikini day or something.

 

[Shakermaker]

I think "Tuonela" is their best. I've heard three tracks ("Day...", "Evil Inside", "Killing Goodness" -- obviously I chose to sample those with the most grim names) from the new one and the single B-side "Darkrooms". I dunno. I like those songs better than "Am Universum" which I didn't like at all, but "Tuonela" had this really special atmosphere/feeling for me that I can't quite put my finger on. Anyway I will not be purchasing copy-"protected" albums.

i definitely agree that there is a really special atmosphere on tuonela which they didn't reproduce on far away from the sun (it CAN'T be reproduced). it had this feeling of discovering new ground which is really unique... musically, far from the sun is not so far away from tuonela but everything sounds so... so refined.
but tuonela had its flaws too and while fafts doesn't have a "rusty moon" or "summer's end" (two of my fave tracks of all time), most of it is IMHO up to the tuonela-standards because for me personally fafts is a little bit more consistent than tuonela. while i can easily listen to fafts as a whole there are some tracks on tuonela i always skip... ah well, this might also change in some time, who knows...
anyway, i recommend listening to "planetary misfortune" and "smithereens"...

@jaykeeley: ok, i'll definitely pay more attention to this particular board in the future... you know, i visit UM almost everyday but there's just so many boards and everything... i never even had the time to really look at them all

 

[Erik]

I totally agree with what you're saying about Tuonela. Another thing I think they lost after Tuonela was those really atmospheric folkloristic lyrics... I mean, the lyrics to stuff like "Summer's End", "Nightfall" or "Tuonela" really creates very vivid images of past times in my mind.

The only tracks on Tuonela I tend to skip are "Withered" and occasionaly "Nightfall". They're not bad or anything, it's just that the rest is better...

 

[Shakermaker]

I totally agree with what you're saying about Tuonela. Another thing I think they lost after Tuonela was those really atmospheric folkloristic lyrics... I mean, the lyrics to stuff like "Summer's End", "Nightfall" or "Tuonela" really creates very vivid images of past times in my mind.

The only tracks on Tuonela I tend to skip are "Withered" and occasionaly "Nightfall". They're not bad or anything, it's just that the rest is better...

yeah, they're not "using" the kalevala poems anymore... that's sad but their new lyrics really aren't bad - the lyrics to "ethereal solitude" for example are cool. of course they don't really offer any deep philosophical insights but most of them are solid and fit the music.

yep, these are exactly the tracks i meant withered is OK, but i really don't like nightfall.

 

[JayKeeley]

@jaykeeley: ok, i'll definitely pay more attention to this particular board in the future... you know, i visit UM almost everyday but there's just so many boards and everything... i never even had the time to really look at them all

Hey man - you're always welcome here. And let us know what you think of the 'zine too. Follow the signature...

 

[Shakermaker]

Hey man - you're always welcome here. And let us know what you think of the 'zine too. Follow the signature...

holy shit, i must be dumb - i haven't noticed before that this is a link
zine looks cool... i see you got a darkthrone interview, i didn't know they were doing any

 

[Demonspell]

Voyeur. Check out our webzine - feel free to offer your opinions. We're always interested in hearing from new guests.

Crowded beaches suck! Unless it's string bikini day or something.

I hate any beach that isn't clothing optional.

 

[centipedex]

Regarding the copy protection, I was not going to buy it because of that. However, today I picked up an import of Children of Bodom's Hate Crew Deathroll, which I did not realize until I bought it had in fine print "This CD is copy protected." It was too late though and I already opened it. Well, I get home and pop it into my iMac and it rips to my hard drive with no problems whatsoever (using iTunes 4.01). So much for this so-called "copy protection". Maybe I'll be getting the Amorphis CD afterall! If only I can find it for a reasonable price.

 

[JayKeeley]

Regarding the copy protection, I was not going to buy it because of that. However, today I picked up an import of Children of Bodom's Hate Crew Deathroll, which I did not realize until I bought it had in fine print "This CD is copy protected."

Copy protection or not, you might regret this CoB release....

 

[Papa Josh]

Earache has done some interesting shit with new Ephel Duath promo, the track ids do not coincide with the beginnings of actual songs, to prevent ripping..