Unlike their neighbors to the west, Finnish scene evolved late and also in relative isolation. Quite like how they took their own time for economic industrialization, Finnish metallers were also sort of late to the planet’s extreme metal feast. Finns do come across as one wary lot. But, circa 1990, evolution took a huge leap. They seamlessly adapted their classic metal roots into a Black Sabbath influenced death/doom, and accomplished it within an absolutely meager time. Not surprising why Amorphis developed such distinct signatures — they never did follow that conventional trajectory.
Now, after twenty five years of folk and melodic metal, you would think they won’t have much to say. Go with that expectation and get ready to be mowed, by some quirky progressions and subtle rich melodies.
Moments where you get to experience glimpses of their glorious past are frequent. Creative folksy hooks and abrupt bursts into melodic death segments – guaranteed to overwhelm even their ardent listeners. Undoubtedly, Under the Red Cloud forges more than quite a few steps, onto a distinct path carved over the past two decades.
By Cecil (Own work) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons
It’s like they couldn’t help it, all the British bands that invented themselves in the wake of the Sex Pistols. As hard as they tried not to, they created some of the loveliest pop music one can imagine, with smarts and restraint and pretension, lots of pretension. In their willful endeavor to be a serious, art-y band in an evolving psych-goth-pop scene, Liverpool’s Echo and the Bunnymen were not the equal of Siouxsie and the Banshees or the 
Progarchy 
