Band:	Amorphis
Album:	Halo
Style:	Melodic death metal, Folk metal, Progressive metal
Release date:	February 2022

01. Northwards
02. On The Dark Waters
03. The Moon
04. Windmane
05. A New Land
06. When The Gods Came
07. Seven Roads Come Together
08. War
09. Halo
10. The Wolf
11. My Name Is Night [feat. Petronella Nettermalm]
12. The River Song [Japanese bonus]

This is a typical Amorphis album. As in, it’s bloody lovely.

Full disclosure: I am an unapologetic Joutsen-era Amorphis fanboy, even more so than I am a Cult Of Luna fanboy, something I assume I’m notorious for being on this site. Every 2010s Amorphis album easily made it onto my end-of-decade list, and they’re probably my most listened band in the past decade. They have found a perfect niche since Tomi Joutsen joined the band, pumping out song after song and album after album filled with their signature charming melodies, mystical atmospheres and dirty growls that simultaneously make for any-mood easy listening while avoiding any sense of staleness, at least in my opinion. Still, while they have played around with aspects of their sound across the seven records since Joutsen replaced Pasi Koskinen on vocals (Under The Red Cloud pushed the ‘extreme’ elements of their sound, while Queen Of Time dabbled with choirs and orchestral arrangements), they’ve very much stayed within their established Amorphis template; Halo does not change that.

There’s occasional moments on the album that stand out for being relatively unusual for the group, such as the proper retro-prog tone of the keyboard solo on opener “Northwards”, the bass-driven bridge of “The Moon” or the spiritual group singing near the end of “The Wolf”. Still, there’s no real surprises on the band’s fourteenth full-length record; every song is between 4 and 6 minutes, with them mostly following the age-old verse/chorus/bridge template. The songs vary in relative intensity, but every one has Esa Holopainen’s signature leads over them, as well as Santeri Kallio’s charming keyboards. Furthermore, long-time lyricist Pekka Kainulainen returns for what is framed as the third instalment of a trilogy, although what specifically connects it to Under The Red Cloud and Queen Of Time outside of the similar artwork style, I don’t know.

If it’s not got a radical change in direction to differentiate it from its predecessors, how does Halo stack up in terms of song quality? Well, I have been listening to this album on constant repeat for a couple of days at the time of writing this album, and I could easily do the same for a few days more if I didn’t have other albums to review, so it’s definitely not a notable drop in quality. The album has taken a step back in terms of intensity relative to Under The Red Cloud and Queen Of Time; Joutsen had pretty much reached a 50/50 growled/sung ratio on those albums, but cleaner singing reclaims more of a dominant position this time around, for what is a slightly more serene record than its immediate predecessors. I personally enjoy the shift; I get a bit more of a The Beginning Of Times vibe from Halo, which I'm fine with. Overall, I don’t get any feeling that the formula is getting old on this new album.

As far as specific songs go, there’s not been anything that’s reached out to me as an obvious highlight in the way that a “Heart Of The Giant” or “Nightbird’s Song” from recent records has; I will mention that there’s perhaps a small degree of sameness based on my initial impressions. A song such as “On The Dark Waters”, one of the advance singles from the record, won’t go down as a classic for the band, and “When The Gods Came” may not either with its slightly trite chorus. On the flip side, “The Moon” has a very soothing and charming chorus, as does the title track, in which Joutsen and Holopainen come together quite beautifully. Outside of choruses, Joutsen also shines during the bridge of “Seven Roads Come Together”. As far as the heavier/darker end of the spectrum goes, “War” carries a triumphant weight during its emphatic opening, while “The Wolf”, possibly the best song on the record, wraps up an expansive journey with a rampaging outro.

One last thing: all that I wrote above about how there’s nothing new here? That was a cheeky lie. Halo is rounded off by “My Name Is Night”, and this is a song that deserves highlighting. Both of the previous two albums featured a song with a guest female vocalist (Aleah Stanbridge and Anneke Van Giersbergen on “White Night” and “Amongst Stars”, respectively), so that aspect of “My Name Is Night” isn’t unique (I don’t actually know who the guest is on this song, I’ve not seen her credited in the promo materials anywhere). What makes this song stand out is how it remains soft and subdued throughout, with the female singer and Joutsen duetting against an acoustic backdrop, one that retains a sense of darkness and melancholia throughout. Ending the album on such a relatively muted note is an unexpected but inspired decision; “My Name Is Night” might not necessarily be my favourite song on Halo, but it certainly stands out, and for the right reasons.

Every time a band makes a big, divisive stylistic change, there are plenty that say ‘if they just kept doing the same thing, people would moan about that too’. Amorphis are perhaps the exception that proves the rule; it’s entirely possible to stick to the same formula for many albums without it becoming problematic, but only if you can keep putting out consistently memorable and touching songs, and the Finns accomplish it once again with Halo. Those not taken with their previous albums can skip this one knowing that they’re not missing out, but for the rest of us, Halo is yet another lush slice from the Amorphis pie.