The Beginning of Times

The Beginning of Times
Studio album by
Amorphis
Released25 May 2011 (2011-05-25) (FI)
27 May 2011 (2011-05-27) (EU)[1]
June 7, 2011 (2011-06-07) (US)[2]
RecordedJanuary 2011[3]
StudioSonic Pump Studios, Helsinki, Marco's CockPit, Kuopio
GenreProgressive metal,[4] melodic death metal, gothic metal, hard rock[5]
Length54:42[6]
LabelNuclear Blast
ProducerMarko Hietala (vocals), Amorphis
Amorphis chronology
Magic & Mayhem – Tales from the Early Years
(2010) 		The Beginning of Times
(2011) 		Circle
(2013)
Singles from The Beginning of Times
  1. "You I Need"
    Released: 20 April 2011

The Beginning of Times is the tenth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis, released on 25 May 2011 in Finland, 27 May in Europe and 7 June in the United States. Like previous Amorphis albums, The Beginning of Times, is a concept album. The central character of the songs is Väinämöinen, described by the band as "the iconic hero of Finnish mythology".[6]

Release

Singles

On 11 April 2011, Amorphis premiered the first single "You I Need" on their Facebook page.[7] It was released digitally in Finland on 20 April 2011,[8] and in other countries on 22 April 2011. Early the next month, the band released another new song, "My Enemy", again on Facebook.[9]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [10]
Jukebox:Metal [11]
PopMatters [5]
Metal-Temple.com [12]
Rockfreaks.net [13]
MetalUnderground.com [14]
Sea of Tranquility [15]

The Beginning of Times had a strong sales debut week, charting at No. 1 on the Finnish Albums Chart and No. 16 on the German Media Control Charts.[16][17]

In a professional review for PopMatters, Adrien Begrand praised the album, going so far as to say that Amorphis have never sounded better with their current line-up and describes the album as "a slick, classy blend of death metal and melodic hard rock".[5] Amateur reviews have also been positive, with Craig Hartranft of DangerDog proclaiming "The Beginning of Times finds Amorphis in grand form, doing what they do best".[18]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Pekka Kainulainen[6]

No.TitleMusicLength
1."Battle for Light"Santeri Kallio5:35
2."Mermaid"Kallio4:24
3."My Enemy"Tomi Koivusaari3:25
4."You I Need"Kallio4:22
5."Song of the Sage"Kallio5:27
6."Three Words"Esa Holopainen3:55
7."Reformation"Holopainen4:33
8."Soothsayer"Koivusaari4:09
9."On a Stranded Shore"Kallio4:13
10."Escape"Kallio3:52
11."Crack in a Stone"Holopainen4:56
12."Beginning of Time"Holopainen5:51
Total length:54:42
Bonus track
No.TitleMusicLength
13."Heart's Song"Holopainen4:07
Total length:58:49

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2011) Peak
position
Finnish Albums Chart[16] 1

References

  1. ^ "AMORPHIS | The beginning of times – Nuclear Blast". Nuclearblast.de. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  2. ^ "AMORPHIS – Discography". Nuclear Blast USA. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Blabbermouth.Net – Amorphis: New Album Update". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Amorphis – the Beginning of Times – REVIEW : OneMetal.com". Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  5. ^ a b c Begrand, Adrien. "Amorphis: The Beginning of Times < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  6. ^ a b c "New Album "The Beginning Of Times" – Amorphis". Amorphis.net. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  7. ^ "Listen to "You I..." Facebook. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  8. ^ "You I Need Amorphis". Download.mtv3.fi, Bonnier Group (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  9. ^ "Listen to "My..." Facebook. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  10. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo (30 May 2011). "The Beginning of Times – Amorphis : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  11. ^ "Jukebox:Metal review". Jukeboxmetal.com. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  12. ^ "Metal Temple Review". Metal-temple.com. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  13. ^ "review". Rockfreaks.net. 30 May 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  14. ^ "Metal Underground Review". Metalunderground.com. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  15. ^ "Sea of Tranquility Review". Seaoftranquility.org. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  16. ^ a b "Amorphis: The Beginning Of Times". Ifpi.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  17. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  18. ^ "Review : Amorphis – The Beginning of Times :: New Music Review :: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock :: CD Album Music Review : Craig Hartranft". Dangerdog.com. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2012.