Review by Rexorcist for Amorphis - Elegy (1996)

Immediately after the highly melodic, beautifully different but not-so-heavy Tales from the Thousand Lakes, Amorphis realized that for them to stand out, they needed to be different.  This time, they expanded on their sound and took on a few different directions.  Their finally truly death album, Elegy, would see them becoming the prog metal band they're known for being, and of course this would set the band up as one of the essentials of that genre.  This is the finally truly death metal album we got, and even then it bridges the boundaries very bravely, so be prepared.

With Tales, Amorphis took a folksy route, capturing some old mythical vibes in the format of a death metal album.  Like that album, however, this band needs a little work in the heaviness department, as the drumming feels very weak and the lighthearted melodies overpower the extremity.  Unlike the last album, however, this takes folk influence to a much more surreal level, going into Arabic territory to create both desert vibes and adventurous cinematic touches.  Some of these psychedelic solos are very cool, and because of the Arabic vibes the folk metal influences bring in, they feel perfectly natural, adding to the unique behavior of this album.  We'll even have touches of prog electronic mingled in with our psychedelic solos on the third track, The Orphan.  Never would've seen a death metal act take a couple notes from Tangerine Dream, would you?  And thankfully, we do have a couple of heavier songs mixed in with this incredibly diverse bag of tricks, ones that never falter on the Arabic melodies.  Cares even gets pretty funky, and even has a short EDM mid-lude that fits the tone and presence of the song perfectly.

Now normally I would criticize a death metal band for feeling too commercial, even a melodeath band.  But Amorphis makes it work here because they've become a prog band with a plethora of influences that flow together with perfect consistency, like a good sangria and all its ingredients.  If only this album were heavier, I'd rank it among the ten greatest prog and or death metal albums I've ever heard, much like my feelings for the movie Southern Comfort and its lack of character development getting in the way of a top 10 slot on my movies list.  Elegy in an album that proves that Amorphis can pretty much do anything... except for be heavy enough to stand with heavier melodeath bands.