When one of our beloved bands gets a write-up in a magazine, or provides an interview, we rejoice at any glimpse into their creative processes, their successes, and even into their tribulations. When a band’s story gets presented in a top-notch, 400+ page hardcover book, there is no limit to how pumped up a fanbase can get. That is precisely what Journalist and Author Markus Laakso has done with one of Finland’s most crucial, long-lived, and well-loved Heavy Metal institutions, the ever-shifting and highly successful Amorphis.
What makes this book, entitled simply Amorphis: The Official Story of Finland’s Greatest Metal Band so immediately appealing is the fact that Laakso approaches it from the place he has occupied since 1993 – that of a fan. Originally published October 28, 2022, in early 2023, Decibel Books shipped out the English edition of the book with a strictly limited print of 1,000 copies. That all in mind, Laakso’s passion for and proximity to Amorphis is both highly evident and contagious. From the origins of Esplanade Park in Helsinki in the late 1980’s, Laakso describes the isolation and hostility felt by the “long-hairs” at the hands of a far less tolerant time and place. The friendships that emerged from this underground Finnish landscape fed the union of founding Guitarists Tomi Koivusaari and Esa Holopainen, who in 1990 formed the beginning of the band so many fans have come to know and love.
In the book, the reader is treated with a journey through upbringings and gigs played by angsty teens in drafty youth centers. Laakso revisits the first bands the familiar faces of Amorphis played with in these times, providing the here today, gone tomorrow lineages of friends and musicians in interesting and humorous fashion. The seriousness and dedication of all involved is communicated well, with standout tales aplenty, such as a young Tomi Koivusaari having a dispute with Dead from Mayhem (Per Ohlinn) over a sleeping space.
As the tale continues to unfold, Laakso paints a picture of a talented group of young Finns signed to a record deal with Relapse Records that would see them robbed of every penny they might have earned, far deeper into their career than one might expect. Imagine having one of the best all-time selling albums (this being 1994’s Tales From The Thousand Lakes) and not being able to afford basic food. Such was the reality for Amorphis in those days.
Laakso spins the tales of the chaotic recording of 1996’s peerless Elegy album, entertainingly to the point that the reader cannot turn the pages fast enough. The relationship with former singer Pasi Koskinen, who made his debut following the rapid success of Tales From The Thousand Lakes, is explored deeply. The troubled vocalist became a vortex of chaos for the band, and the loss of focus which led to his dismissal and the hiring of current master vocalist Tomi Joutsen is not in any way glossed over.
Amorphis: The Official Story of Finland’s Greatest Metal Band goes into the highs experienced post-2005 and ends in the time frame of the band’s creation of 2015’s Under The Red Cloud. It rightly predicts that Amorphis would ride the wave of success they built with Joutsen, to heights undreamt of by a group of kids from Vantaa and Helsinki. All told, including an excellent plate of photographs of the band between 1990 and 2015, this is a superior dedication to one of the best Heavy Metal bands on planet Earth, and will no doubt set the bar for future biographies. CrypticRock gives Amorphis: The Official Story of Finland’s Greatest Metal Band 5 out of 5 stars.
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