While not a very large country, Finland is one with a broad, rich history. Known for thousands of lakes and forests, Finland allegedly also has the most Heavy Metal bands per capita. Not too shocking if you are someone with even a thumbnail knowledge of the country’s music scene, perhaps the most acclaimed Finnish Metal band is none other than Amorphis.
A band begun by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen all the way back in 1990 when they were still kids, over the last thirty plus years they have created a expansive discography of arousing Heavy Metal music. Placing strong emphasis on melody and the mood, Amorphis are famously recognized for many albums, but perhaps one of the most beloved came in 1994 with Tales from the Thousand Lakes.
Their second overall full-length album, Tales from the Thousand Lakes has stood the test of time and could be argued as the foundation that paved the way for other dazzling records such as 1999’s Tuonela, but also later masterfully crafted pieces such as 2009’s Skyforger or 2022’s Halo. Truly a vital part of their history, now in 2024 Tales from the Thousand Lakes celebrates a 30th anniversary with the release of Tales from the Thousand Lakes (Live At Tavastia) to Blu-ray+CD and vinyl. A very unique addition to their discography, Tomi Koivusaari sat down to talk about the history of the band, the paths they have taken, plus much more.
Cryptic Rock – Amorphis has built a very extensive, prolific career at this point. One of Finland’s most well-known bands, how would you describe the incredible journey of Amorphis to this point?
Tomi Koivusaari – Well, it’s difficult because it feels like this band has been like one leg for me; all my adult years. When we started the band, I was 16-17 years old. It feels like it’s always been here. It’s been an interesting journey overall. I wouldn’t change a day.
Cryptic Rock – Interesting, and quite long. As you said, it has essentially been your whole life since you began with it so young. What is interesting about Amorphis is that you can look at the band in two separate eras. Obviously, you changed with Pasi Koskinen departing from the band, which ushered in the Tomi Joutsen era. When bands change vocalists, you can never predict where it will go. Tomi Jousten came on in 2005, and Amorphis is just as strong, if not stronger than ever. Looking back to nearly 20 years ago, did the band feel reinvigorated at that point?
Tomi Koivusaari – Yeah. It felt like it. We knew in the end times of Pasi that this cannot be, it’d have to change anyway. It was very hard to try to find the new singer. We were already playing with the idea that we will make an instrumental album. We never had a feeling that we should quit or anything like that, but then we found Tomi Joutsen. Of course, that opened a new era for us. Still, you can hear it’s a new guy, but he’s been in the band for like 20 years already.
Cryptic Rock – That is what is really astounding. The time with Tomi has been wonderful and the albums continue to be strong musically and lyrically. What has it been like working with Tomi for nearly two decades?
Tomi Koivusaari – Well, of course, compared to Pasi, it was completely opposite; because Tomi takes everything so professionally. He’s a great guy, he’s a great frontman, he can do the growls, and he can do the clean vocals. I couldn’t imagine a better vocalist for us. He doesn’t have any attitude problems like some of the singers. He’s a very down-to-earth kind of guy and it fits the band very well. That’s today’s Amorphis lineup and hopefully won’t change.
Cryptic Rock – It has worked very well, and as mentioned, each album is very high quality. You have also put out some interesting live albums as well. You have Tales from the Thousand Lakes (Live At Tavastia) which just came out on CD and Blu-ray. What inspired you to put this together and put this out now?
Tomi Koivusaari – Well, it was recorded at COVID time. Of course, everybody else had to cancel hundreds of shows. Our record company had an idea of doing this. We didn’t know back when we recorded in 2021 that it’s not going out immediately, but we had to wait for this anniversary year, which is good. It was good to have some work at the time when we were just waiting for the world to open.
Of course, it was very strange at the time. It’s a live album, but without the audience. It’s not real ‘live’, but of course, we are playing it live. It was a strange thing at the time. I think it’s stranger nowadays when I look at it, versus without the audience; I cannot remember that time that well anymore. It’s good though and I think it’s better to have it like this than going to the studio and making new versions of the Tales from the Thousand Lakes songs or something like that. This is more like a real thing to me.
Cryptic Rock – Right. Like you said, it has to be a little strange. It is like watching sporting events with nobody in the stands. Kind of anticlimactic in a way, right?
Tomi Koivusaari – Yea. It’s just weird.
Cryptic Rock – Well, with this live album, you encapsulate a lot of material that Amorphis fans really hold near and dear to them. Like you said, we’re going back a long time now with Tales from the Thousand Lakes which celebrates 30 years in 2024. Looking back, the original recordings have stood the test of time. Because Amorphis has progressed so much as a band, in hindsight, how do you look back at these early recordings?
Tomi Koivusaari – I think we still have the same elements as back then. The melodies are still very important to us. There is a certain kind of simpleness in the songs. It’s not that mathematic or like a lot of new Metal bands are nowadays where it’s very compressed. We still have the same kind of elements; there are dynamics in the music still and air. We’ve been playing some of these older songs during the years all the time. It wasn’t that difficult to us and all those songs are in muscle memory somehow.
Of course, every time when you play some album from start to end, it’s a little bit strange, because you’re normally building the live set differently from an album order. This time we didn’t have an audience there, so it wasn’t that dramatically different.
Cryptic Rock – Interesting. Let us also not forget that on the original Tales from the Thousand Lakes album, you were the vocalist.
Tomi Koivusaari – Well, yeah. I think Tomi has a lot more of an energetic style of growling. It brings a little bit more energy to those songs than I could do. I think it would be impossible for me to do the whole set with that growling style; because I didn’t have the right technique. My throat was on fire after every gig we had at the time. I’m glad that we have Tomi now. I can do some things there and there, but not the whole show, never.
Cryptic Rock – Understood. It is great that real live shows are back now. Surely you are excited about that as well.
Tomi Koivusaari – Definitely. It’s like a nightmare. At the same time, it was good to have some break, but you never realize that it’s going to last two years or so. When the first cancellations happened, I was thinking, “Okay. Everybody else has this same situation and there’s nothing I can do. Let’s just have some holiday or something.” Then it didn’t end.
Of course, we did some streams and we did the Halo album recordings. Some of the guys, like myself, did some solo stuff. It was still hard waiting; especially if we are doing this for a living and you don’t get any income anywhere. I hope there’s not going to be another virus soon.
Cryptic Rock – Hopefully not. Well, you remained active. You released the Halo album in 2022. Speaking with many musicians, some said they had a good period of creativity during the COVID era, while others said they lacked inspiration and had writer’s block. What was it like for you?
Tomi Koivusaari – I think we already had that period set to make a new album. We had the songs pretty much done before the COVID time. We weren’t supposed to write new material, but it came out where everybody had some of their own projects.
I felt creative. Normally, if you’re on tour all the time, then you’re at home, it’s not easy to start to create something new. You just want to do something totally different, maybe. At that time, I felt like it was fun. I was in my cabin where I have a small studio, and it felt like ideas just came popping up for me. It’s not a common thing for me; because most of the time I have a writer’s block. It was a creative time for me.
Cryptic Rock – Interesting. Everyone is different in that respect. Like we have spoken about, Amorphis has been together a long time now. There have been some lineup changes, but for the most part, it has been a relatively firmly built foundation with Amorphis. It has to be hard to be in a band and sustain. Is it the personalities that make it work? What is the key to longevity?
Tomi Koivusaari – Well, I guess personalities must be it. We are still very good friends. On tour, we are hanging together. You see some bands who are just meeting on a stage, but then they are going different directions during the day. We are still very good friends and I think that’s important.
Nowadays, we are wiser than when we were younger. Then we had some more problems and lineup changes because we didn’t talk. It was talking behind people’s backs and stuff like that. Nowadays, we’re trying to be wiser in that way that we are discussing things and I think that’s important. Every one of us are down-to-earth kind of guys and I think we have the same goals. We will continue this for a long time. I think friendship is the most important thing.
Cryptic Rock – That is really something special. It is something that everyone looks at. You want to have a group of players who are on the same page for the most part, check their egos at the door, and get along. musician to have a group of players that are on the same page for the most part, check their egos at the door That makes for good music too.
Tomi Koivusaari – Yeah. It’s strange how sensitive it is when one guy is changing the lineup. It changes everything and the whole chemistry in some way every time. My kid is playing and they have a band. I’ve been trying to tell him to know what to expect with the chemistry. Sometimes bad chemistry can kill the band. Even if everything is okay, but you just have the stupid arguing, things like that can ruin the whole thing.
Cryptic Rock – It is a very delicate balance. Something trivial could ruin the chemistry. You released Halo, now you have this new live release… so have you started the writing process for a new studio album?
Tomi Koivusaari – Yeah. We’re going to the studio at the end of this year, right after the US tour. I think everybody has started to make songs, but we haven’t shared them with each other yet. I haven’t heard anything that other guys have been doing, I just know what I’ve been doing.
I don’t know what kind of songs there will be, but I think there will be new things. I have no idea how it’s going to be, but I hope it’s going to be good. That’s what we always are heading for. We are still trying to make the best album. That won’t change.
Cryptic Rock – Excellent. That will be something to look forward to in the future. You Amorphis has left anyone down in recent years with your studio albums. Going back to what you were talking about with dynamics, you guys have always stuck with very dynamic recordings. A lot of modern Metal records are excessively loud for no reason. With this modern technique, everything is meshed together and is a little too overwhelming. What do you feel about the direction of modern recordings?
Tomi Koivusaari – Well, yeah, I agree. If I’m listening to the first Dio or Slayer album, they’re like the classic ones. They have air, and I think that’s how I like to hear music. I do not like it being over compressed, feels like I can’t breathe, and if I have some monitoring system in my head. (Laughs)
I think a lot of new stuff, new Metal bands, they’re sounding the same, and it doesn’t have any organic feel to it. This is to my taste, but not everyone, of course. I like it more if there’s some space or dynamics.
Cryptic Rock – The same could be said with a film. It seems like a lot of modern films are just constant in your face and there is no room for something to breathe. Maybe it is a product of people’s short attention spans.
Tomi Koivusaari – Yeah, that’s true. If you listen to Pink Floyd’s “Echoes,” it is over 23 minutes long, and it is perfect how it is. There’s a full journey in that song. Nowadays, and I’m not talking about Metal music, but for radio songs overall, you have a chorus 10 seconds after the song started and there can be no long parts and no solos. It’s full blast, otherwise, it’s not TikTok material, something like this. We still prefer doing the whole albums, not just songs and doing it old school.
Cryptic Rock – That is the way it should be. It is a strange culture that we have going on. Not sure what it is like in Finland, but in America, it feels like attention spans are shot. This is a generalized statement about the mainstream; it is not to say there are not those who can still dig into something of substance.
Tomi Koivusaari – Yeah. I think it’s the same everywhere.
Cryptic Rock – It is fascinating to hear that. Years ago, you could look at each country as a different culture, but perhaps the internet has made the large majority of us all the same in many ways.
Tomi Koivusaari – Yeah, that’s true.
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