Label: Rockshots Records
Date: January 28th, 2022
You know that moment when you are with some friends, it’s Saturday night and you all hang out, listen to some golden era music and then something new comes up that no one heard before… It’s been a really long time since I heard the sentence: “Hey, that’s heavy metal”! Just good old heavy metal without new genres someone made up to make himself the doctor of music.
Sometimes listening to all those new genres I am trying to understand what they are singing about, what the hell is their music and what are their ideas. Okay, I get it, we knew to progress like any other type of music, ideas, taste and world goes on but sometimes metalheads go too far away.
But there is always this one guy who wants to play some “symphonic post-apocalyptic reindeer-grinding Christ-abusing war pagan fennoscandinavian” metal, like in that Finnish comedy about metal called “Heavy trip”. I must admit guys, it’s not necessary. I think real metal sound is lost in all those new ideas and musical types. We forgot real heavy metal from the ’80s and ’90s. Maybe coming to the roots is not always a bad idea. Especially not for Amoth.
Maybe they are from Finland, but they are not black metal, that we expect when we hear Scandinavia is in the location of the band. They are simply a progressive heavy metal band with three albums and one EP in their opus.
They can give lectures about music making to some of their more famous colleagues. Special admiration to Mister Mikael Rauhala and Tomi Ihanamaki. Guitar players who made the rhapsodies of the songs. Songs like “We Own the Night” and “The Man Who Watches the World Burn” have potential to become great hits. Their driving and dynamic rhythm can make your day better! They remind me of all those evergreen hits of metal in the ’80s, made by Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Def Leppard even.
“Alice”, the first song on the album, is my favourite on this record. When he says: “Heeey, Alice you know that you are mine”, my whole body felt the strength of music. Great choice to open the album with this song full of energy and old metal vibe. It will surely be part of my everyday music playlist.
Every song from the top to the end has its own specific atmosphere. For example, one delightful break in the album are songs “Wind Serenade part I” and “Wind Serenade part II”. Two instrumental melodies that are a great mark that this band is virtuoso in their job.
But just next to “Serenade of the wind” is the most progressive song of the album, “Wounded Faith”. A great way to calm and then to bring the attention of the listener to the next level. Voice of Mister Pekka Montin is beyond good. That capacity of scream is on the level of Geoff Tate. That one short but good scream in “It ain’t over yet” clears your mind how strong it is. My best impressions, you have a new fan!
Something that caught my ear is some kind of melancholic atmosphere that goes in the background of almost every song. Especially in “Traces in the Snow”. That’s not sorrow but real melancholy. Almost acoustic song with parts on keyboards that even has a jazz sound if you listen to it closely in the end. Good job, I like it very much.
The subject of the album is, simply said, the things children are afraid of. The creatures of the night, evil wind, wolves and evil people… One more thing that heavy metal has, besides that good vibe and melodies, are lyrics in which it is not necessary to have some special subject to sing about. You can play every song individually and you will get one complete story. As I said, like the greatest hits.
I think that we should give this kind of bands support to continue their work even more than before. Forgetting where we began as kids listening to metal, we away from the primary sound, energy and image that old school metal gives us. That made-up genre from “Heavy trip” didn’t leave a mark in the world, but exactly bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Queensryche and on that list I can add Amoth. Old heavy metal welcome back to my heart!
