Amorphis - Am Universum review
| Band: | Amorphis |
| Album: | Am Universum |
| Style: | Folk metal, Progressive metal |
| Release date: | April 03, 2001 |
| Guest review by: | gojko88 |
01. Alone
02. Goddess (Of The Sad Man)
03. The Night Is Over
04. Shatters Within
05. Chrimson Wave
06. Drifting Memories
07. Forever More
08. Veil Of Sin
09. Captured State
10. Grieve Stricken Heart
11. Too Much To See [Japanese bonus]
This was my first encounter with Amorphis and it didn't really turn out well. I heard that they were a Melodic Death Metal band, not knowing that they completely changed their style afterwards. As one would expect, I ended up disappointed with the progressive hard rock album I got and all its "emotions", so I hated it. However, having experienced severe love-life problems some time ago and feeling really melancholic and depressive, I couldn't listen to Carcass, could I, so I played this one again...
This time around it sounded far better. Starting with a killer track "Alone" (and I literally mean killer, don't listen to this one if you feel suicidal!), this was an instant favourite, and its six minutes passed like a moment. This just continued throughout the first half of the album and I really got the feeling that the music was an exact expression of my feelings. Tracks like "Goddess (Of The Sad Man)" are very nice and the atmosphere holds you tightly until the second half. Now the second half isn't that worse than the first one, but the song-writing simply lacks intensity compared to the previous songs and I skipped no tracks just for the sake of hearing the entire album at least once. On the whole, it wasn't nearly as bad as the first time I heard it. The guitars are not as present as expected and the bass is inaudible, but keyboards and occasional saxophone parts maintain the melancholy and an almost psychodelic atmosphere, making the album a pleasant journey through emotions. The singer also contributes to this very much, with his sensitive although strong voice, full of vibrato.
To sum up, most metalheads will dislike this album. I guess the girls would appreciate it more, because it requires a very special mood. The experience is complete and the songs very nice, but none really catchy or anything. If you are a sensitive or melancholic person, you should like this album. However, considering this band's past and the fact that this is Metal Storm, I cannot recommend this to anyone else.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 7 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by gojko88 | 01.03.2007
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 14
Visited by: 136 users
| HeathenBlood Account deleted |
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| Paganblood The Aryaputra Posts: 1194  |
So, in this album they are no longer melo-death metal?
---- that which shines without names and forms...
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| gojko88 Posts: 19  |
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| Shadowcross The Summoner Posts: 481  |
No not melodic death metal in the strict sense. It is like a Pink Floyd version of death metal... and i love it. You say that chicks might dig it better.. I don't think that is true and reinforces a poor stereotype. I think open-minded people will like this better, and single-or-few-genre only metal listeners will be less likely to enjoy it. 8/10
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| iaberis Advice Troll Posts: 1698  |
I didn't like this album 3 years ago, and I still don't like it. I gave it a second try today, but I still found the vocalist awful, he can't sing, he only knows to growl. Also the music sucks... Older and later album are a lot better. 3/10 It could be the 2nd worst album I've ever heard... the 1st worst is Far From The Sun.
---- Bitch! Please
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| Powerslavex Alexskywalker Posts: 777  |
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| ioannisk Posts: 75  |
Originality 6?????? anyway i think that this is one of amorphis best effords (first is tuonela of course)..i was never into their folk/death/earlier material (although i reaaly appreciated elegy) 9/10 for me..
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| Uirapuru Liver Failure Posts: 2955  |
And yet no comments from girls here
----  ---- member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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| godisdead Posts: 84 |
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| CobiWan1993 Secundum Filium Posts: 1365  |
Progressive Rock has always been one of my favorite genres alongside metal, and I love what Amorphis did with this album. I fell in love with it on the very first listen. Don't get me wrong, I love everything they put out (although Beginning of Times fell pretty short of my expectations), but this album definitely made an impact on me personally. 10/10
---- Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe (Lao Tzu).
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| vuckovicf1 Posts: 1 |
THIS album is the truly MASTERPIECE!!!! i cant belive that someone can dislike it!!! whats wrong with you guys ? just listen the begging.. alone.. its pure perfection... and as it goes it gets better and better! where can you get saxophone in metal??? the one that sounds so good  ? it has originality, sound, message, and performance... yes, its not melo death, but thats the point of amoprhis... change... name amorphis tell it all... very brave album and it turned to be pure perferction... among my first 3 albums EVER!
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62283  |
IU agree half way whit emotional part, band can write emotional songs but somehow here it don't work, music don't fits into emotions.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| abysss Posts: 106  |
I agree with vuckovicf1, this album is MASTERPIECE! It's practically my favorite Amorphis Album, and each song is pretty catchy. Sounds from times that are no more... The beginning of Alone is goosebumps-inducing, simply amazing. But then again, I never liked the death metal side of to Amorphis, I'm not a big fan of death metal indeed. This album in particular reminds me of Darkseed - Spellcraft album for some reason, which is not bad, I love both bands and both albums as a whole.
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| heartofstormr Posts: 3  |
Come on, deserves a higher score; 6 in originality? I agree they move away here from the 'metal' sound and this album is more a Prog Rock work. This is not a reason not to appreciate it. 'Alone', 'Goddess (Of The Sad Man)', 'Grieve Stricken Heart', and 'Crimson Wave' are really great songs.
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