It’s two seconds before Tomi Jutsen bellows forth with an opening death metal-ish growl. For those that enjoyed Eclipse, these ten tracks pick up where the predecessor left off, then continues the journey back through the Finns’ catalog, towards Elegy and Tuonela. Yes, it’s that good! All the trademarks are here: funky organ, acoustic guitars, clean/guttural vocal interplay, etc. Often, all those elements are evident within the same song (see opening ‘Weaving The Incantation’). However, anyone looking for a return to death metal stylings or pure aggression should look elsewhere. ‘A Servant’ starts down a path blazed by classic Paradise Lost and is sung entirely in gruff vocalizations, whereas the single, ‘Silent Waters’ is rather smooth (apart from the guitar break near the end), Goth-lite and clean throated. Thankfully, it’s the only such track and as such, doesn’t define the album. Those strange electronic effects introduce ‘Towards And Against’, another cut utilizing pretty much the full bag of tricks. ‘I Of Crimson Blood’ kicks off with piano only, adding some sporadic, tastefully done guitar, before becoming the first truly mid-tempo Amorphis tune on the disc (irrespective of the single). ‘Her Alone’ slows things down even more, about as close to real ballad as you’re likely to hear from these guys, built around piano. The acoustic guitars gives ‘Enigma’ a bluegrass/Irish Rovers twist, while ‘Shaman’ sports a little electro-jig (courtesy of omnipresent keyboard) in the midst of those damn infectious rhythms that Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari have been writing for 15 years now (hard to believe one of the first “teenager bands” is getting well into their 30s)! The concluding ‘Black River’ like much of the album reminds me of guilty atmospheric pleasures like Decoryah or early Third And The Mortal (minus female vox), the abrupt, albeit short-lived, changes in dynamics, never losing sense of simple melodies. A Sept. 11th issuance is expected in North America.