As odd as it sounds sometimes when a band releases a truly monumental album it can effect ones judgement of their future work. In the case of Amorphis, their 2009 effort, 'Skyforger' was indeed that monumental album, which now two years later still remains catchy, relevant and absolutely phenomenal to my ears. Therefore topping such an album would no doubt be a challenge and although I had my expectations set high and even as I do enjoy, 'The Beginning of Times' I'm still finding it hard to accept as an adequate follow-up to such a tremendous release.
The album opens with, 'Battle for Light,' which I'd have to say is the albums finest moment as its incredibly catchy and majestic in its musical delivery as well Tomi's vocals are amazingly powerful and well performed throughout the song. 'Mermaid' much like its predecessor has all the same qualities with something of a melancholic underlining vibe as well as the addition of some brief backing female vocals. I'd have to say the album continues onwards quite nicely with the thunderous, 'My Enemy' and into the catchy singly, 'You I Need,' which has probably one of the most memorable keyboard melodies ever as well a great video to go with it. 'Song of the Sage' is decent but the way the song flows as well as the usage of the flute just seem odd to me while, 'Three Words' & 'Reformation' are entirely cleanly sung and quite catchy little numbers that probably could have been used as singles too.
'Soothsayer' I find to be generally kind of boring overall, but Netta Dahlberg's backing vocals are paired up well with Tomi's and the duet sort of thing in the middle of the song is neat. 'On a Stranded Shore' I feel kind of the same about and although I recognize the fact that its suppose to sound romantic and melancholic a lot of it just comes off as sounding corny to me. 'Escape' on the other hand I enjoy quite a bit and honestly think its one of the best songs on the album with plenty of fetching parts, where as, 'Crack in a Stone' has a good chorus but the keyboards just sound wacky during the rest of it. The last two songs, 'Beginning of Time' & 'Heart's Song' are also decent, especially Heart's Song since it sounds like something that could have been wrote during the Tuonela days.
Interestingly, 'The Beginning of Times' is a very heavily keyboard driven album and I'd have to say most of the time Santeri Kallio's performance is spot on and sounds great, but its entirely possible that because of the thick keyboard sound not as much attention was put on the guitars and therefore those trademark epic Amorphis guitar solos are just simply not there. Of course some great riffs and solos do turn up, but surely Esa and Tomi K. have done better in the past.
Otherwise though I'm somewhat at a loss as to why I've found this album to be a hard one to get into. Perhaps it is just because of my appreciation for the last album or maybe this new one is just a grower. I don't know. What I can say for now is that there are definitely some fantastic songs on this release but as a whole something is missing and I'm not entirely sure what it is since everything that makes Amorphis great is there and in pretty good condition. If you only dig the old Amorphis you'll have no reason to pick this record up but if you've appreciated all the newer records with Tomi Joutsen singing I think you'll definitely find something appealing about it, but don't expect something as grand as the mighty Skyforger.
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