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 Since Abhorrence was no longer active, they quickly sent their own demo in the return mail and eventually got signed to a recording deal.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
Highest Star
Amorphis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I stood alone, waiting
The blaze of silver shining in my eyes
My hands of gleaming gold
The red of iron in my veins
The blue of steel in my bones
The sparkle of blackness of coal in my hair
My chest golden with waved
It is my heaven
It has my eyes
It is my space
It has my shape
I knew it was my masterwork
I felt the strength of gods
Revised the soaring heights
Let the heavens be aligned
I listened with care the place for the moon
Made sure of the tones
Painted through void the route for the sun
Made out the locus of stars
I pierced the distant dome
For the lights to seep through
I checked the curves of borders of all
And placed the highest star
It worked and sun and danced
It shone and gloved and gleaned
It circled, curved and blazed
It pulsed, burned and waned
It flowed from my bones
And bolted from my fingers
And settled on and over me
And made me face my longing
The lyrics of Amorphis's "Highest Star" present a vivid depiction of a celestial creation, perhaps a metaphorical representation of an artistic masterpiece. The singer describes standing alone under the "vault of heavens," with a blaze of silver shining in their eyes and hands of gleaming gold. The colors of metals and coal are woven through the singer's identity, with their chest "golden with waved" and the red of iron in their veins. The creation that the singer has brought to life is described in detail: "I listened with care the place for the moon / Made sure of the tones / Painted through void the route for the sun / Made out the locus of stars / I pierced the distant dome / For the lights to seep through / I checked the curves of borders of all / And placed the highest star." The resulting creation "worked and sun and danced / It shone and gloved and gleaned / It circled, curved and blazed / It pulsed, burned and waned." The singer recognizes the strength of the gods in this creation, and describes feeling fulfilled by facing their longing.
This song is rich with metaphor and allusion. The creation of the heavens is described in terms that are reminiscent of poetic or artistic creation; the singer revises and perfects the "soaring heights," "paints through void," and places "the highest star," as though these actions were akin to drafting a poem or painting a canvas. The use of metals and coal throughout the description of the singer's identity and the creation brings to mind the idea of alchemy, the ancient practice of attempting to turn base metals into gold, and the transmutation of raw matter into something refined and valuable. The use of the term "masterwork" brings to mind the idea of the artist's magnum opus, the culmination of a lifetime of work and experience.
Line by Line Meaning
Under the vault of heavens
Standing beneath the vast sky above
I stood alone, waiting
Standing alone and waiting in anticipation
The blaze of silver shining in my eyes
The reflection of bright silver shining in the eyes
My hands of gleaming gold
Hands glittering in gold
The red of iron in my veins
Feeling strong and powerful like iron
The blue of steel in my bones
Having the strength and rigidity of steel in the bones
The sparkle of blackness of coal in my hair
The dark sheen of coal shining in the hair
My chest golden with waved
Having a golden chest with waves
It is my heaven
The creation is his personal paradise
It has my eyes
The creation is a reflection of his desires and personality
It is my space
The created space is a representation of his inner desires
It has my shape
The shape and form of the creation are inspired by his own being
I knew it was my masterwork
Having a sense of pride and accomplishment in creating the masterpiece
I felt the strength of gods
Feeling immense power and strength in creating something so grand
Revised the soaring heights
Perfecting the great heights of the universe
Let the heavens be aligned
Ensuring that everything fits together perfectly within the universe
I listened with care the place for the moon
Carefully paying attention to the positioning of the moon within the universe
Made sure of the tones
Ensuring that everything fits together in harmony
Painted through void the route for the sun
Creating the path for the sun to travel through the emptiness
Made out the locus of stars
Determining the specific location of each star within the universe
I pierced the distant dome
Creating a hole in the distant universe for light to flow through
For the lights to seep through
Creating a space for light to shine through
I checked the curves of borders of all
Inspecting every border and curve of the universe with precision
And placed the highest star
Designating and placing the most superior star in the universe
It worked and sun and danced
Seeing the sun move and dance successfully
It shone and gloved and gleaned
Seeing the stars sparkle and shine magnificently
It circled, curved and blazed
Observing the perfection of the universe in motion
It pulsed, burned and waned
Feeling the energy and change of the universe as it moves through time
It flowed from my bones
Feeling a deep connection with the creation, as if the universe is a part of his own body
And bolted from my fingers
Feeling as if the creation was released from his fingertips
And settled on and over me
Feeling the creation settle and surround him
And made me face my longing
Encountering a deeper realization of what was truly desired and meaningful
Contributed by Gianna V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.