In 1989 Jan Rechberger and Esa Holopainen played in a speed metal band Violent Solution, which Tomi Koivusaari had left the previous year to form the death metal band Abhorrence. Violent Solution slowly withered away as the musicians became interested in other things and styles of music. At this point, Jan Rechberger and Esa Holopainen had the idea of putting together a death metal band. In early 1990, Tomi Koivusaari was asked to be the vocalist and Oppu Laine to be their bassist.
During that time the band asked Tomi to pick up the slot of rhythm guitarist as well as singing, which led to the band dumping all original compositions and starting again. With the band starting to move along, Tomi's other band (Abhorrence) split up and he found himself with much more time to put into Amorphis. The band went into gear and started churning out new brutal music.
Shortly after the band had recorded their first studio demo tape, Tomi got a letter from Relapse Records offering Abhorrence a recording contract. Since Abhorrence was no longer active, they quickly sent their own demo in the return mail and eventually got signed to a recording deal. The deal would later almost destroy the band, due a very long commitment and poor artist relations. They quickly released a death metal classic, The Karelian Isthmus, in 1992 - and would later release the original demo as the Privilege Of Evil EP. The EP featured Abhorrence's original vocalist, Jukka Kolehmainen, as a vocalist on the Abhorrence cover song Vulgar Necrolatry.
The band quickly adopted new ways of making music and started incorporating different styles in with the original death metal aspect, creating a very unique and complex soundscape. This experimentation in elements of folk, doom metal and progressive rock resulted in the melodic death metal cornerstone Tales from the Thousand Lakes in 1994. The shift away from death metal and further into progressive soundscapes (influenced by Finnish prog rock bands like Kingston Wall) became even more apparent on Elegy in 1996, and by the time Tuonela released in 1999 their death metal roots and Kalevala stylings were but a distant memory.
Eventually feeling the need to circle back to how Tales from the Thousand Lakes was formed, the band decided to bring back their Kalevala lyricism and develop their classic, melodic metal sound further. They resurfaced with new vocalist Tomi Joutsen and released the fan favourite Eclipse in 2006 to critical acclaim - another example of their constant musical growth and uncompromising attitude. With renewed vigor, the band explored this modern direction further with equally beloved follow-ups Silent Waters (2007) and Skyforger (2009) - all three albums focusing on one specific character at a time from Kalevala.
Forging The Land Of Thousand Lakes was released in July 2010. It is available as a 2 DVD & 2 CD package (2 digipacks in a box) or as a 2 DVD set. DVD 1, and the CDs, contain a live concert in Oulu (Finland) in 2009. The second DVD contains a shorter set from Summer Breeze Open Air 2009, a 60 minute documentary and all (most?) Amorphis videos plus a photo gallery.
Magic & Mayhem – Tales From The Early Years was released in September 2010. It contains 12 tracks from the first three albums plus a bonus track Light My Fire. They have all been re-recorded with the current line-up. Some arrangements have changed - essentially they are the songs as they have evolved through many concert tours, recorded in a studio environment.
In May 2011, The Beginning Of Times was released and went straight to number 1 in the Finnish album charts and number 16 in the German charts.
Feeling the need to take another short break from the world of Kalevala, they released Circle in April 2013 - featuring an original, self-contained story with some heavier and more progressive influences while retaining their melodic style.
Since 2015, the band has released three more records that continued to gather public and critical approval - Under the Red Cloud (2015), Queen of Time (2018), and Halo (2022) - all leaning towards a more symphonic, grandiose style compared to their previous releases.
Current Members
* Tomi Joutsen – vocals
* Esa Holopainen – guitar
* Tomi Koivusaari – guitar
* Olli-Pekka Laine – bass
* Santeri Kallio – keyboards
* Jan Rechberger – drums
Former Members
* Pasi Koskinen – vocals (1996–2004)
* Niclas Etelävuori – bass (2000-2017)
* Pekka Kasari – drums (1996–2002)
* Kim Rantala – keyboards (1996–1998)
* Kasper Mårtenson – keyboards (1993–1994)
Discography:
1992 The Karelian Isthmus
1994 Tales from the Thousand Lakes
1996 Elegy
1999 Tuonela
2001 Am Universum
2003 Far From the Sun
2006 Eclipse
2007 Silent Waters
2009 Skyforger
2010 Forging The Land Of Thousand Lakes
2010 Magic & Mayhem – Tales From The Early Years
2011 The Beginning Of Times
2013 Circle
2015 Under the Red Cloud
2018 Queen of Time
2022 Halo
Official site: Amorphis.net
Elegy
Amorphis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Low-spirited my mornings
Full of longing too my nights
And all times the bitterest
'Tis my lovely I long for
It is my darling I miss
My black-browed one I grieve for
Under the sand my sweet one
Beneath the grass my treasure
Under the sand my sweet one
There's no hearing my treasure
No seeing my marten-breat
No hearing her in the lane
Driving below the window
Chopping the wood by the stack
Clinking outside the cook-house
In the earth my berry lies
Beneath the grass my treasure
Under the sand my sweet one
Beneath the grass my treasure
Under the sand my sweet one
Long
Evenings full on longing
Low
Spirited my mornings
Full of longing
Too my nights
And all times
The bitterest
There's
No hearing my treasure
No seeing
My marten-breat
No hearing
Her in the lane
Driving below
The window
Chopping the wood
By the stack
Clinking outside
The cook-house
In the earth
My berry lies
In the soil
She's moldering
Under the sand
My sweet one
Beneath the grass
My treasure
The one
I grieve for
The lyrics to Amorphis's song Elegy are filled with sorrow and longing. The singer expresses their intense desire for their lost love, referred to as "my lovely," "my darling," and "my black-browed one." The singer's longing is all-encompassing, affecting their evenings, mornings, and nights, and making all times "the bitterest."
There is a powerful sense of separation and loss in the lyrics. The singer's love is "beneath the grass" and "under the sand." They cannot hear or see their beloved, who is referred to as their "treasure" and their "sweet one." The absence of the love is felt in everyday activities like chopping wood and driving down the lane, reminding the singer of what they have lost. The final lines of the song, "In the soil she's moldering / Under the sand my sweet one / Beneath the grass my treasure / The one I grieve for" are particularly poignant and evoke a sense of finality and grief.
Overall, the lyrics of Elegy showcase the pain of enduring loss and the all-consuming nature of grief, while also highlighting the power and beauty of love.
Line by Line Meaning
Long evenings full on longing
My evenings are filled with a sense of yearning and deep desire.
Low-spirited my mornings
I wake up feeling gloomy and melancholic.
Full of longing too my nights
Even at night, my longing persists and intensifies.
And all times the bitterest
This feeling of bitterness never leaves me no matter the time of day.
'Tis my lovely I long for
My heart longs for the one I love and adore.
It is my darling I miss
A feeling of loss and yearning for my sweetheart deeply saddens me.
My black-browed one I grieve for
My beautiful and loved one is no longer with me, and I mourn for them.
There's no hearing my treasure
I can no longer hear the voice of my cherished one.
No seeing my marten-breat
I cannot see the one I loved so much.
No hearing her in the lane
I used to hear her footsteps and voice, but now there is only silence.
Driving below the window
She would drive by my window, but now she is gone.
Chopping the wood by the stack
She used to chop wood by the stack, but she is no longer there to do it.
Clinking outside the cook-house
She used to make noise outside the cook-house, but now there is only silence.
In the earth my berry lies
My beloved one is buried in the ground like a berry plant.
In the soil she's moldering
My beloved one is decaying in the earth.
Under the sand my sweet one
The one I loved so deeply is buried under the sand.
Beneath the grass my treasure
My beloved one is resting below the grass.
The one I grieve for
I am deeply grieving for the one I loved.
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: KIM RANTALA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Deadra Lynx
Better it would be for me
And better it would have been
Had I not been born, not grown
Not been brought into the world
Not had to come to this earth
Not been suckled for the world
If I'd died a three-night-old
Been lost in my swaddling hand
I'd have needed but a span of doth
A span more of wood,
But a cubit of goof earth
Two words from the priest
Three verses from the cantor
One clang from the bell
Better it would be for me
And better it would have been
Had I not been born, not grown
Not been brought into the world
Not had to come to this earth
Not been suckled for the world
I'd rather die, I'd rather be better unborn
If I'd died a three-night-old
Been lost in my swaddling hand
I'd have needed but a span of doth
A span more of wood,
But a cubit of goof earth
Two words from the priest
Three verses from the cantor
One clang from the bell
Better it would be for me
And better it would have been
Had I not been born, not grown
Not been brought into the world
Not had to come to this earth
Not been suckled for the world
I'd rather die, I'd rather be better unborn
Trotsky
Not a single weak track. A perfect follow-up to Tales - which is a perfect album in its own right. 90s-era Amorphis rules.
K J
Yes, not a single weak track. Legendary album. Lot's of good memories of those times 😀
Pekka Soini
@guardianigor Ya absolutely wright!
fataxel
@guardianigor no
Mummy Dust
@guardianigor That, sir, is pure blasphemy.
Ser}I{ Skifotavrus
"Tales" are best,but this one something spesial from them;-)))
Undisputed Attitude
The best album of AMORPHIS, and one of the best of Progressive Metal.
Ost&MusicsForver
bought when i was 19, now i'm 44 and remember this album like a charm,great album and i still have my cd copy!great amorphis :D
BN
Some of my faves are from this album....On Rich and Poor and Against Windows are on my workout Playlist !
Man I love this band!!
Máté Pataki
This album is so mesmerizing, it is a real masterpiece.