Headliner #2 Confirmed:

[Rider of Theli]

there are a few folks here who seem to be shocked that Amorphis was chosen as a headliner due to their death metal beginnings. Well I have one word for you:

granted, they did not headline ProgPower VI, but in my own little mind they did . And let me tell you that they had some brutal Swedish death metal beginnings.

So why is Amorphis such a swerve? *shrug* beats me.

 

[rms]

Because GLenn made it sound like it was going to be a power metal band, atleast to me

 

[BlindPanzer]

OMG.... this is definitely unexpected but totally awesome.

 

[TBJ]

Hey hey people, calm down now..

Amorphis hasn't done the whole "death metal"-vocal thing in a long time. They might do one growl here and there, or when playing maybe 1 or 2 old songs live but most of their newer material is definitely Prog Power worthy..I'm gonna have to get the last 3 albums because the last album I heard from them was Am Universum, and i was a little dissapointed, not because the music wasnt good(it was amazing) but because there werent any growls, go figure!


BTW, this question is for anyone that has seen them live recently, are they playing Into Hiding live? If so, i will prepare to wear some "Depends" that night.

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

Never in my life did I see this coming. Wow! But...I'm very pleased nonetheless! AMORPHIS will rule!

 

[...AndTimeBegan]

First of all, Amorphis were never death metal. You want death metal? Listen to Malevolent Creation or Hypocrisy. With the exception of their first album, Amorphis were always doom/death (like early Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, cause of course, their music was too slow and melodic/atmospheric to be straight up death metal) in their beginnings and have since progressed. The last CDs have been more folky/atmopsheric/ and growl oriented which is cool in my eyes. Second of all, this isn't that much of an oddball choice, and since Amorphis did a pretty long headliner tour in 2005, they could definitely headline over all these bands (save for Iced Earth of course, haha). Great band, and a great choice for the fest. Close-minded people who expect the same super fast Helloween riffs and falsetto vocals in every piece of music they hear need not apply.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

Nope I do not like death metal. But at the same time I have nothing against it or people who like it. Different strokes for different folks I say. But I guess to fine tune my question, Did Amorphis start out as death metal? When did they go into cleaner vocals and on which albums?

Avoid the first two discs if you don't like death metal ... 1993's The Karelian Isthmus, and 1994's Tales From the Thousand Lakes.

Elegy (1996) contains a lot of growls, but sees them creeping more into clean vocaled material. This disc contains a couple of their live staples though.

Tuonela(1999), Am Universum (2001), and Far From The Sun (2003) are pretty much clean vocaled releases.

A new singer joined the ranks in 2005 or so, and since then they have released two discs of similar style which contail growl and clean vocals. Some songs are fully clean vocaled, some have a mix of the two to varrying degrees. They are Eclipse (2006) and Silent Waters (2007).

They have two greatest hits types .. Story .. 10th Anniversary (2001), and Chapters (2003). Both contain a mix of their different styles, but nothing from Far From the Sun to their current material.

Hope this helps.

Britt

 

[Ascension]

An oddball death metal band for a headliner? It's obvious this fest is skewing to cater to a much different audience than before.

 

[...AndTimeBegan]

An oddball death metal band for a headliner? It's obvious this fest is skewing to cater to a much different audience than before.

You clearly have never listened to Amorphis before and you clearly know little about death metal.

This is not the first time Glenn booked crossover prog/power band (Orphaned Land, Therion, Mercenary, Raintime... Not to mention wanting to book Children Of Bodom at one point), so why is this situation any different? Especially since he said he tries to get at least one band with death vocals every year.

 

[lady_space]

Haha, I wasn't trying to be a dick or anything, just letting you know.

You saved me from looking it up at least... I thought for a minute I had the wrong band, but I could've sworn I'd seen them then.

Oh, well, I didn't figure it would be anyone I'd be excited about, and I was right. Sounds like there are plenty of folks who are, though.

Shaye

 

[Ascension]

You clearly have never listened to Amorphis before and you clearly know little about death metal.

l have listened...doom...death...doom/death...progressive doom...progressive death...split hairs if you want to...however you want to label it...it's just death metal to me. l know plenty enough to know what it is. If it quacks like a duck...

 

[Stardust2112]

That's what I'm tawkin' 'bout! Nice!

~C

 

[Rider of Theli]

Hey hey people, calm down now... Amorphis hasn't done the whole "death metal"-vocal thing in a long time. They might do one growl here and there, or when playing maybe 1 or 2 old songs live but most of their newer material is definitely Prog Power worthy...

exactly my point to those same people when I mentioned Therion.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

If it quacks like a duck...

..... it must be a troll? Nah .. just kidding dude, check em' out a bit before you classify they as death metal. They've had different phases during their career. Currently they mix some growls, and clean vocals, but they have some progressive elements. They are a bit hard to classify actually.

Britt

 

[TychoCelchu]

You don't have to copy early Florida death metal to be death metal. Early Amorphis did it, just in a somewhat different way. But the heart of the matter is that over their career they've developed into a band that is quite well-suited to PP across their history. Iced Earth to me is the stereotypical pick for headliner - yes they are at that status, yes Barlowe is back, and their die-hard fans are hyped which they should be. But Amorphis is a much more interesting and potentially precedent-setting choice. I'm willing to bet these guys will be the real ticket-mover this year.

 

[AirGuitarLoonhouse]

Though very welcomed by an Amorphis newbie, there has been enough of the dissecting of the vocals over the years. Nicely summed up by The Invisible Guest by the way.

As an Amorphis newbie I'm more curious as to their musical style over the years. I'm one that likes the cookie vocals a la Opeth over some quality music. But the cookie vocals and a blare of noise a la Cannibal Corpse is another story. Hopefully someone can provide a nice summary like The Invisible Guest did on the vocal styles.

Thanks!

 

[...AndTimeBegan]

You don't have to copy early Florida death metal to be death metal. Early Amorphis did it, just in a somewhat different way. But the heart of the matter is that over their career they've developed into a band that is quite well-suited to PP across their history. Iced Earth to me is the stereotypical pick for headliner - yes they are at that status, yes Barlowe is back, and their die-hard fans are hyped which they should be. But Amorphis is a much more interesting and potentially precedent-setting choice. I'm willing to bet these guys will be the real ticket-mover this year.

They play a variation of death metal sure, but when I said "death metal" in my earlier post I was referring to straight up death metal which was what people were accusing Amorphis of. This (not yours, but the accusations) is a ridiculously close-minded and untrue statement.

And FYI people, no they did not drop the growls (well they did for a while but they came back recently). The last 2 CDs have plenty of them. If that bugs you guys too bad. Your opinion and your loss. Amorphis is a great band and I'm sure there are plenty who are exited about them being on this awesome festival.

And to add to Stingray's comment, Akercocke would be awesome in the future!

 

[War Ensemble]

Bri - just out of curiosity, have you ever heard "The Karelian Isthmus"? I wouldn't really recommend it to the folks around these parts, but it's raw power might be right up your alley.

I actually love both early Amorphis (up to "Elegy") and the last two discs. Not a fan of any of their middle era releases.

Jason

I have all of Amorphis' CDs so I have heard "The Karelian Isthmus." I'd love to hear something off that album or "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" during the show.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

I have all of Amorphis' CDs so I have heard "The Karelian Isthmus." I'd love to hear something off that album or "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" during the show.

They should play a few tracks from those albums. Around the net I've seen live versions of Karelia, Sign From The North Side, The Castaway, and Black Winter Day. Black Winter Day is a lock I think, but with the long set I'd hope for The Castaway as well.

Britt

 

[jaimek]

ha, awesome.

After coming up as a Queensryche/Savatage/power metal fan, what was the first album with growls that I ever bought? Amorphis - Elegy. Of course, that was 11 years ago, but hey, it's never too late!l

Funny how that works - those were my gateway bands too, and my first growly album was *also* Amorphis, but in my case it was Thousand Lakes. No idea what I did with that disc, either...