THE KARELIAN ISTHMUS

"The Karelian Isthmus" is the debut full-length studio album by Finnish death metal act Amorphis. The album was released through Relapse Records in November 1992. Amorphis was formed in 1990 by former members of speed/thrash metal act Violent Solution and death metal act Abhorrence. Shortly after their formation Amorphis recorded the January 1991 "Disment of Soul" demo and the "Vulgar Necrolatry / Misery Path" single followed in June 1991. Four more tracks were recorded during the May 1991 recording sessions which spawned the "Vulgar Necrolatry / Misery Path" single, and the six tracks from the May 1991 recording sessions were originally meant to be released as a split with US death metal act Incantation, but the project never materialized, and therefore "The Karelian Isthmus" was Amorphis next release. The six tracks from the May 1991 recording sessions would however emerge on the December 1993 "Privilege of Evil" EP (Relapse Records). Four of the six tracks from the EP would be re-arranged, re-recorded, and included on "The Karelian Isthmus".

The music on the album is old school Scandinavian death metal with a melodic doomy touch. Amorphis have developed their sound since the early releases and have added quite a few leads and harmonies to their music. That part of the music slightly reminds me of early Paradise Lost but early releases by Swedish acts like Cemetary and Tiamat also come to mind. Already on their next album, Amorphis would include strong Scandinavian folk/ethnic elements in their music and while they are not as strong on "The Karelian Isthmus", those elements are present here too.

All tracks are of a decent quality and the musicianship is strong on all posts (although to my ears the drumming is a little stiff), but the tracks don´t stand out much, although it´s obvious which are new tracks and which are slightly more old school re-recordings of earlier material. Still when the album is playing, it´s an enjoyable listen and if you enjoy old school Scandinavian death metal you should find a lot to like here. The sound production is also quite good (recorded and mixed at Sunlight Studios, Stockholm, Sweden with producer Tomas Skogsberg), so a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is still warranted even though "The Karelian Isthmus" isn´t the most remarkable death metal album from the early 90s Finnish death metal scene.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).