Skyforger (album)

Skyforger
Studio album by Amorphis
Released May 27, 2009 Finland
May 29, 2009 European Union
June 16, 2009 United States
Recorded November 2008–January 2009
Genre Progressive metal, melodic death metal, folk metal
Length 47:42
Label Nuclear Blast
Producer Mikko Karmila, Marco Hietala, Amorphis
Amorphis chronology
Silent Waters
(2007)
Skyforger
(2009)
Magic & Mayhem – Tales from the Early Years
(2010)
Singles from Skyforger
  1. "Silver Bride"
    Released: April 22, 2009
  2. "From the Heaven of My Heart"
    Released: October 30, 2009
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com [1]
Allmusic [2]
Revolver[3]

Skyforger is the ninth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. Like the previous album, the lyrics to Skyforger are English translations of Finnish poems based on the Kalevala and written by Pekka Kainulainen. Unlike the two previous albums, it is based on different parts of several episodes, but all told from a single character's point of view. In this sense it is a return to Tales from the Thousand Lakes which told stories from different parts of the Kalevala. The last two albums focused on Kullervo and Lemminkäinen, respectively, and this one focuses on Ilmarinen.

Like Amorphis's previous two albums, Eclipse and Silent Waters, Skyforger is a concept album and was recorded at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki.[4]

In addition to a regular edition, the album was also released in a limited digipak edition which included the bonus track "Godlike Machine". Initially, this digipak edition caused controversy because of sound level fluctuations during the tracks "My Sun" and "Skyforger", but Nuclear Blast has since remedied the problem by promising replacement CDs.[5]

On April 22, 2009, "Silver Bride" was released as a Finland-only single, peaking at number 1.[6][7] The music video for the single premiered on May 11, 2009.[8]

Track listing

No. TitleMusic Length
1. "Sampo"  Kallio 6:08
2. "Silver Bride"  Holopainen 4:13
3. "From the Heaven of My Heart"  Kallio 5:20
4. "Sky Is Mine"  Kallio 4:20
5. "Majestic Beast"  Holopainen 4:19
6. "My Sun"  Koivusaari 4:04
7. "Highest Star"  Holopainen 4:44
8. "Skyforger"  Holopainen 5:15
9. "Course of Fate"  Kallio 4:15
10. "From Earth I Rose"  Joutsen 5:04
Total length:
47:42
Bonus tracks
No. TitleMusic Length
11. "Godlike Machine"  Koivusaari 5:18
12. "Separated"  Koivusaari 4:17
Total length:
57:17

Chart positions

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Austrian Albums Chart[9] 48
Finnish Albums Chart[10] 1
Swiss Albums Chart[11] 74
Top Heatseekers[12] 33

Personnel

Amorphis

  • Amorphis - arrangements

Other personnel

  • Iikka Kahri - flute & saxophone
  • Jouni Markkanen - backing vocals
  • Peter James Goodman - backing vocals
  • Tommi Salmela - backing vocals
  • Marco Hietala - backing vocals, vocal production
  • Sami Koivisto - engineering
  • Mika Jussila - mastering
  • Mikko Karmila - mixing
  • 伊藤政則 (Itoh Masanori (Masa Itoh)) - Japanese liner notes

Lyrics

  • Pekka Kainulainen - lyrics
  • Erkki Virta - lyrics translation
  • 国田ジンジャ一 (Ginger Kunita) - Japanese lyric translation

Photography

  • Travis Smith - cover art
  • Denis Goria - band photography

References

  1. "Amorphis Skyforger Review - Review of Skyforger by Amorphis". Heavymetal.about.com. 2009-06-16. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  2. Skyforger (album) at AllMusic
  3. Aykroyd, Lucas (August 2009). "Skyforger review". Revolver (Future) (83): 74. ISSN 1527-408X.
  4. "Cover Artwork For Amorphis' "Skyforger"". smnnews.com. February 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
  5. "Skyforger – Error on digipak version". Nuclear Blast. May 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
  6. "Amorphis: New Single Announced". blabbermouth.net. March 16, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
  7. "Finnish Singles Chart". Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  8. "Amorphis: 'Silver Bride' Video Released". May 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  9. "Austrian album charts" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  10. "Finnish album charts" (in Finnish). finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  11. "Swiss album charts" (in Dutch). hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  12. "Skyforger at billboard.com". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
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