Aye! Guilty! The first listen of Queen of Time – Amorphis‘ 2018 concoction – originated from a relatively lo-fi streaming platform. And – unsurprisingly – this first glimpse left yours truly wondering where Amorphis was headed these days. Terrible visions of Amaranthe-esque disasters, misguided Power Metal et al. But the Finns usually have been a stable brand. At least until now. So, confusion reigned for a while at the RockmusicRaider offices.
Just think back to the outstanding ’96 album Elegy or the 2015 piece Under The Red Cloud, perhaps with the exception of Circle that earned less brownie points. In this sense, the puzzle did not fit at all. The supreme powers that be @ RMR thus decreed a forced waiting time until such time that a better copy would become available. And – lo and behold – the moment hi-fi amps started to flow from the music machine, things started to change. [...]
It is the Amorphis trademark sound alright, no doubt about it. But I am still confused. Circle, the 11th studio album of Finnish metal artists Amorphis showcases its pockets of excellence very well. Actually many of them. But then also lots of elements that absolutely make no sense to me. And you just ask yourself: Quo Vadis, Amorphis? 
We write the Year of the Lord 1996. Amorphis just about came to some real fame with their heavy and very Death Metal oriented 2nd studio album Tales from the Thousand Lakes. Everyone now eagerly awaited something similar from their next concoction.