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 Since Abhorrence was no longer active, they quickly sent their own demo in the return mail and eventually got signed to a recording deal.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
Sign
Amorphis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On lands of yesterday
The silence of the night has crept in
As weeping of the women
As thoughts of solitude
As sadness and as grief
In a dim deserted room
A talisman, a hairbrush from his father
Oozing from the shaft
A stream of bitter sap
Dripping scarlet flow, so slow
They know it to be an emblem of death
A sign of destruction
They recognize the end of a friend
The agony of a man and son
They look at the brush
Remember the black hair
They weep a bitter sap
Oozing from the shaft
A stream of bitter sap
Dripping scarlet flow, so slow
Bristles weeping wet
To a pool of red
The lyrics to Amorphis’s song Sign depict a haunting scene of a forsaken house on lands of yesterday. The silence of the night and the weeping of the women evoke thoughts of solitude, sadness, and grief. In a dim deserted room, a hairbrush left on the table serves as a talisman, a token of remembrance from the father of a man and son who has met his end. The hairbrush serves as an emblem of death and a sign of destruction, recognized by those who look at it and remember the black hair of the deceased. The painful memory brings forth a stream of bitter sap dripping from the hairbrush, eventually pooling into a pool of red. The lyrics leave a sense of sorrow and despair, evoking a deep emotional response from the listener.
Line by Line Meaning
Far from here, a house forsaken
There is a deserted house situated far away from here
On lands of yesterday
It is situated on a place that belonged to the past
The silence of the night has crept in
The stillness of the night has prevailed upon the location
As weeping of the women
It resonates with the sound of grieving females
As thoughts of solitude
It represents feelings of loneliness
As sadness and as grief
It brings about emotions of sorrow and mourning
In a dim deserted room
Inside a poorly lit and abandoned chamber
A token left on the table
A keepsake left lying on a piece of furniture
A talisman, a hairbrush from his father
It is a charm, a grooming tool owned by his dad
Oozing from the shaft
The bristles contain a slow-moving discharge
A stream of bitter sap
The fluid emanating from it tastes acrid
Dripping scarlet flow, so slow
It flows out gradually, in dark red hues
They know it to be an emblem of death
They understand it to be a sign of mortality
A sign of destruction
It denotes annihilation
They recognize the end of a friend
They acknowledge the passing of a companion
The agony of a man and son
They sense the pain of a father and his child
They look at the brush
They observe the hairbrush
Remember the black hair
They recall the darker strands it previously groomed
They weep a bitter sap
They shed tears of a bitter substance
Bristles weeping wet
The brush's bristles now appear humid from the discharge
To a pool of red
It forms a small puddle of red fluid
Contributed by Nolan P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
BN
Far from here, a house forsaken, on lands of yesterday
The silence of the night has crept In
As weeping of the women, as thoughts of solitude
As sadness and as grief
In a dim deserted room, a token left on the table
A talisman, a hairbrush from his father
Oozing from the shaft a stream of bitter sap
Dripping scarlet flow,so slow
They know it to be an emblem of death
A sign of destruction
They recognize the end of a friend
The agony of a man and son
They look at brush, remember the black hair
They weep the bitter sap
Oozing from the shaft a stream of bitter sap
Dripping scarlet flow, so slow
Bristles weeping wet into a pool of red
AlexMoby
The riffs are marvelous and Tomi Joutsen remains a great singer !
George Papageorgakis
Thumbs up if it is your favourite track of the album!!!! da best!
Christian Christensen
A bit of a ressurection (last comment 2 years ago), but this songs needs it! This song is amazing, every bloody time they sing "It was long ago" it just feel epic... And the main riff is delicious ^^
Pete Myrvik
Some of there bonus tracks are better than most bands best tracks.
BN
Far from here, a house forsaken, on lands of yesterday
The silence of the night has crept In
As weeping of the women, as thoughts of solitude
As sadness and as grief
In a dim deserted room, a token left on the table
A talisman, a hairbrush from his father
Oozing from the shaft a stream of bitter sap
Dripping scarlet flow,so slow
They know it to be an emblem of death
A sign of destruction
They recognize the end of a friend
The agony of a man and son
They look at brush, remember the black hair
They weep the bitter sap
Oozing from the shaft a stream of bitter sap
Dripping scarlet flow, so slow
Bristles weeping wet into a pool of red
Kevin
Their songs are like that. Who knew metal could be so catchy?
Veilleurs des ombres
I didn't know it, awesome song !
BlackDuckie
one of my favorite songs from this album. Joutsen FTW
MysticYogi666
the riff at 0:29 gave me an eargasm
Aboleth
Oh the growls <3