Amorphis Finland

"This album really grew on me after each listen during the past two months. The major improvement here is clearly the vocals, with much more nuances than on the previous album. Musically it is close to their last release "Eclipse", with the same blend of folk and power metal with a touch of death metal (mainly the growls). A bit more extreme in times (more growls are used on this release, sometimes successfully like on the first two tracks, sometimes out of place like on "Towards and Against" or "The White Swan"), a bit mellower in other times (out of ten songs, four are power ballads and one, "Enigma", is a pure folkish acoustic tune)."

"One of the good surprises of 2006...

Another release with lyrics based on traditionnal finnish folklore. The structure of the songs is here more classic with verses and choruses, and even growled vocals make a small return (fortunately used sparingly). Keyboardist Santeri Kallio has become a full time member and even contributed actively to the songwriting. The music itself is stronger than on the previous release, with powerful and catchy songs...

The new singer uses three types of voice: melodic (usually on verses), low rumbling/power voice (usually on choruses) and growls... and it fits the music perfectly.

Highly recommended."