Amorphis - Skyforger (2009) - Amazing first half but falls off the edge - 87% (16/11/11)

"Skyforger" is the third record of the new Amorphis era and it surely won't disappoint those who liked the two previous outputs. In comparison to the diversified and energizing comeback "Eclipse" and the melancholic masterpiece "Silent Waters", "Skyforger" is a littlle bit calmer and more folk orientated. While the album contains many great songs such as "Sampo", "Silver Bride" or "Sky Is Mine" which I would all put in my all time top ten list of the band, the record falls off the edge in the second half and lacks of innovation and surprises towards the end.

The album contains many addicting and catchy choruses, especially in the first half of the record. "Silver Bride" is a very engaging single and will convince you soon while "From The Heaven Of My Heart" is a little bit too calm, conventional and commercial. The best track on the record is the dreamy and intense "Sky Is Mine", an absolute highlight and maybe the best track the band has written since "Alone".

For fans of the heavier side of Amorphis, there are still some rougher tracks like the great "Majestic Beast" even if the track feels a little bit lost in the middle of the record and doesn't quite fit to the rest. Another highlight that fits more the album and resumes everything you might like about the new face and style of the Finnish masters of metal is the slightly progressive opener "Sampo" that mixes soft, harsh and progressive passages that are all hold together by enchanting melodies.

But if the first half of the album announces another masterpiece of the band, there are too many tracks in the second part that sound alike. These songs still have some beautiful melodies but they are not very catchy and don't offer anything we haven't heard before. They focus more on folk melodies than on commercial hooks and remind me of a softer and less progressive version of "Tuonela". The songs have interesting approaches but lack energy and don't have the same kind of magic as the old classics. With a little bit more focus, a track like "Highest Star" could have become an enchanting folk track but as it is on the record it sounds quite redundant. The title track "Skyforger" also sounds a little bit overlong and has a rather mediocre introduction that fails to kick this song off early enough.

These are the reasons why we have a quite good but not an excellent record. It's your average Amorphis record that is nice to listen to but nothing outstanding and can't mess up with the two previous releases. Any fan of folk metal and catchy melodic metal with beautiful melodies and a lot of atmosphere should though check this record out and any true fan of Amorphis shouldn't hesitate to buy this album. The first half is easily worth ninety-five percent and the second one still slightly below eighty percent which leads me to my final verdict that turns out to be still above most of the other metal releases of the year. Amorphis defend their throne and remain the Finnish masters of metal and the best and most profound and progressive melodic metal band in the world with this output.