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Amorphis - Circle



8.3 | 737 votes |
Release date: 19 April 2013
Style: Melodic death metal, Folk metal, Progressive metal

Owners:

643 have it
58 want it


01. Shades Of Gray
02. Mission
03. The Wanderer
04. Narrow Path
05. Hopeless Days
06. Nightbird's Song
07. Into The Abyss
08. Enchanted By The Moon
09. A New Day
10. Dead Man's Dream [Box set bonus] [American Deluxe Edition Bonus]
11. New Song [Japanese bonus]
12. My Future [Vinyl bonus]

[American Deluxe Edition Bonus DVD]
01. The Making Of "Circle"
02. Nightbird's Song [video]

The Best Heavy / Melodic Metal Album Of 2013
Featured in "Getting Into: Amorphis"

Additional info
Release dates: April 19 in Europe, April 30 in North America.

Recorded between September and October 2012 at Petrax Studios, Hollola and 5K Studios, Helsinko.
Mixed between October and November 2012 at Abyss Studios, Pärlby.
Recorded and engineered by Peter Tägtgren.
Additional engineering by Jan Rechberger and Santeri Kallio.
Produced by Peter Tägtgren and Amorphis.
Mixed by Peter Tägtgren.
Mastered by Jonas Kjellgren at Blacklounge Studio.

Artwork & layout by Tom Bates.

Staff review by
Dream Taster
Rating:
8.6
Finland's Amorphis have mutated from a cherished 90s death/doom act into a new wave of heavy metal type of phenomenon in the early 2000s. Having successfully redefined their sound with albums such as Eclipse and Silent Waters, the band journeyed through time with two more releases made of the same cloth with Skyforger and The Beginning of Times. Now facing the challenge to either continue on the same path or deviate to a different sound, will the band make the right decision? All the answers can be found in the release of one of this year's most anticipated albums entitled Circle.

Read more ››
published 16.06.2013 | Comments (17)

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Comments: 67   Visited by: 1715 users
26.04.2013 - 15:09
kalmah999
Account deleted
Because, not all people share same thoughts as you do V. People have interest in many albums and this is one of them It is fine that you do not like this release but as you see most of people do.......so just skip it and enjoy something else, some other album
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26.04.2013 - 16:42
John Shock
Written by [user id=119508] on 26.04.2013 at 15:09

Because, not all people share same thoughts as you do V. People have interest in many albums and this is one of them It is fine that you do not like this release but as you see most of people do.......so just skip it and enjoy something else, some other album

Well said! I think that's each ones opinions... Everyone should like what they like...if many people like this album, then what?
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27.04.2013 - 00:58
HyperDrifter
Woah what an album! Loved it from start to finish! Has to be my favourite album of the year so far. The bonus track is amazing too!
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27.04.2013 - 11:03
Rating: 5
MetrockickA
I'm just curious , since when Heavy Metal Albums Have HARSH vocal Styles on songs like "Shades Of Gray"?;D
someone explain it to me.
honestly,i believe it's not heavy metal in a way ,at least it's not that kind of heavy metal i know and i live with it. i can hear progressive elements on some of these songs.
or maybe,im wrong....I dunno.???
only hopeless days track is close enough to my taste.
i think 5/10 is fair enough.
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27.04.2013 - 13:30
Rating: 8
Doge of Venice
Written by [user id=119508] on 26.04.2013 at 15:09

Because, not all people share same thoughts as you do V. People have interest in many albums and this is one of them It is fine that you do not like this release but as you see most of people do.......so just skip it and enjoy something else, some other album

You don't have to worry about him. After all, Circle is his 3rd highest rated album, so surely they must be doing something right.

As for Circle, I personally enjoy it quite a bit. I find it much less boring/dull than the prior two (not that they were bad, but I don't recall an standout tracks on either) albums. One of my favourite Amorphis releases.
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27.04.2013 - 14:09
kalmah999
Account deleted
Hehe, well, I do not hold anything personal against the guy V , just shared my opinion about Circle, well, I like it, cause it is different from The Begining of Times. I like TBoT, because it sounded more like old+new amorphis, but Circle is different, well, sound is different and I like the new sound
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27.04.2013 - 16:19
Rating: 9
Deadmeat
Necrobutcher
Written by Stoned Crow on 17.04.2013 at 13:50

There is a "roundness" on this album

as a circle it obviously has to be round!

generally i read interesting opinions about this album. it didnt fall in love with their last album and i wouldn't listen to this one but after what i read i think i'll give it a try!
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Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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27.04.2013 - 16:37
Rating: 8
musclassia
Staff
The more I listen to it, the more I'm impressed by it. I'm a big fan of everything they've done from Silent Waters onwards (I consider Eclipse a step below the albums that followed it), but having played all 4 recent albums back-to-back, I think Circle might be their best since SW (not quite sure it's better than that album). I'm still rather uncertain about Hopeless Days (although I've come to hold it in higher regard than I initially did), but all the other tracks are varying degrees of great; choosing a favourite is very difficult, but it's probably one of The Wanderer, Narrow Path or Enchanted By The Moon.
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27.04.2013 - 22:06
Rating: 8
Doge of Venice
Written by [user id=119508] on 27.04.2013 at 14:09

Hehe, well, I do not hold anything personal against the guy V , just shared my opinion

Hey, I wasn't being entirely serious.
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28.04.2013 - 04:10
kalmah999
Account deleted
Quote:
Hey, I wasn't being entirely serious.

Haha, well, I thought so anyway, funny thing about Circle is booklet....it is like, minimalism at it's best! no pictures of band, no some additional pages, just lyrics and thx notes to many people, fans etc.
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28.04.2013 - 10:01
Rating: 8
R Lewis
Since you all speak so highly of this album, I will do something I almost never do: I'll buy it. SBAM.

EDIT: Simply amazing. WOW
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We could be so much more than we are. Stop.
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28.04.2013 - 20:06
Rating: 8
Doge of Venice
Quote:
Written by [user id=119508] on 28.04.2013 at 04:10

Hey, I wasn't being entirely serious.

Haha, well, I thought so anyway, funny thing about Circle is booklet....it is like, minimalism at it's best! no pictures of band, no some additional pages, just lyrics and thx notes to many people, fans etc.

Not been able to have a look at my physical copy yet. All spotify, as I'm back home, and I had it delivered to my flat.
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30.04.2013 - 09:19
Rating: 10
metal2000
Simply
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01.05.2013 - 00:04
Rating: 7
VonMal
Boring, quite frankly. Absolutely nothing new.


'Eclipse' was a massive album with a massive new vocalist and a massive wave of novelty.

'Silent Waters' was a further development of that wave, this time more melodic (my fav).

'Skyforger' was still a great album, but was getting somewhat repetetive.

'The Beginning of Times' seemed like a half-as*ed attempt to write some more of the same notes, half of the songs could have easily been on Skyforger and no one would notice any difference (meaning the band hasn't developed a little bit in those two years). The only song I keep going back to is "My Enemy", the rest of them I find simply forced.

'Circle' - we get exactly the same thing for the fifth time in a row. NOTHING NEW, maybe apart from some more black-metalish vocals by Joutsen here and there. That's not enough when you consider two years of waiting.

7/10. It's a decent album, but I can't stand it when the band isn't evolving a little bit and stays in the same spot forever.
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01.05.2013 - 00:38
Rating: 8
Risto
Wandering Midget
Written by VonMal on 01.05.2013 at 00:04

'Circle' - we get exactly the same thing for the fifth time in a row. NOTHING NEW, maybe apart from some more black-metalish vocals by Joutsen here and there. That's not enough when you consider two years of waiting.

Considering the amount of modern melodeath(/doom) praise from you, "nothing new" sounds kinda biased as an argument I'm not saying melodeath isn't good music, we share a lot of favourite bands and albums.

Amorphis probably won't take too drastic changes in direction anymore, the line-up is so stable. I'm just happy they can keep the standard so high.
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01.05.2013 - 14:14
Rating: 5
Karcas
Im really happy for them for the attention and the money they are getting. they were my favorite band as a teenager in 90s and i still have very special feelings towards Amorphis.
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02.05.2013 - 17:12
Rating: 8
Risto
Wandering Midget
In addition to the three bonus tracks seen here, "Illusion" seems to be Mailorder edition exclusive and "His Story" the digital bonus. Mailorder edition has four bonus tracks in total (the others are "Dead Man's Dream", "New Song" and "My Future").
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04.05.2013 - 08:07
Wes
Excited to rate this. Seems pretty different than the last few albums.
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06.05.2013 - 06:20
BlueMobius
Account deleted
Started listening to this after I picked it up today. I'm about halfway through and so far I'm pretty impressed. There's quite a mix of elements here that keep this one fresh. "Narrow Path" is a great example.
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14.05.2013 - 03:56
Rating: 7
MétalNoir
Fils du Lys
Written by MetrockickA on 27.04.2013 at 11:03

I'm just curious , since when Heavy Metal Albums Have HARSH vocal Styles on songs like "Shades Of Gray"?;D
someone explain it to me.
honestly,i believe it's not heavy metal in a way ,at least it's not that kind of heavy metal i know and i live with it. i can hear progressive elements on some of these songs.
or maybe,im wrong....I dunno.???
only hopeless days track is close enough to my taste.
i think 5/10 is fair enough.

I guess this is your first encounter with Amorphis, right? They're not Heavy metal, actually, no one would call them that. They're "metal"¸ simply because it's hard to categorize their sound. They started as a doomy kind of death but now mix melodeath, prog, folk, gothic, etc. MS calls them "Heavy metal " just because they never write "Metal" in the genre section, I think...
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Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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14.05.2013 - 15:12
Rating: 9
Monolithic
♠♠♠
Catchy as the F word!
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25.05.2013 - 03:22
Rating: 9
Lastone
Again really good album from Amorphis!
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26.05.2013 - 01:29
Rating: 9
Anastasia
Heavy as announced and still including some of the old Amorphis melo-death vibes, excellent!
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29.05.2013 - 00:18
Rating: 9
Therapy?
Loving it. Exactly what I hoped for after "The Beginning Of Times" which was less heavy but also excellent. There's a lot of different influences, I especially like the black metal influence in "Nightbird's Song" although it's hard for me to pinpoint a favourite yet. I'm glad with the overall heavier approach for a bit of variety, but without harming the characteristic Amorphis soundof the Tomi Joutsen era. He's doing an excellent job with the vocals, as usual.

I can understand some of the comments that Amorphis doesn't bring anything "new" to the table but for me that's not a con at all. As with some other bands (like for example Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum, etc.) the current characteristic sound Amorphis produces is very much to my liking and hence I wouldn't want them to stray too far from that path. I rather really enjoy getting my hands on new material and finding the subtle changes and/or improvements that the band has created. In this case, that which I described above.
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01.06.2013 - 19:02
Rating: 7
NocturnalStalker
Metal Addict
This albums contains some nice songs, such as Shades Of Gray and Hopeless Days. At the the same, I have nothing against Santeri Kallio but I can't bring myself to like the songs he wrote for this album. I also need to mention that more than once, while listening to this album, Amorphis reminded me of their compatriots Battlelore (Nightbird's Song, Enchanted By The Moon). Overall, "Circle" is a nice album but it's far from being my favourite Amorphis work so far. Well, maybe it will grow on me. Hopefully.

P.S. Oh, and, curiously, I found the bonus track Dead Man's Dream much better than most of the album tracks.
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"And we are not who we think we are
We are who we're afraid to be"
- Lux Occulta "The Opening of Eleventh Sephirah"
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05.07.2013 - 22:57
jfAkerfeldt
Great album, I think it has different facets to their previous albums. For me it is still the best the Tales, Silent Waters and then there in third place would the Circle.
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06.07.2013 - 20:46
Rating: 9
LeKiwi
High Fist Prog
This is their most consistent album with Tomi on vocal duty, the only era I've enjoyed tbh. While none of the songs here are among my favourite like "The Smoke", "Silver Bride", "Silent Waters", or "House Of Sleep" this is a great album overall Not a single track I dislike, compared to the other albums on which there was 3 or 4 amazing tracks and several mediocre ones.
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13.07.2013 - 22:50
ManowarMalon
Incredible album! "Hopeless Days" and "Nighbirds Song" are just SO DAMMED METAL, they're just a proof of everything it made Amorphis so great!. Whole album is probably a 9.
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05.11.2013 - 16:26
Rating: 10
Vonpire
This is probably the most consistent amorphis album of all. Even not existing any alone or better unborn all songs here are of a extreme quality and really catchy. I love this album!
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Beware the Shadows of Dusk
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09.12.2013 - 22:17
Rating: 9
Deadmeat
Necrobutcher
One of their best albums. i agree with Vonpire, though this album hasn't any ULTRA AMAZING song it is ultra amazingly consistent and full of very very good songs. The Wanderer is probably my favorite song and then come: hopeless days, nightbirds song, entchanted by the moon, shades of grey..
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Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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