Many longtime fans of Finnish metal legends Amorphis, those that favor their early death metal days, have lamented the twists and turns the band has taken over the years, first questioning the addition of clean singing front man Pasi Koskinen when the band released Elegy in 1996, then growing disillusioned with the prog rocking Am Universum. Others have welcomed the many faces of Amorphis, who, true to their name, have arguably diversified heavy metal more than any other band. We all know, though, that there is no swaying the old school metal heads who long for the days when death metal was in its infancy—distorted guitars overlaid with blasting growls. For this breed of Amorphis fan, the addition of new front man Tomi Joutsen on 2006’s Eclipse in the wake of the Pasi Koskinen era has been a sort of compromise—Joutsen is capable of a convincing throaty growl while still providing the clean vocals that have earned Amorphis increased album sales since the Elegy era.
When Amorphis announced that they would be rerecording material from Elegy and before with Tomi Joutsen, the period of Amorphis’ career when the band was still firmly a melodic death metal band, fan interest was enormous; this is the period of Amorphis’ discography that is considered untouchable, the definition of melodic death metal. Amorphis has shown on recent releases that they are still capable of the heaviness that was characteristic of their earlier material, but they have a different flavor than they used to. Would a rerecording in some way taint fan favorites? I along with other longtime Amorphis fans awaited the release of Magic and Mayhem: Tales from the Early Years this past Tuesday with a mix of trepidation and excitement.
After a number of listens, I can say that though Magic and Mayhem: Tales from the Early Years is named after one of my favorite Amorphis songs, it is certainly not one of my favorite Amorphis albums. It is good, but for a band that has Tales from the Thousand Lakes, Elegy, and Tuonela in its discography it is nowhere near the top. Joutsen sings the classics admirably; he has a great growl and a very distinctive singing voice. The problem is that he is singing classics that became classics under others’ voices. These songs were written for original growler Tomi Koivusaari, one of the best death metal vocalists of all time, and Pasi Koskinen, whose singing voice is much more special than Joutsen’s.
Instrumentally, Amorphis hasn’t lost a step. It is interesting to hear cleaner versions of some of the Karelian Isthmus and Tales From the Thousand Lakes songs, but not a single remake can top its original. Occasionally it seems as if the remake takes the prog rock elements of the earlier version—chord progressions and organs—and overdoes it with the result that what was an innovation ten years ago sounds out of place on the remake. The best songs on the album are On Rich and Poor, Song of the Troubled One, and Against Widows, all remakes of Elegy songs, and these stand out because they sound most like the originals and manage to replicate some of the originals’ energy. On Against Widows, Tomi Koivusaari does some of his first growling since 1997—hopefully this is a sign that he will contribute in the vocal department on the next release.
Magic and Mayhem: Tales from the Early Years ends up being little more than an interest piece for long time fans—the songs sound a lot like the originals, but not as good. There isn’t enough departure from the originals to make them very interesting; Amorphis probably realized, astutely, that such a departure would have made more fans angry than happy. Yes, it may seem unfair to criticize them for sounding too much like the originals while also saying too much of a departure wouldn’t have been a good thing, either. I suppose I am suggesting that it would have been best if the songs had not been remade at all. Amorphis chose to remake some of the best material in their catalogue. Instead of trying to remake the classics, maybe they should have aimed at some of their material that fell a little flat the first time around? I can think of a few songs on Far From the Sun that could use a redo. Honestly, my favorite part of the album is the artwork, which would make a really sweet poster.
That’s not fair. Newer Amorphis fans will probably love Magic and Mayhem, because it is a good album. I just hope it convinces them to check out the originals, which are some of the best metal songs ever written.
Now that this is out of the way, let’s eagerly await the next NEW Amorphis album.