01	Better Unborn						05:54
	02	Against Widows						04:06
	03	The Orphan						05:17
	04	On Rich And Poor						05:19
	05	My Kantele						05:02
	06	Cares						04:29
	07	Song Of The Troubled One						04:08
	08	Weeper On The Shore						04:52
	09	Elegy						07:21
	10	Relief						04:09
	11	My Kantele (Acoustic Reprise)						05:57
	12	The Brother-Slayer						03:36
	13	The Lost Son (The Brother-Slayer Part 2)						04:36
	14	Levitation						05:51
	15	And I Hear You Call						04:40

Tomi Koivusaari - Vocals, rhythm & acoustic guitars, tambourine
Esa Holopainen - Lead and acoustic guitars, electric sitar
Olli-Pekka Laine - Bass
Kim Rantala - Keyboards & chordian
Pekka Kasari - Drums
Pasi Koskinen - Lead vocals

Recorded at:
Sunlight Studio, Stockholm, Sweden(Engineer: Tomas Skogsberg)
MD Studio, Helsinki, Finland(Engineer: Kaj Hiilesmaa)
Finnvox Studios, Helsinki, Finland(Engineer: Mikko Karmila)

Mixed at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool, England
Engineer: Pete "Pee Wee" Coleman
Assistant Engineer: Dave Buchanan
Mastered by Dave Shirk at SAE Mastering
Produced by Amorphis
Executive producers: William J. Yurkiewicz Jr & Matthew F. Jacobson
Cover art: Kristian Wahlin
Photography: Joullo Lehtola
Art direction: Eric Horst

Lyrics on this album are inspired by the "Kanteletar", the book comprised of nearly 700 poems and ballads based on ancient Finnish traditions.




Amorphis - Elegy

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just when you think everything has been done before and all the truly great ideas have been overused, Amorphis come along and put out an album like Elegy, their third album and definetly their most adventurous release to date.

Elegy welcomes three new members joining guitarist/vocalist Tomi Koivusaari, lead guitarist Esa Holopainen and bassist Olli-Pekka Laine. Since keyboardist Kasper Martenson was unable to fully commit himself to the band, Kim Rantala comes in to take his place and his performance here is phenomonal. Also departed is drummer Jan Rechberger, who was unable to deal with the touring side of things, so his replacement is Pekka Kasari, whose work on this album is a huge improvement over Jan's on the last two albums. His drumming is much more varied and adds to the songs rather than just keeping up with them. But the biggest addition to the Amorphis ranks is the inclusion of clean vocalist Pasi Koskinen, whose powerful vocal range and convincing tone expand on the flirtations with clean vocals on Tales From The Thousand Lakes, as they make at least 50% of the vocals on the album, where the deep growl of Tomi provides the perfect balance between melody and aggression.

Moving even further away from all things Death Metal than the last album, Elegy welcomes a strong 70's progressive rock influence that works wonderfully in conjunction with the atmopsheric, melodic foundation that Amorphis have become known for. Indeed, certain passages within more than a few songs remind of prog rock legends Deep Purple and Hawkwind. This is most due to Kim's keyboard playing, which takes a leading role in a few of the songs and is rather reminescent of the great Jon Lord. He is certainly one of the best keyboardists to enter the realm of Metal and his contributions here are very effective. In fact, Rantala is credited with writing the title track, which is the highlight of the album for me. Definetly one of the best songs this band has ever recorded, it bulids and builds to an epic height making it near impossible to not be swept away by its glory.

Once again, Amorphis have used another Finnsih literary work to provide the concept of Elegy, with the Kanteletar being a compainion piece to the Kalevala, which inspired the concept of the previous album, Tales From The Thousand Lakes. If I have one complaint about this album, it's the fact that the windswept atmosphere that was ever present on the amazing last album is a bit forsaken here, as there is much more on offer on Elgey from an instrumental standpoint. Not to say that these songs are completely devoid of atmosphere, its just that it is not as powerful and enveloping an atmosphere as before. A minor flaw that does snot take away from the overall enjoyment of this incredible album, which oozes with originality and innovation. Amorphis have indeed become something very special in the world of not just Metal, but music in general.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amorphis - Elegy 9/10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Elegy
Date of Release May 14, 1996

To stand out in a field where the obvious signifiers are the most common, and therefore the most clichйd, elements, one has to know when to try something different. Amorphis had already shown itself to be a more than competent end-of-the-century Scandinavian black metal outfit, but there were plenty of others equally able to say the same. The inspired turning point had two points of origin - recruiting another lead vocalist, Pasi Koskinen, to sing with Koivusaari, and deciding to record an album infused with earlier Finnish folk influences, both musically and lyrically. The choice of lyrical inspiration, Finland's national epic The Kalevala, isn't necessarily surprising given how often metal of all kinds has favored tales of dungeons and grue. But Amorphis wisely eschew Conan the Barbarian grotesqueries in place of the often grim existentialism found in the original poems, more like a medieval northern Metallica (or even a Joy Division, if you like) than a prancing Dio. The result is a powerful release that, if anything, feels like an equivalent to Sepultura's own inspired combination of past and present, Roots. Holopainen's use of sitar on certain tracks, like the opening "Better Unborn," as well as the continued use of keyboards shows the band avoiding some sort of retro-unplugged move - it's still Amorphis ripping through things with a number of prog touches as they go, but wanting to bring all sorts of musical options to the fore (as with the folky dance break in "Cares," where the guitars almost sound Hawaiian). Koskinen's much clearer vocals nicely offsets Koivusaari's subterranean grumble, ensuring that the lyrics aren't lost in the flow. For all the darkness of the lyrics and delivery, there are some jaunty moments as well, like "On Rich and Poor," which for black metal is actually a pretty upbeat song, at least at the opening! With a gentle acoustic version of "My Kantele" closing things out, Elegy is an inspired leap forward. - Ned Raggett

1. Better Unborn (Holopainen) - 5:52
2. Against Widows (Laine) - 4:06
3. The Orphan (Holopainen/Laine) - 5:17
4. On Rich and Poor (Holopainen/Rantala) - 5:19
5. My Kantele (Holopainen) - 5:02
6. Cares (Holopainen/Koivusaari/Laine) - 4:29
7. Song of the Troubled One (Holopainen/Laine) - 4:08
8. Weeper on the Shore (Laine/Rantala) - 4:52
9. Elegy (Rantala) - 7:21
10. Relief (Laine) - 4:09
11. My Kantele [Instrumental Reprise] (Holopainen) - 5:55

Amorphis - Producer
Dave Buchanan - Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant
Peter Coleman - Mixing
Esa Holopainen - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Sitar (Electric)
Tomi Koivusaari - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Rhythm), Tambourine, Vocals
Olli-Pekka Laine - Bass
Tomas Skogsberg - Engineer
Dave Shirk - Mastering
Matthew F. Jacobson - Executive Producer
William J. Jr. Yurkiewicz - Executive Producer
Eric Horst - Art Direction
Mikko Karmila - Engineer
Pasi Koskinen - Vocals
Jouko Lehtola - Photography
Kristian Wahlin - Illustrations, Cover Art
Kim Rantala - Keyboards, Chords
Pekka Kasari - Drums

1996 Relapse 69352
1996 LP Relapse 6935
1996 CD Relapse 6935
1996 CS Relapse 6935