Amorphis — Tales from the Thousand Lakes

intothewellsabyss
Jul 11, 2023
3 min read

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

29 years ago, Amorphis told us tales of the Kalevala!

On July 12th in 1994, Amorphis released their second full-length studio album, “Tales from the Thousand Lakes” via Relapse Records.

It is a concept album, the lyrics are based on the Finnish national epic, “Kalevala”.

Background:

While still predominantly Death Metal, the album shows a greater influence of Doom Metal than the band's debut, along with more melodic, Heavy Metal-inspired riffing and elements of Progressive Rock and traditional Finnish Folk music.

The album also introduced synthesizers and clean vocals to the band's sound, though the latter was used sparingly. The clean vocals were provided by Ville Tuomi, with this being their first step toward the bands more melodic direction.

This is the first Amorphis release to have an official keyboardist, Kasper Mårtenson, as any previous of the band's releases had the band's own drummer, Jan Rechberger, provide the empty keyboardist role until the band decided to have a keyboardist and also to find one being Mårtenson. With Mårtenson in the band, it is the first time the band's original lineup changed by having an additional member.

The album was an influential release in the development of the Melodic Death Metal and Folk Metal genres.

The song “Black Winter Day” was released as an EP on October 1, 1994 via Relapse Records, and as the split cassette “Black Winter Day/Fear” with Dutch Metal band Gorefest, released in 1995 via Morbid Noizz Productions.

The track "Black Winter Day" is one of the band's best-known songs and continues to be a crowd favorite in live performances to this very day.

The song is covered by Children Of Bodom on their album “I Worship Chaos”, and is also covered by Dol Ammad, with the track appearing on their album “Winds of the Sun”.

An official video was filmed for “Black Winter Day”

The original limited version (on digipack) of “Tales from the Thousand Lakes” had a cover of "Light My Fire" by The Doors added as a bonus track. It was later re-released in 2001 with most tracks from the “Black Winter Day” EP and the "Light My Fire" cover added as bonus tracks.

Critical Reception:

In his retrospective review for AllMusic, Jason Anderson stated;

“Bolder than “The Karelian Isthmus” and conceptually superior to later attempts at progressive but radio-friendly '90s metal, Tales From the Thousand Lakes might just be Amorphis' best recording. This record is heavy, yet never succumbs to the inane extremes common to the melodic death metal genre. The guitars and drums are in ample supply, and a rare attention to arrangement and production really sets this disc apart. The guttural vocal work isn't for every metal fan, but the neo-prog instrumental work and overall heaviness should impress those turned off by the throaty rants. In a possible attempt to widen the band's appeal, Tomi Koivusaari briefly sings, which doesn't exactly work out.

These moments of confusion are short-lived, though, and they hardly blemish the release. The subtle addition of keyboards is a nice touch -- Amorphis' captivation with the instrument would soften later efforts. So even though Tales From the Thousand Lakes heralded a shift toward later, inferior recordings, the new and old are balanced precisely on this 1994 Relapse offering.”

Noteworthy:

Amorphis were the first band added to the Metal Archives (www.Metal-archives.com)

The bands name, Amorphis is derived from the Greek 'amorphous' which means without determinate form, shapeless.

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

▶ Listen to “Tales from the Thousand Lakes” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/tales-from-the-thousand-lakes-black-winter-day/73629420

▶ Listen to “Tales from the Thousand Lakes” via Spotify: Tales From The Thousand Lakes https://open.spotify.com/album/47dOzA0J0mXfwrqQuNBaWy

▶ Watch the official music video for “Black Winter Day”: https://youtu.be/FxG5pjI8wLk

▶ Follow Amorphis on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amorphis

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells

Amorphis — Tales from the Thousand Lakes

Background:

Critical Reception:

Noteworthy:

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

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