ShutterBLAST.net founder / photographer Audrey Dujardin has checked in with a review of the Finnish release party for AMORPHIS' new DVD/CD, Forging The Land Of Thousand Lakes, held at Cinema Andorra in Helsinki on Tuesday, July 6th

"Amorphis. One of those bands that have shaped the life and form of all metal as we know it, with its unique blend of death metal, melodies, growls, clean vocals, Finnish folklore and mysterious atmospheres. After the addition of new frontman Tomi Joutsen with the last handful of records, the band has gained an undeniable new oomph.

Their latest work of art, Skyforger, released in 2009 has made it big, bigger and biggest. Not just in the cash cow lands of metal like Germany, but also in their home territory. I was invited to the quiet and very Finnish event in a small movie theatre in the center of Helsinki where the band and associates received their framed gold records for sales in Finland of over 15 000 copies of the album Skyforger.

After a couple of drinks, a select few were able to watch the fresh-off-the-press new Amorphis DVD, Forging The Land Of Thousand Lakes. What a pleasure it was, to watch this on a silver screen. The whole concert is filmed like one long music video, with real effort to give the music the visual canvas it deserves. Colors retouched, textures, and a sound clear as crystal. As the first track started to play, I was sitting next to one of the camera operators from the DVD and I asked him :'Is this really live?' I couldn't believe that Tomi's vocals were actually THIS GOOD. By good, I mean perfect. I mean that you couldn't tell the man was under the pressure of singing for this long awaited Amorphis DVD.

With a perfect track listing, featuring mostly newer 'Tomi-sung' material but with the genius of technology and the magic of the breathtaking musical prodigy the audience felt sucked into an Amorphis-vortex where music, Kalevala, dreadlocks, guitars and the powerful melodies drive you to bang your head, close your eyes and enjoy how well Amorphis has redefined the word 'magic'."

Forging The Land Of Thousand Lakes was released in Finland on July 7th in Finland, will hit shelves in the rest of Europe on July 9th and August 10th for North America via Nuclear Blast. The new set is now available for pre-order from the band's webshop. Besides the regular and deluxe DVD, the webshop also offers a special package containing the limited deluxe edition and an exclusive t-shirt (classic or girlie). A teaser clip can be seen below: