Review | Amorphis – Borderland

Reigning Phoenix Music

Amorphis, hailing from Finland of course, has been around in the metal scene for thirty-five years and ‘Borderland’ is their 15^th studio album. Over the years the sound of Amorphis has moved towards a more progressive and folk metal sound, as these Finns have gone through some real sound changes since their classic debut album ‘The Karelian Isthmus’.

ABOUT THE SONGS

However, the death metal characteristics are still there, and the clean vocal/growl/grunt interplay can still be enjoyed on `Borderland’! Amorphis, still consisting of Esa Holopainen (lead guitar), Tomi Koivusaari (guitar, vocals), Santeri Kallio (keys), Jan Rechberger (drums), Tomi Joutsen (lead vocals) and Olli-Pekka Laine (bass guitar), opens this album with the anthemic, melancholic ,,The Circle”, followed by ,,Bones”, a melodic, ethereal track with lots of growly vocals and that unmistakable Finnish melancholy.

,,Light And Shadow” kind of reminds me of Paradise Lost, as this track, filled with melodic riffs/hooks, sounds like gothic power metal for sure. As a frequent reader of this site, you might know that I am not really fond of growling/grunting, however on this album it does not really bother me, and my favorite track of ‘Borderland’ called ,,The Lantern”, contains lots of growls indeed. ,,The Lantern” is a wonderful progressive metal song with lots of melancholy, howling growls and beautiful classic guitar scales galore.

AMORPHIS – THE CONCLUSION

‘Borderland’ ends with a song called ,,Despair,” something that is not really necessary if you listen to this amazing album, although this final track really has an obsessive and depressive tone.

‘Borderland’ is a wonderful record, a record full of excellent tracks with plenty of emotion, melancholy, power, grace and more than enough heavy metal shit beneath the surface; so, check it out, play it LOUD and enjoy!

 Listening tip: ,,Light And Shadow”

Release date: 26 September 2025