Under the Red Cloud
Under the Red Cloud is the twelfth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis, released worldwide on 4 September 2015 through Nuclear Blast. The album was produced by Jens Bogren, who was described as "just the right person" by keyboardist Santeri Kallio.[4][5][6] This would be the band's last album with longtime bassist Niklas Etelävuori who left in 2017.
Under the Red Cloud | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 4 September 2015 | |||
Studio | Fascination Street Studios | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 49:56 | |||
Label | Nuclear Blast | |||
Producer | Jens Bogren[3] | |||
Amorphis chronology | ||||
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Track listing
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Under the Red Cloud" | Pekka Kainulainen | Santeri Kallio | 5:33 |
2. | "The Four Wise Ones" | Kainulainen | Esa Holopainen | 4:40 |
3. | "Bad Blood" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 5:23 |
4. | "The Skull" | Kainulainen | Tomi Koivusaari | 5:04 |
5. | "Death of a King" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 5:14 |
6. | "Sacrifice" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 3:56 |
7. | "Dark Path" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 5:08 |
8. | "Enemy at the Gates" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 5:07 |
9. | "Tree of Ages" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 4:36 |
10. | "White Night" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 5:15 |
Total length: | 49:56 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
11. | "Come the Spring" | Kainulainen | Koivusaari | 3:27 |
12. | "The Wind" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 5:48 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
11. | "Come the Spring" | Kainulainen | Koivusaari | 3:27 |
12. | "Winter's Sleep" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 6:37 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Shades of Gray" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 7:28 |
2. | "Narrow Path" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 4:46 |
3. | "Sky Is Mine" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 4:22 |
4. | "Silver Bride" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 4:18 |
5. | "Into Hiding" | traditional | Holopainen, Olli-Pekka Laine | 4:09 |
6. | "My Kantele" | traditional | Holopainen | 6:39 |
7. | "Nightbird's Song" | Kainulainen | Koivusaari | 5:09 |
8. | "Hopeless Days" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 5:24 |
9. | "House of Sleep" | Paavo Haavikko | Holopainen | 5:29 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Enigma" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 5:33 |
2. | "Far from the Sun" | Pasi Koskinen | Amorphis | 5:00 |
3. | "Silent Waters" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 5:53 |
4. | "My Kantele" | traditional | Holopainen | 5:09 |
5. | "Silver Bride" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 4:56 |
6. | "Sampo" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 6:54 |
7. | "Alone" | Koskinen | Amorphis | 6:57 |
8. | "The Wanderer" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 4:54 |
9. | "Her Alone" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 7:46 |
Reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Blabbermouth | [7] |
Angry Metal Guy | [8] |
PopMatters | mixed[9] |
Cryptic Rock | [10] |
Upon release, the album received critical acclaim. Cryptic Rock reviewed the album, finding that it had more of a focus on melody than the previous album, and it had a wider variety of instruments, which was more in line with the band's pre-2012 work. "The Four Wise Ones" was described as an "instant classic" song, "pure melodic death metal at its finest."[11] Cryptic Rock also saw songs that were heavy metal, folk metal and rock ballads.[11]
Under the Red Cloud debuted at #144 on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 1,600 units in the US in its first week.
Charts
Chart (2015) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] | 20 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] | 53 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] | 40 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] | 50 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[16] | 2 |
French Albums (SNEP)[17] | 85 |
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[18] | 25 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] | 10 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] | 11 |
Personnel
Amorphis
|
Miscellaneous Staff
|
Additional Vocalists
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Orchestra
|
Engineers
- Lasse Väyrynen – Jan Rechberger's percussion
- David Castillo – Martin Lopez's percussion
- Jyri Riikonen – grand piano, Hammond and Rhodes
- Jonas Olsson
- Viktor Stenqvist
References
- Van Horn, Jr., Ray (13 October 2015). "Under the Red Cloud - Amorphis". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- Lawson, Dom (16 May 2018). "Amorphis – Queen Of Time album review". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- "AMORPHIS Complete Pre-Production For New Album". Bravewords.com. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- Booth, Alison (4 September 2015). "Interview With Santeri Kallio, AMORPHIS: "We're extremely excited to hear some feedback from the fans"". Metal Shock Finland. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- "AMORPHIS Keyboardist Santeri Kallio On Working With Producer JENS BOGREN - "He Was Always Shouting 'Give Me More Energy'"; Audio". Bravewords.com. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- "AMORPHIS Under The Red Cloud". Nuclear Blast. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
- "Amorphis, Under the Red Cloud". Blabbermouth.
- "Amorphis, Under the Red Cloud". Angry Metal Guy. September 2015.
- "Amorphis, Under the Red Cloud". PopMatters. 15 September 2015.
- "Amorphis, Under the Red Cloud". CrypticRock. 21 September 2015.
- "Amorphis - Under the Red Cloud (Album Review)". Cryptic Rock. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
- "Austriancharts.at – Amorphis – Under the Red Cloud" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- "Ultratop.be – Amorphis – Under the Red Cloud" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- "Ultratop.be – Amorphis – Under the Red Cloud" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- "Dutchcharts.nl – Amorphis – Under the Red Cloud" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- "Amorphis: Under the Red Cloud" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
- "Lescharts.com – Amorphis – Under the Red Cloud". Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2015. 37. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
- "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
- "Swisscharts.com – Amorphis – Under the Red Cloud". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
- "AMORPHIS: To Release New Album "Under The Red Cloud" In September". Metal Shock Finland. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.