Amorphis – Privilege of Evil

In recent decades Death Metal experienced a huge shift in style as Bands went from writing intricate arrangements with unique melodies towards a style that favours dexterity and ability to assemble given melodies and scales to create a less organic and robotic sound of a genre that once managed to portray imaginative visions of life after death and death itself.

Since its earliest stages, Death Metal has always been a genre that required technical proficiency of your instrument, be it fast power chords and runs across the fretboards or long barrages of tremolo picking, yet bands had to excel with interesting arrangements and finding their own voice.

On the 1993 EP “Privilege of Evil” Amorphis plays a frenetic, primitive yet at the same time very competent derivative of Death Metal, depicting terror in the human soul with an amount of very limited but effective tools. Tracks often contain a small amount of riffs, melodies and very few transitions, each of them arranged to guide towards a climax before returning to the beginning of the song and then leading to the definitive end.

The production is crystal clear for a Death Metal EP of that time, drums sound bombastic and simple grooves not only carry but underline the guitars as well. The Guitar tone sounds alike to that of Demigod, clear enough to let glorious melodies unfold but at the same time the lower end tremolo picking and power chord barrages carry a massive amount of crunch, especially captivating during the slower parts on this EP. Tomi Koivusaari’s raspy, powerful growls reign the highest in the mix but despite their low end they don’t distract from the music as they are clear and very pronounced, giving the music an even more menacing edge.

In true Finnish Death Metal Fashion, most melodies are used to suggest transition within a song before they evolve into a serious theme which carries the song onward. Tremolo picked riffs lead to greater segments with a groove advancing into slow and doomy sections which then again introduce a previous or new melody before a theme is repeated leading to the climax of a song. This allows Amorphis to always set a certain mood for a song while cycling through motifs and variations without losing the atmosphere or implementing unrelated themes.

On “Privilege of Evil” Amorphis created a sound that holds the true spirit of Death Metal, though not complex it always reminds the listener that Death immediate and present throughout life.

In the misty morning
When the sun is rising,
When the whole sky is red like blood
Man can realize the real meaning of life
To love and respect your life
Your salvation, or is just your damnation
We all ourselves…