AMG’s Guide to Amorphis

The life of the unpaid, overworked metal reviewer is not an easy one. The reviewing collective at AMG lurches from one new release to the next, errors and n00bs strewn in our wake. But what if, once in a while, the collective paused to take stock and consider the discography of one of those bands that shaped many a taste? What if three aspects of the AMG collective personality shared with the slathering masses their personal rankings of that discography and what if the rest of the personality used a Google sheet some kind of dark magic to produce an official guide to, and all-round definitive aggregated ranking of, that band’s entire discography? Well, if that happened, we imagine it would like something like this …


Amorphis is one of metal’s shining jewels and, incidentally, the first review I wrote for this website. As the first metal band out of Finland, so to speak, they have not only paved the way for one of the world’s most fecund and fascinating metal scenes but they’ve been consistently at its forefront. And yet, Amorphis has never been imitated. Since 1994’s magical and idiosyncratic Tales from the Thousand Lakes, the band has built a sound and feel that is truly their own. Furthermore, these venerable metallers have been both remarkably consistent and consistently good. In honor of the release of Halo on the 11th of February (that’s this Friday), from Atomic Fire Records, we here at AngryMetalGuy.com are giving you a rock-solid grounding in the band this website has stolen all its logos from.

Angry Metal Guy


Angry Metal Guy

Ranking these albums from worst to first has been one of the most difficult things that I have ever tried to do in my life. Amorphis’s discography is truly a discography worth celebrating in its entirety. I’ve broken this into three tiers. You’ll understand them when you see them.

The Ones That I Pretty Much Never Listen to Anymore:

#13. Far from the Sun (2003) — Far from the Sun, in retrospect, sounds like an album from a band that is not having a good time. Given that it was the last album with the band’s first clean vocalist, Pasi, one assumes this is because they weren’t having a good time. By my reckoning, this record represents Amorphis’s worst impulses from the early-2000s and I would love to know what happened since it’s also their Nuclear Blast debut. I enjoy a few tracks—”Evil Inside” and “Smithereens” are genuinely enjoyable (nice Phantom of the Opera ref)—but the 5-minute saxophone solos and the monotonous writing make it the clear choice for last place.

#12. The Karelian Isthmus (1992) — Unlike Far from the Sun, The Karelian Isthmus is a good album. It’s just not a very good Amorphis album. It has a good, old school Scandinavian death metal feel that has its merits. The riffs are chunky, driven, and it’s a fun little record. For a bunch of 19-year-olds from Finland—which had very few bands that anyone recognized at the time—it was great. There are moments that presage the force that Amorphis would become (the bridge in “The Sign from the North Side,” for example), and it has an undeniable energy and hunger. And yet, I just never listen to it.

#11. Am Universum (2001) — I saw Amorphis live in 2000 and my friends and I thought they dressed hilariously. They were all decked out in floral print button-up shirts, with bell bottoms and had long, straight hair. While the progressive-bordering-on-alt-rock vibes were definitely audible on Tuonela, Am Universum is the one where they just sound like they’ve been doing LSD.1 The end result is a good record, but it faded behind the year’s competition (y’know, Opeth, Katatonia…) and I return to it pretty rarely. The highlights here are tracks like “Alone,” “Goddess,” and “Captured State.”

“Wow, What? I Can’t Believe This Isn’t Higher on the List!”

Amorphis - The Beginning of Times#10. The Beginning of Times (2011) — I had two primary diagnoses for why I wasn’t hot on The Beginning of Times. First, the album was nearly an hour long and, second, the material was chill, progressive and lacked the directness I loved from earlier Tomi-era albums. When the album shines, though, it’s addictive. Despite having a few tracks like “Three Words” or “My Enemy,” that I would qualify as “replacement level Amorphis tracks,” The Beginning of Times has aged really well. “Mermaid” and “Soothsayer” are good tracks with great melodies, but the album’s true standouts are “Song of the Sage,” “Escape,” and “Beginning of Time.”

Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud#9. Under the Red Cloud (2015) — When Amorphis did their live streams in June of 2020, I was reminded of just how good the material from Under the Red Cloud is. As you move through this track list, there isn’t a bad song. “Sacrifice,” with its “House of Sleep” vibes, or the MENA-inspired verse lick in “Death of Kings” are fantastic. Hell, “Dark Path” is heavier than almost anything the band has written since The Karelian Isthmus. Yet it’s the fact that I keep having to be reminded of its existence that makes me rank it a bit low.

#8. Tuonela (1999) — With openers like “The Way” and “Morning Star,” it’s tough not to just feel this album from start to finish. And honestly, I want to rank this album higher. Every single track feels like a star: “Greed” is a remarkably heavy and brutal track; “Nightfall” presages the band’s bong-water-and-Tull future in a way that still sounds heavy. The downside here is that “Tuonela” and “Shining” are both a bit flat and the flute solo in “Rusty Moon” receives a few too many “okay, enough of you” skips to rank it high in the band’s pantheon. Still, this is an album that is near and dear my Angry Metal Heart.

#7. Elegy (1996) — The very first Amorphis song I ever heard was the acoustic reprise of “My Kantele” which my friend included on a mixed tape when he was introducing me to the hottest names in 1998’s extreme metal scene. I probably listened to that song about 50 times before finally breaking down and asking him who they were. Elegy is packed with iconic tracks and sports a surprising number of harmonized leads; it’s actually a sound I wish they would revisit. Though not perfect, Elegy is brilliant. And, apparently, it’s middle of the pack. The comment section is going to be epic.

#6. Tales from the Thousand Lakes (1994) — Ultimately, I think this is one of the most literally iconic albums of all time. There is really no one who sounds like Amorphis except Amorphis (and Barren Earth) and that gets established right here. This album is loaded with beautiful, idiosyncratic death metal that paints a picture that is impossible to deny. For me, the real standouts here are, of course, “Magic and Mayhem,” “Black Winter Day,” “The Castaways,” and “Drowned Maid.” These songs are pure classics and this album has a historical stature that is hard to imagine the band ever eclipsing. And yet, Eclipse it, they did.

“Holy Crap, I Can’t Believe How High I Ranked This!”

#5. Circle (2013) — As I was listening to this discography again, I realized just how good this album is from start to finish. Every song on Circle is good, but it reaches a particular peak in the middle of the album. This string of killer tracks kicks off from “Narrowpath,” jumps into an absolutely brutal riff that opens a thoughtful song on “Hopeless Days,” merges gently into “Nightbird’s Song,” before giving way to grimdark coldness like you’ve never heard on an Amorphis album, stumbling “Into the Abyss,” with its chuggy, proggy verse. Of special note is the straight up Amon Amarth riff on the bonus track “Dead Man’s Dream.” Mistakes were made…2

Album cover of Amorphis - Skyforger#4. Skyforger (2009) — Skyforger is an immense album that found Amorphis doing what they were best at: writing catchy, beautiful songs and supporting them with melancholic death rock tones. I adore every single note Skyforger, though. It’s beautifully chill. Between “From the Heaven of My Heart,” “My Sun,” and “Highest Star,” these tracks presaged the development away from the kind of direct, heavy, and poppy feel from the band’s previous two albums. Of particular note, though, are “Sky Is Mine” and “Majestic Beast,” which features one of my favorite choruses on the album.

#3. Queen of Time (2018) — I’m not really sure how it’s possible for a band to write an album more beautiful and triumphant than Queen of Time. From the opening strains, this album is loaded with amazing tracks that remind me of all the things that make me love Amorphis. What differentiates this album from its predecessor(s) is the addition of Orphaned Land‘s orchestral drama. Between tracks like “The Golden Elk,” “Heart of the Giant,” “The Bee,” and “Amongst Stars” featuring Anneke’s amazing vocals, this album has stayed on constant rotation since I reviewed it nearly four years ago.

#2. Silent Waters (2007) — Because it’s the middle piece of a three-piece set, I sometimes think this absolutely brilliant record gets overlooked. Yet Silent Waters is as much an accomplishment as its predecessor and its successor. Loaded with brilliant tracks—”Enigma” with its ballad chorus, “Towards and Against” with a dance-able vibe, or “Weaving the Incantation,” which set the standard for Tomi-era heavy tracks—this album balanced out Eclipse’s direct intensity with something a little more thoughtful.3

#1. Eclipse (2006) — When I set out to rank these, I assumed that I would end up with Skyforger, Tales or Tuonela up top. I didn’t anticipate that the ferocity, energy, and sheer excitement of Eclipse would still translate into the incredible album that it was at the time. Never has a band sloughed off Angry Metal Guy’s Law of Diminishing Recordings harder than Amorphis on Eclipse. As you walk through this tracklisting and hear each of these songs, it’s tough to ignore the directness, the intensity and catchiness of tracks like “Leaves Scar,” “Perkele,” “Brother Moon,” or “Empty Opening.” When it comes right down to it, Eclipse was a truly brilliant album that set the table for the best career revival in the history of metal.


Steel Druhm

Amorphis is one of those bands that feels like an old friend I grew up alongside. I came on board with their debut shortly after graduating college and I was there as they shifted, morphed and matured past their reckless youth and awkward phases. There were periods where I considered them my favorite band and the best of what heavy metal had to offer, and there were times when I questioned what they had become and wanted to put space between us. Like any true friendship though, I always found a way back to them, and they remain a big part of my life. Few bands have evolved and changed as much as Amorphis have over their 30-year career, and yet they somehow managed to retain that essential spark that makes them so special. Through it all and in nearly all their various forms, they’ve created songs that feel timeless and unmoveable, bedrocks of modern metal to be appreciated and respected. I hope they can keep the magic going for many years to come. Commence the rankery!

The Ranking:

#13. Far From the Sun (2003) – Though I grudgingly supported the band’s drift into proggy, hard rock realms and enjoyed the early forms it took, Far From the Sun is one tough-to-love album. It’s dull, listless and all the things that worked so well on Tuonela and Am Universum are cast off and in their place is a bland paste best served to those recovering from stomach surgery. Pasi Koskinen sounds bored to absolute tears throughout and hooks are in alarmingly short supply (mostly confined to opener “Day of Your Beliefs”). There are songs I want to like because they contain trace amounts of the Amorphis magic (“Planetary Misfortune”), but this thing is like 50 shades of grey putty and even a habitual sadboi like me needs some color in my melancholy. This is the only album in their catalog I can’t get into.

#12. Circle (2013) – Coming off the band’s greatest string of albums, Circle seemed to continue the slight downward trend started by The Beginning of Times and it was starting to look like Amorphis could falter during the Tomi Joutsen era. While far from a bad album, Circle is a noticeable step back from platters like Eclipse and Skyforger, and even drops below the level of The Beginning of Times. Sure, there are classic Amorphis moments to be found like “Shades of Gray,” the masterful “The Wanderer,” and “Into the Abyss,” but the high quality doesn’t run from post to post and some cuts just don’t move me the way I expect Amorphis material to do. While I can spin it all and enjoy it, it’s definitely spotty and has peaks and valleys. A flawed but still solid outing I might have underrated slightly.

Amorphis - Queen of Time#11. Queen of Time (2018) – This was one of those albums that I loved the first week, admired strongly the second week, and by the third week I was realizing it’s a good Amorphis record that checks all the boxes, but it’s not a great one. It’s impossible not to rally behind songs like “The Bee,” “The Golden Elk” and “Heart of the Giant” as they’re just so quintessentially Amorphis. Then there are the “hits” like “Wrong Direction” and “Amongst Stars” that guarantee Queen of Time makes an impact. There aren’t any songs I consider bad, but things do drop off as the album runs along, and cuts like “Pyres on the Coast” and “Grain of Sand” could have been left off. Still, for a band so long in the tooth, this is a victory.

Amorphis - The Beginning of Times#10. The Beginning of Times (2011) – I’ve had a weird relationship with this one. When it first dropped I was insanely eager to see how the band could possibly follow up the majesty and might of Skyforger. Like many, I was underwhelmed by the results and wrote the album off as merely okay. Then after months of neglect, I revisited it and heard it with fresh ears. There’s actually a lot of really good material here and the first two-thirds is very solid. Selections like “Battle for Light,” “Mermaid” and “My Enemy’ are all right in the Eclipse wheelhouse, and I enjoy everything up to “On a Stranded Shore.” Things definitely decline quality-wise on the back end and the album feels too long. If they stopped the album after “Stranded Shore” this would rise several points up the ranks.

#9. Tuonela (1999) – I was disarmed by Tuonela when I first heard it. I was expecting something much more like Elegy with copious death metal moments amid the prettier concoctions, but this is a different majestic beast. While still arguably metal, the material exists on the outers edges of the genre, with crystalline, fragile guitars and flowery flourishes supporting what was now the Pasi Rock Hour. Songs like “The Way” and “Morning Star” twinkle and gleam brightly with melody, and “Divinity” and “Shining” hint at the direction the band would go on Am Universum. When death metal vocals finally appear on “Greed” you realize how much you missed them. I do enjoy the album very much, and most of the songs are addictive, but I’ll always wish for a bit more ugliness to balance off the fatal beauty.

#8. Am Universum (2001) – This was a strange release to grasp when it dropped. Though Amorphis was evolving away from their doom-death roots and incorporating more rock and folk elements, Am Universum was a marked jump into weird indie/alt-rock territory. Because they’re Amorphis it all worked out and I ended up really loving what the album offered despite longing for the olden ways. I think “Alone” is one of their best songs and is enough to drag this up over Tuonela, though by the smallest of margins. “Goddess (of the Sad Man)” and “Shatters Within” hit the perfect blend of rock and quasi-metal, full of hooks that stick like a bayonet, and there’s something ethereal and enchanting about “Veil of Sin” that just gets to me. For many groups, this would be their magnum opus, but for Amorphis, it barely cracks the top ten.

Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud#7. Under the Red Cloud (2015) – This is widely considered the bounce-back album for Amorphis after underperforming on The Beginning of Times and Circle, and it’s hard to argue with that sentiment. The material is much more urgent, passionate and edgy and almost feels like the band’s recommitment to their death metal roots. The weight and hooks of gems like “Sacrifice” and “Death of a King” recall the best moments of Eclipse and Skyforger, and the title track weaves the kind of magic that made Elegy so enchanting. The consistently high level of writing keeps the album purring like a finely tuned motor and it ends leaving you wanting just a bit more. That’s a win for late-career Amorphis.

#6. The Karelian Isthmus (1992) – The debut album feels so far removed from what Amorphis would ultimately become that it’s mind-boggling. Their raw death metal roots are laced with doom and epic bombast in crude and at times, reckless ways to create something like an unstable Amon Amarth prototype. As rough as the material can be, it really works and there’s a captivating tension as the band tries to balance atmosphere and genre variants and styles pull and push against each other like tectonic plates. Songs like “The Gathering” and “Grail’s Mysteries” mix old school death with a vaguely Bathory-esque grandiosity, and “Black Embrace” feels heavy the same way having a Buick parked on your spleen would. Shining star “Exile of the Suns of Uisliu” is an all-timer in their stellar catalog and one I return to often. Don’t sleep on this one just because it’s olde.

#5. Eclipse (2006) – Talk about making a first impression! Having considered the Amorphis experience ready for the crypt of history following the moribund Far from the Sun, Eclipse introduced the world to new front monster Tomi Joutsen and a collection of heavier, more hook-tastic songs than anyone could have expected. “Two Moons” informs you quickly this is not the languid, float-rock of Far From the Sun, and when Tomi makes his grand entrance, you can’t help but be impressed. The band proceeded to give you eleven reasons why Amorphis was not dead and by the album’s end, you were a believer. “House of Sleep” is one of my favorite songs from them, and it’s hard to argue that the run from “Two Moons” through “Empty Opening” isn’t one of the best they’ve ever done. A mammoth comeback from near extinction.

#4. Silent Waters (2007) – I know I’m one of the few who like this more than Eclipse, but so be it. Everything I loved about Eclipse is doubled down on here, and with a more brutal death metal edge at times. “Weaving the Incantation” is the heaviest thing the band had done since Tales. “Servant” recalls the Elegy days with loving grace, and “Towards and Against” is such a massive crusher it belongs on every single lifting playlist. Add big winners like “I of Crimson Blood,” “Shaman” and “Her Alone” and you have a wildly diverse but compelling set of tunes that only Amorphis could cobble together and make cohesive. Even the weird moody pieces like the title track and “The White Swan” work well. A special album among special albums.

#3. Elegy (1996) – It’s not easy to change vocalists and vocal styles and maintain a band’s momentum, especially when a death metal act brings in a new frontman with a more rock-based style. Somehow though, Elegy worked all sorts of dark spells and arcane incantations to become a truly magnificent entity. Pasi’s rock/grunge vocals are blended with Tomi Koivusaari’s always effective death roars and the sublime writing weaves a brilliant balance between the old and the new. Timeless cuts like “On Rich and Poor” and “Against Widows” feel like vintage Amorphis with an upgrade, and “Better Unborn” and “The Orphan” introduce a whole new aspect of the band cloaked in pure Finnish melancholy. Pasi shines brightly and earns his keep on one fantastic song after another, cementing his place in the band. Special feelz live here.

Album cover of Amorphis - Skyforger#2. Skyforger (2009) – This is the crowning achievement of this stage of Amorphis’ evolution, taking all that worked on Eclipse and Silent Waters and injecting the mixture with wolf blood and whatever that neon green shit was that Reanimator caused such mayhem with. This is a close to flawless album with one enormous song after another. Tracks like “Silver Bride” and “Sky is Mine” are timeless, and “From Earth I Rose” is one of my favorite metal songs of all time. The break at 3:43 on “Godlike Machine” is the most glorious of metal moments and the music that shall play when Steel eventually rides into Valhalla. The overall mood of the album is epic and majestic and the concept works wonders. An album that needs to be enjoyed from start to finish to truly appreciate its wonders, Skyforger is pure Finnish magic.

#1. Tales From the Thousand Lakes (1993) – There was never a question which Amorphis album would land the top spot. As mighty and powerful as Skyforger’s highs are, and as creative and memorable as Elegy gets, Tales From the Thousand Lakes is a flawless album and has few equals in all metaldom. A remarkable step forward from the debut, this is true atmospheric doom-death with every duck in battle formation marching through the cold snow toward conquest and domination. From the beautiful and haunting piano intro, through classic doom-death gems like “Into Hiding” and “The Castaway,” not one note feels out of place and every moment is perfect. I almost never listen to select cuts as this one is like a gorgeous tapestry that you need to roll all the way out and savor. “Magic and Mayhem” is one of my favorite metal songs of all time and heralds the moods and sounds Elegy would soon explore, and I cannot say enough good things about this damn album. A monumental moment preserved in ice forevermore.


Dr. Wvrm

Amorphis is one of my favorite bands. Amorphis is weird as shit, and Amorphis is one of my favorite bands. With three incredibly distinct periods, each with their own all-timer, I can say that and somehow not need to be committed. I struggle to think of a band as dedicated to progression and reinvention as Amorphis. There is something in their catalog for every metal fan; for me, well, you know I can’t turn down a good earWvrm and Amorphis has those in spades. If you give them a shot, I bet you’ll find something for you too.

The Ranking:

#13. Far from the Sun (2003) – The only truly bad record Amorphis have ever released. Almost all of the eclectic oddities of their second-wave period are gone, supplanted by limp-dick riffs and the blandest of alt-rock directions. Pasi Koskinen goes out in a blaze of ignominy, as close to whiny alt-rock vox as you’ll see him get. Given the shambolic state of Far from the Sun, it’s difficult to imagine what’s just around the corner for Amorphis.

#12. Circle (2013) – In an attempt to spice things up after the ho-hum time-passing of The Beginning of Times, Amorphis came back at it with a heavier mindset and more expansive ideas. Unfortunately, it’s more miss than hit. There are some interesting ideas here—especially for a band 11 albums into their career—but the overall package can’t stand up to a catalog riddled with hits. That certain Amorphis je ne sais quoi is missing here.

#11. Am Universum (2001) – Your mileage will vary significantly based on how groovy you find second-wave Amorphis. If the prog-rock ethos and copious helpings of Pasi Koskinen will delight you. If you have to hold your nose at the grungy psychedelia of it all, you won’t have a good time here. I suppose, of all the embarrassing examples of bona fide metal acts running from the scene during the late 90s’ alt-rock revolution, you could do a lot worse than Am Universum.

Amorphis - The Beginning of Times#10. The Beginning of Times (2011) The first relative let-down of the post-Eclipse era. That’s not to say that Amorphis lost the plot (leave that to Circle), but neither the dynamism, nor the pitch-perfect execution that colored the previous three Amorphis records, makes much of an appearance here. The Beginning of Times is fueled by mediocre hooks, passable riffs and a sense of backsliding into an era that doesn’t quite jive with Amorphis’ current ethos.

#9. The Karelian Isthmus (1992) – For all great acts, there are humble beginnings. Not all that humble though, because The Karelian Isthmus is a surprisingly tasty death slab that clearly demonstrates Amorphis’ chops right from the get-go. Sometimes dank and dirty, other times raw and nasty, the record quietly heralds the diverse nature that would come to embody Amorphis in the years ahead.

#8. Tuonela (1999) – After light dabbles with the strange on Elegy, Amorphis’ era of weird truly takes root. Replete with saxophones, organs and flutes, the psych-rock vibe is more suited to Pasi Koskinen’s rugged cleans, Amorphis would never again sound this cohesive during their wandering-in-the-desert period.

#7. Elegy (1996) – Elegy as a dividing line is a masterpiece; Elegy as a record has never been my favorite. It’s the best of Amorphis’ second-wave albums, yes, bridging the Scandi-death of old and their funky, proggy eclecticism. That said, Koskinen’s vocals have always limited my mileage with this record (and era overall). His grunge veneer always felt at odds with the ideas at play here. To this day, I pick around this album’s offerings, avoiding the worst of his performances and embracing the best of Esa Holopainen’s.

Amorphis - Queen of Time#6. Queen of Time (2018) – Close to greatness but just too padded with filler to stick the landing. Queen of Time still hits the highest of heights (“The Bee,” “Amongst Stars”) but would-be hits like “Message in Amber” suffer from being two minutes too long. This one is still guaranteed to please fans of Amorphis’ modern sound but one has to wonder if a bit more of a heavy hand in the production booth is needed in future releases to stave off the Iron Maiden effect.

Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud#5. Under the Red Cloud (2015) – There’s little new ground broken here but, after back-to-back duds in The Beginning of Times and Circle, Under the Red Cloud is a refreshing return to form. In the seams, you can start to see the tried-and-true Amorphis formula wear a bit—imagine the structure and top-heaviness of Eclipse and Silent Waters but with a lower floor—but tracks like “Sacrifice” and “Death of a King” prove that the band can still hit both the highs and the lows with ease.

#4. Silent Waters (2007) – The A-edition of Eclipse: it doesn’t move the plot forward much but it doesn’t need to. Silent Waters smooths and refines a sound that needed little work. It still features monster jams—“Towards and Against” and “Enigma” are among the best songs the band has ever released—and builds Amorphis’ confidence in their newfound sound, such that the huge steps forwards they take on their next album seem only natural.

#3. Tales of the Thousand Lakes (1993) – It’s impossible to say how many bands Tales influenced. Sure, on the surface, this is just one step past their debut but with smarter writing and slicker execution. The real story here, however, is how Amorphis’ imaginative folk inclinations begin to take hold. “The Castaway,” in my eyes, is the first song that Amorphis ever played. You can still trace the melody and melancholy from that song, from “Black Winter Day”, from “To Father’s Cabin”, away from the rest of the scene and toward Amorphis—and melodic death—as we know it today.

#2. Eclipse (2006) – My personal favorite and the biggest single shift in Amorphis’ career. Seemingly out of nowhere, Amorphis reinvent themselves (again!) into a hook-structured juggernaut. And how glorious those hooks are. New singer Tomi Joutsen’s immediately identifiable combination of gruff cleans and monstrous roars fill out the best fvkking pop-structured folk metal this side of Equilibrium. Chockful of superstar jams, including the undisputed king of the catalog in “House of Sleep,” Eclipse blasted Amorphis off to the stars.

Album cover of Amorphis - Skyforger

#1. Skyforger (2009) – As much as I wanted to put Eclipse here, it’s impossible to deny Amorphis’ magnum opus. To this day, it stands as the band’s only record to successfully fuse the heft, imagination and infectiousness of their three core sounds. It stands out in my mind among records like Crack the Skye and Beyond, the goldilocksening of a sound to find that Just Right merging the myriad excellences Amorphis is capable of. Skyforger is that once-in-a-lifetime lightning in a bottle, the perfect distillation of what a band can do if every star aligns. No other album belongs in this spot.


Official AMG Ranking of Amorphis

The writers’ votes have been cast, counted, several fiddled and a number discounted due to their wrongness or the writer’s overrating habits, and it has produced this, The Official AMG Ranking of Amorphis:

#13. Far from the Sun (2003)

#12. Am Universum (2001)

#11. The Beginning of Times (2011)

#10. The Karelian Isthmus (1992)

#9. Circle (2013)

#8. Tuonela (1999)

#7. Elegy (1996)

#6. Under the Red Cloud (2015)

#5. Queen of Time (2018)

#4. Tales from the Thousand Lakes (1994)

#3. Silent Waters (2007)

#2. Eclipse (2006)

#1. Skyforger (2009)

If you don’t know Amorphis, leave the Hall but, on your way out, make sure to check out this primer, picked by Angry Metal Guy, Steel Druhm and Dr. Wvrm.4

Show 4 footnotes

  1. Or at least they were smoking the extra-strong Dutch weed.
  2. I feel a tiny bit of shame. – Steel
  3. It also features what I can only assume is the best misheard lyric since “Hamster! A dentist!” on “The White Swan,” where I’m relatively sure that Tomi sings: “I set out on a long-ass road…”
  4. It is to be noted that the Wvrm refused to pick anything from Far from the Sun and whined that Steel had ‘taken’ his pick from Circle, so the good Dr. picked additional tracks from Eclipse and Tales of the Thousand Lakes. Poseur.
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