Entry 559 - Amorphis - Skyforger

Style: Progressive metal, death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Communion with nature, folklore, traditional tales

Thoughts: Time. Time is the great equalizer, the great healer, the bringer of perspective. In terms of music, once the initial hype dies down and the dust is left to settle, how does the music hold up?

When Skyforger first came out I was over the initial hype of Tomi coming in as the new vocalist. Eclipse was cool at first but as time went on I cooled on the album. Silent Waters was a bit better but I was quickly noticing a trend in the new Amorphis; while the songs sounded good, the last two albums sounded very much in the same vein. I was starting to lose interest in the band again.

I was hesitant when I heard that Amorphis had a new album coming out. I ultimately listened to Skyforger after enjoying the single Silver Bride. On first listen the album struck me as a bit of a "best of" sound for Amorphis. There were traces of the early works scattered through the songs - the opener Sampo has a great pure death metal section that caught my attention immediately. 

Sky is Mine embraces the delay experimentation of the fourth and fifth albums while adding in a bit more dynamic drumming than songs like The Way had. The cathines from the previous two albums was also there, but there was more to it this time. This one seemed a bit different... a bit... better?

Years passed and I kept listening to the album, and now - finally - I have it on wax. This album has grown into a monstrous opus for me. Skyforger showcases everything that Amorphis is good at throughout their career to near perfection. They don't merely revisit the old sounds, they take them and forge them into the collective sound that is Skyforger. 

Skyforger is a truly rare gem. It experiments and embraces all sorts of influences and sounds that Amorphis have experimented with over the years much like Elegy did. Skyforger however does it through a more mature lens. Elegy throws everything it can into the mix and ends up catching lightning in a bottle for it. Skyforger crafts hones that lightning into a Tesla Coil and forges it into something that is controlled and balanced. Time is indeed the great equalizer, and it has made this album my favorite opus from the band.

Written September 26th 2023