After a long co-headlining tour with THE ELUVEIITES in Europe last year, Finnish metal icons AMORPHIS are ready to hit the road again, visiting select cities and countries they were unable to perform in at the end of 2022. Today, the band announced their “Halo” European tour 2023 alongside the Icelandic metal institution SUN LETTERS as a special guest and Finnish modern metallurgists LOST SOCIETY as opener.
AMORPHISIt is Esa Holopainen said: “We are happy to announce the second leg of the AMORPHIS ‘Halo’ European tour starting in October. This time we cover countries and cities where it was not possible for us to go last year. The tour lineup is absolutely brilliant. We will bring our Icelandic friends SUN LETTERS and our compatriots LOST SOCIETY. I look forward to seeing our beloved fans across the EU again.”
SUN LETTERS enthuses: “Since our first show in Helsinki in 2004, we have had a great love relationship with Finland, and we have discovered AMORPHIS a decade ago with their great “Tales of a Thousand Lakes” album and watching them grow over the years, we’re thrilled to hit the road with Finland’s finest metal band. This tour was written in the stars.”
LOST SOCIETYthe leader of Sami Elbanna adds: “It’s been a long time coming – and now we’re finally able to announce that we’ll be joining our brothers in AMORPHIS on their huge European tour! We can’t wait to visit many places we’ve never been before and bring ALL of you our massive #IfTheSkyCameDown show. Buy your tickets and get ready for LOST SOCIETY.”
AMORPHIS “Aureole” 2023 European Tour Dates:
October 26 – CH Zurich – Complex 457*
October 27 – FROM Cologne – Carlswerk Victoria
October 28 – DE Geiselwind – Music Hall
October 19, 29 – NL Utrecht – Tivoli
October 31 – AT Wörgl – comma VZ
New. 01 – HR Zagreb – Club Boogaloo
New Moon. 02 – MK Skopje – YCC
03 Nov – GR Thessaloniki – Main
November 04 – GR Athens – Fuzz Club
November 05 – BG Sofia – Pirotska 5
New Moon. 09 – SK Kosice – Colosseum
New Moon. 10 – SK Bratislava – MMC
November 11 – AT Linz – Posthof
November 12 – CZ Zlin – MOR Café
November 14 – PL Gdansk – B90
Nov. 15 – PL Krakow – Kamienna12
Nov. 16 – DE Dresden – Power Plant
Nov. 17 – DE Wangels – Metal Hammer Paradise
Nov. 18 – DE Hanover – Capitol
* Without SUN LETTERS
Tickets will go on sale Friday, May 19 at 10:00 a.m. CET.
AMORPHIS released their fourteenth studio album, “Halo”in February 2022 via Atomic fire records.
In the past, mythology and legend took on the role of today’s pop culture: stories and a set of values uniting us by giving us a voice and a tapestry on which we can find ourselves and identify with something. Weaving the tales of Finnish national epics “Kalevala” in their songs and interpreting them in a timeless way, AMORPHIS combine the role of ancient minstrels and luminaries of the modern world, honoring tradition without getting stuck in the past.
The vibrant, living and touching beauty that is “Halo” highlights their musical and narrative mastery at once again a high level: it’s a progressive, melodic and essentially melancholy heavy metal masterpiece drawn from the wayward inspirational void of the original guitarists Esa Holopainen And Tomi Koivusaaribass player Olli-Pekka Wooldrummer Jean Rechbergerlongtime keyboardist Santeri Kallio and singer Tomi Joutsenthe band’s long-standing lyrical consciousness Pekka Kainulainen and a select group of world-class audio professionals led by renowned Swedish producer Jens Bogren. Given the band’s extended journey at the forefront of innovative metal music, it’s hard to understand how AMORPHIS manages to raise the proverbial bar time and time again, presenting a finale more than worthy of the trilogy started with the years 2015 “Under the Red Cloud” 2018 follow-up “Queen of Time”.
“It’s a really great feeling that we can still produce some really decent music as a band,” says Holopainen, founding member of the group. “Perhaps a certain form of self-criticism and a long experience culminates in these last albums.” To the songwriter himself, “Halo” looks both familiar and different. “It’s quite recognizable AMORPHIS from start to finish but the overall vibe is a bit heavier and more progressive and also organic compared to its predecessor.”
Tomi Joutsenthe man with vocal cords capable of unleashing colossal bear growls as well as singing soothing, haunting lullabies, adds: “For me, ‘Halo’ looks a bit more stripped down compared to ‘Queen of Time’ And “Under the Red Cloud”. However, don’t get me wrong: when a certain song has to sound big, then it sounds really big.” He’s right, of course: by removing some of the arrangements, the monumental moments become even more monumental.
This is of course also thanks to the production of the renaissance man Jens Bogren who collected the last thirteen tracks of a batch of thirty songs AMORPHIS offered him. “jens is very demanding, but I like working with him very much,” says Holopainen. “He takes care of the whole project from start to finish, and he allows the musician to just focus on the game. I may not be able to thank jens enough. Everything we have done together has been really great, and this cooperation has AMORPHIS significantly forward.”
However, no AMORPHIS the album would be complete without the imaginative and poetic narration of the famous lyricist and “Kalevala” expert Pekka Kainulainen. ” Since the first day, Pekka has always been an enthusiastic and prolific lyricist for AMORPHIS,” said Swan. “It’s a slow process of translating archaic Finnish poetry into English and adapting it to our progressive rhythms. Fortunately, Pekka done on time and with great care.” Since 2007 “Silent Waters”, by Kainu navigated the mythological waters of his homeland with great skill and respect. For “Halo”, he has outdone himself once again. “‘Halo’ is a free-themed disc filled with tales of adventures about the mythical North tens of thousands of years ago,” he explains. “The lyrics tell of an ancient time when man wandered towards these boreal frontiers abandoned after the ice age. While depicting the revival of a seminal culture in a world of new opportunities, I also try to tap into the age-old strengths of the human spirit.”
Photo credit: Sam Jamsen
