Review Summary: A Collective Punch To The Jugular.....
Through the so-called homeruns, trials and tribulations of every band comes a fair share of hurdles and obstacles that bestow added pressures on its members. While these conflictions can be perceived as added incentive toward building off past failures or the personal pursuits of musical progression, line-up changes will ultimately encompass a band’s success or hindrance, and Amoral is no exception to the rule. I for one was extremely saddened to see the current direction this Finnish band had chosen to take after their crushing release of 2007’s Reptile Ride. The introduction of newly appointed singer Ari Koivunen in Amoral’s newest offering ‘Show Your Colors’ has divided fans alike.
Upon the departure of Niko Kalliojarvi, the band has opted in the vocal department for a high pitched, clean vocal arrangement from Koivunen that not only comes off as strangely forced and annoying but in the end, takes all focus off the other elements that made Amoral such a joy to listen to. Don’t get me wrong, I have tried like h*** to get into these new additions, but at certain junctures one soon realizes that some things are too far gone to be salvaged. While the meatier and crunchier riffs are still present, although fewer in numbers, one has to painfully dig through a crescendo of bombastic squealings and rants of Koivunen. His presence alone has become the mere focal point rather than a necessary piece of an already congruent puzzle.
Regardless, I see it best fit to stay focused on the success of the latter; and Reptile Ride is one smoking-gun-of-an-album. Take it as a negative or a positive, but the guitar work is the domineering element at play here. Seasoned heavily with melodic death influence and power metal leanings, the opening track, Leave Your Dead Behind, presents some interesting hooks, but is by no means the best outing on the album. It merely sets the stage for greater things to come. This alone, is where 2005’s Decrowning fell flat on its collective face. While the album was by no means a bad one, its opener ‘Showdown’ inadvertently overpowered anything and everything the rest of the album had to offer to its listeners.
‘Nervasion’ and ‘Hang Me High’ are the first highlights of the album. These tracks both exhibit an added thrash quality with the riff lines as well as feature some amazing lead work midway to song’s end. The added layering of bass player Erkki Silvennoinen (no longer with the band) is another highlight that brings a down-tuned, death metal-esque quality to the guitar play. This alone, is what firmly solidified Amoral’s long lost sound on this album to that of fellow countrymen
Children of Bodom. While they both have the same, distinct, progressive, melodic leanings, Amoral display a burlier, dirtier sound. Put bluntly, this is the album Bodom should have released in place of Blooddrunk, not to take anything away from Amoral, with their fairly enigmatic placement within the metal scene.
‘Mute’ can be argued as one of the most varied and strongest offerings on the album. The musical composition opens with a catchy, clean, guitar line that leads to some tasty riffing that opens to the distinct and pummeling growls of Kalliojarvi. Call his projection flat or ‘paint-by-numbers’ in quality but the sheer macho, bulls***lessness of Niko’s presence adds the same witless appeal to that of cheap liquor and full-contact sports. The gruff, rawness of the vocal arrangement reintroduces that beckoning death metal punch that fits oh-so perfectly within the melodic riff lines. The technical drumming of Juhana Karlsson must also be noted as the snare and double pedal offer another added ingredient to the guitars and vocals. The same distinction can be made with ‘D-Drop Bop’ and ‘Snake Skin Saddle.’ While these numbers aren’t as diverse as ‘mute,’ and the wildly entertaining instrumental ‘Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Fun,’ they still offer plenty of memorable moments to up the replay value.
‘Pusher’ is a slower piece that beckons a little more patience from the listener. The piece builds to a deeper crescendo of sound and flexes a more progressive side to the musical compositions. The Japanese import track ‘The Naked Sun’ is another hidden gem that is criminally missed on the normal release. The main guitar line brings remembrance to
Behemoth’s Demigod. I am not going to delve in other specifics on this one. Just dig the import version up.
Amoral unfortunately have the dreaded knack of keeping the same musical structures in all their songs (main guitar line-vocal line-solo-vocal line-main guitar line) with some slight variances thrown into the mix. Still, things are done so exceptionally well on this release that fans of the genre and others aside, will surely find something enjoyable here. One can tell that
Amoral had the time of their lives with this release. Hopefully one day, we will see a suitable return to form. Enjoy!
