At the risk of sounding like this album's detractors, let me start by saying that this album is really not that heavy at all.  It is melodic and very VERY accessible.  It is NOT death metal, but rather a doom-death hybrid (though it does NOT sound anything like Anathema, My Dying Bride, and bands of such ilk).  Nor is it very fast or evil.  Being a black metal fan, that usually disqualifies a metal release for me.  But this album is one of the greatest metal CDs ever recorded.
Amorphis have done something very unique here, and I for one have not heard anything like it in my thirteen years of listening to metal.  Beautiful, VERY catchy melodies, lots of rock sounding riffs and rhythm structures, low, guttural death metal vocals, and an overall gloomy depressing mood.  For some reason, it works really really well.  It basically feels like what the cover art looks like.
I will say again, this is not heavy death metal, so don't expect that.  But coming from someone who loves fast and furious almost all the time, I can say that if I'm going to listen to something catchy and melodic, this is going to be it.  It's beautiful, it gets in your head, and it works.  Buy it, you shan't be disappointed.
P.S.  Not all Amorphis albums sounds like this; they have opted for clean vocals exclusively on later releases and from what I have heard of them they are really not that good.
At the risk of sounding like this album's detractors, let me start by saying that this album is really not that heavy at all. It is melodic and very VERY accessible. It is NOT death metal, but rather a doom-death hybrid (though it does NOT sound anything like Anathema, My Dying Bride, and bands of such ilk). Nor is it very fast or evil. Being a black metal fan, that usually disqualifies a metal release for me. But this album is one of the greatest metal CDs ever recorded. Amorphis have done something very unique here, and I for one have not heard anything like it in my thirteen years of listening to metal. Beautiful, VERY catchy melodies, lots of rock sounding riffs and rhythm structures, low, guttural death metal vocals, and an overall gloomy depressing mood. For some reason, it works really really well. It basically feels like what the cover art looks like. I will say again, this is not heavy death metal, so don't expect that. But coming from someone who loves fast and furious almost all the time, I can say that if I'm going to listen to something catchy and melodic, this is going to be it. It's beautiful, it gets in your head, and it works. Buy it, you shan't be disappointed. P. S.  Not all Amorphis albums sounds like this; they have opted for clean vocals exclusively on later releases and from what I have heard of them they are really not that good.