Amorphis: Queen of Time (2018)

I don't know how I missed this one.  Usually I am on the ball when it comes to new Amorphis releases, but this one somehow got by me.  Then it eluded me for awhile.  Now, I finally have it.  And damn is it good, probably their best album in several years.  And that is saying something.

Amorphis has had a long and varied history, starting out life as a death metal band, then gradually adding in more and more progressive influences, along with some folk influences.  Melodies became much more important, as well as story-telling.  Amorphis's lyrical content has long been centered around Finnish folklore and that has become even more prevalent over the last 20 years or so.  For a time, all of the death metal influences had been taken out of their sound.  But over the last three albums, the band has been making more of a concerted effort toward returning some of those death metal elements.  They have been rejuvenated after falling into something of a rut during the run of albums from Eclipse through The Beginning of Times.  Enter Queen of Time.

The album kicks off with the heaviest track on the album, the oddly named "The Bee".  Amorphis writes compelling melodies leading into some fantastically catchy songs.  This album is no exception.  The aforementioned "The Bee", "Daughter of Hate", "The Golden Elk" and "Wrong Direction" are some of the most infectious songs the band has released in years.  Again, that is really saying something.  Then there is "Amongst Stars" featuring the beautiful vocal talent of Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering).

This is definitely not the most aggressive and intense metal album in the world.  Amorphis is much more concerned with crafting memorable songs.  There is more frequent use of death metal style vocals, particularly in "Heart of the Giant", among other songs.  The death growls tend to serve a story-telling purpose, being used mostly during particularly action-oriented parts of the stories.  But the majority of the vocals are performed clean.  Tomi Joutsen's voice continues to impress and is a major driving force in the band.  It is hard to believe that he is just as strong a vocalist as he was when he took over vocal duties for the band in 2004.

Musically, again, this is not the most aggressive album, but it does fall in line with the band's concerted effort to increase the harsher metal elements the band has been doing over the last three albums.  It features guitar-driven, folk-inflected melodies and riffs.  Most of the songs are mid-paced with some faster moments.  I love the addition of the saxophone, which was something found often in their mid-90's output.  I am a (former?) saxophone player myself so I always enjoy it when the instrument makes its way into a metal song.

In my eyes, Amorphis can really do no wrong.  I love everything I have heard by the band, even though their music has varied greatly in style.  The band is probably on the short list of groups that I would name when trying to name my favorite band of all time (Testament, Overkill, Deströyer 666 are probably the others).  This album falls right in line with that.  I would probably put it up above even the last couple releases and their best album since maybe Silent Waters?  Tough to say yet.  But it is definitely up there.