''Queen of Time'' is the thirteenth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band

Amorphis Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including progressive metal, an ...

, released worldwide on 18 May 2018 through

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

. This is the first album since 1999's ''

Tuonela Tuonela (; )Oinas, Felix J., and Juha Pentikäinen. "Tuonela." In ''Encyclopedia of Religion'', 2nd ed., edited by Lindsay Jones, 9396-9397. Vol. 14. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. ''Gale eBooks'' (accessed January 3, 2021)/ref> i ...

'' to feature original bassist

Olli-Pekka Laine Olli-Pekka Laine is a Finnish musician, currently as a bassist in Finnish metal bands Amorphis (1990-2000, 2017-) and Barren Earth (2008-). He was also formerly in other Finnish metal bands, ''Nuxvomica'' (1990), ''Rytmihäiriö'' (1991-1992), ...

who rejoined the band in 2017, making this the first time since 1994's ''

Tales from the Thousand Lakes ''Tales from the Thousand Lakes'' is the second full-length album by doom metal band Amorphis. It is a concept album, the lyrics are based on the Finnish national epic, ''Kalevala''. While still predominantly melodic death metal and gothic ...

'' that all four original band members played together on an album. The album was produced by

Jens Bogren Jens Peter Daniel Bogren (born 13 November 1979) is a Swedish record producer, mixer and recording engineer specializing in heavy metal music. He has worked on albums by Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Sepultura, Arch Enemy, At the Gates, Katatonia, Babym ...

, who was described as "a true brother in spirit."

Critical reception

''Queen of Time'' received positive reviews upon release. Blabbermouth praised the use of a variety of instruments such as flutes, saxophone, reeds, or

xylophones The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in ...

, calling the compositions "long, layered and resonant". Louder wrote: "Amorphis are incredible songwriters; everything from stirring opener The Bee through to lavish, dramatic closer Pyres On The Coast boasts at least one life-affirming hook, and vocalist Tomi Joutsen has never sounded more commanding."

Track listing

Personnel

Amorphis

Tomi Joutsen Tomi Joutsen (born 30 April 1975) is a Finnish musician, perhaps best known as the vocalist/frontman of the heavy metal band Amorphis (2005–), although also a member of other metal bands including Corpse Molester Cult (2008-), as their guitaris ...

– vocals *

Esa Holopainen Esa Holopainen (born 1 October 1972) is a Finnish musician, currently the main songwriter, occasional lyricist, founding member and lead guitarist of the Finnish metal band Amorphis. He is one out the two longest standing members of the band (t ...

– lead guitar *

Tomi Koivusaari Tomi Koivusaari (born 11 April 1973) is the current rhythm guitarist and former vocalist of the Finland, Finnish metal band Amorphis. He started playing at the age of 12, his first band was Violent Solution formed in 1987, with him on guitars and ...

– rhythm guitar *

– bass * Santeri Kallio – keyboards, engineering (church organ) * Jan Rechberger – drums

Miscellaneous staff

Chrigel Glanzmann Christian Oliver Ivan Glanzmann (born 26 May 1975) is a Swiss musician, singer, songwriter and record producer, best known as the male lead vocalist of Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie. He also plays mandola, whistles, and bagpipes in Branâ Keter ...

– tin whistle, low whistle * Noa Gruman – arrangements (choirs), conductor *

Albert Kuvezin Albert Budachievich Kuvezin (Russian: ''Альберт Будачиевич Кувезин'' / Tuvan: ''Күвезин Альберт Будачи оглу'', Küvezin Albert Budachi oglu, , alternatively spelled ''Kögeezin'' (Көгээзин, ) ...

– laryngeal singing on "The Bee" *

Akira Takasaki is a Japanese musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist and sole constant member of the heavy metal band Loudness. He is also the guitarist of the band Lazy, with which he first rose to prominence in the 1970s. Career He started his ...

– guitar solo on "Honeyflow" (bonus track) *

Jørgen Munkeby Jørgen Munkeby (born 3 September 1980 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz and heavy metal musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, known as the frontman in the band Shining and former member of Jaga Jazzist. Career Munkeby formed ...

– saxophone on "Daughter of Hate" * Linus Corneliusson – mixing assistance * Valnoir Mortasonge – artwork

Additional vocalists

Anneke van Giersbergen Anna Maria "Anneke" van Giersbergen (born 8 March 1973) is a Dutch singer, songwriter and guitarist who became known worldwide as the lead singer for the rock band The Gathering between 1994 and 2007. She also has a solo career. The project wa ...

– female vocals on "Amongst Stars" * Noa Gruman – female vocals (additional) (tracks 1, 2, 4) * Hellscore Choir – choir vocals (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 8)

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2015 albums Amorphis albums Nuclear Blast albums Albums produced by Jens Bogren