Beautiful composition (read: “evolution”) and guitar work by one of progressive metal’s most prolific creative geniuses. It’s a song that flows like water but is hot as fire. It’s too fast to be lava, but like lava, once it gets in your ear, you’ll have trouble getting it out.

“Cause it’s all in the heat of the moment
It’s all in the pain!
So give in to the heat of the moment
Give in to the pain!”

YouTube (decent quality):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrxmrS9FIzc^

For Spotify Users (high quality):

http://open.spotify.com/track/3CQNe6pyXgbfd2BSa42NIC^

For Deezer Users (high quality):

http://www.deezer.com/track/108659230^

And here’s the Discogs entry for whoever wants to buy this album:

https://www.discogs.com/The-Devin-Townsend-Band-Accelerated-Evolution/master/179331^

This Weekly Song entry has been brought from the FaceBook archive of Weekly Song^. This exploration was originally started through a FaceBook page, about 13 months prior to launching Mentatul. Slowly but surely, the entire FaceBook archive will be brought here.

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I’m usually happy to hear what a few extra instruments can do to a metal song. It doesn’t matter if those instruments are physical or spawned from the digital innards of a synthesizer. What matters is how they are integrated with the rest of the orchestration. The solid riffing and drumming here is all laid upon a dreamy foundation, the perfect soundscape for the song’s eerie lyrics.

True to the roots of the group’s name, Amorphis has gone through quite a number of musical transformations. The band has become a successful example when it comes to incorporating other instruments into the traditional metal repertoire.

The melody hails from Amorphis’ Pasi Koskinen^ era, when they released a few progressive metal albums. The band has released many more albums after they changed to a new vocalist (Tomi Joutsen^) who brought a blast of fresh energy to the band’s music. This is surely not the last Amorphis song you’ll see around here.

“In the morning mist by the waning moon
through the woods she set on foot
With a sacred blade cut the berries down
Dug up the dreaded mandrake root

[Chorus:]
Tread my path to summer’s end
This bequest I leave you she says
You will see what could be evergreen
Turn to copper and fade to gray

By the standing stones
Atropine eyes smiled at me
Sitting in a sluggish vertigo
Sands of time form another dream
No love without sacrifice
No lige springs without decay
The final kiss is a wormy one
In soils cold caress to rest we’ll lay”

Unfortunately, I can’t find any way of purchasing the album digitally from any ethical shop (such as BandCamp^).

YouTube (decent quality):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aXDr3a1utU^

For Spotify Users (high quality):

https://open.spotify.com/track/4j3x8hnOJvHwe89efGZRCo^

For Deezer Users (high quality):

https://www.deezer.com/track/11125946^

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A soft guitar leads the way into this cozy yet challenging refuge for the mind. Yes, at times this song feels like a shelter. At other times, the shelter is blown away and we’re left experiencing the storm in its unfolding furious beauty. The composition is diverse and the melody goes through several transformations during the song’s 8 minutes, always managing to keep the ear busy and satisfied.

“Jesus, here lies my brother
Tortured and blown
Stretch for the heavens and go
…I watch him go
Here it comes

[…]

And this one’s for the life
This one’s for the funeral in the rain
And if only for tonight
This one’s for the funeral in the rain

The day’s gone and the year’s gone
And I don’t know when I’m coming home
I can’t hold on to what I’ve had
When what I’ve had
There’s nothing left at all…”

YouTube (decent quality):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wWuun-adj0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wWuun-adj0^

For Spotify Users (high quality):

https://open.spotify.com/track/73Z4v4uDvjdwCcKPNTGZ7V^

For Deezer Users (high quality):

http://www.deezer.com/track/108558112^

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This is a song of fascinating intensity. It isn’t all that surprising given that it is a progressive metal band’s interpretation of a hymn for love. What is surprising is just how much message Devin Townsend & Co. managed to cram into these six minutes of epic ride. The singing is top notch as for the instrumental side, well, this is Devin Townsend we’re talking about so expect nothing short of sublime, diverse and relentless.

“We know that it’s only human
We know that it’s only love
We know that it’s far too close to home
To see it now

Love all we can before
We learn all we came for
Learn all we can before
The road leads to home

[…]

Never fear love
(High)
Never fear love
(Road)
Never fear love
(Warning)

[…]

I know the way, and you know the way
We all fall down if we fear love”

YouTube (decent quality – LIVE video – AWESOME):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qAouGh5AyA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qAouGh5AyA^

YouTube (decent quality):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StSalE00cAA^

For Spotify Users (high quality):

https://open.spotify.com/track/6zic4tNd5P9HQZyLvQDCtR^

For Deezer Users (high quality):

http://www.deezer.com/track/108641926^

This Weekly Song entry has been brought from the FaceBook archive of Weekly Song^. This exploration was originally started through a FaceBook page, about 13 months prior to launching Mentatul. Slowly but surely, the entire FaceBook archive will be brought here.

Original post:

A strong song with a strong message that I care a great deal about. This is one of those melodies where the lyrics are not only pleasant to read, but they have to be understood and integrated.

The concert recording of this video, available on YouTube, is pretty darned epic.

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