Amazing that this late into the Finns’ career, this multi-disc package represents their initial foray into the visual medium. Good things come to those who wait and as a fan, certainly glad they waited until the Tomi Joutsen era, rather than the last couple of discs with former vocalist Pasi Koskinen. That said, here are two audio discs and a matching pair of DVDs. Hard to believe you can fit all that (plus a booklet) into a fold-out digi-pak. The CDs comprise the Oulu show from ’09 found on DVD #1. The sixteen tracks (the Elegy Medley of ‘Against Widows’, ‘Cares’ and ‘Of Rich And Poor’ counts as only one song) are almost evenly split between the pair of audio platters. DVD #2 contains an assortment of goodies, including the Summer Breeze festival set from the same year (a dozen tunes, although all are repeats of the early disc, albeit some in their entirety), eleven promotional videos (!), an acoustic TV performance of ‘My Kantele’ dating back to ’96, five minutes of interview from that same program and (most importantly) a 54 minute retrospective of Amorphis’ twenty year career, featuring many past members (no Kasper Martenson, nor, somewhat surprisingly, Koshkinen), conducted in Finnish, with English subtitles. Anyone wondering if Joutsen is/was the right choice, check out ‘Towards And Against’, capable of both the death metal growl, as well as passionate clean vocals. The live visuals are top flight, multi-camera and post-production (split screens, slo-mo, sepia tones, etc.) affair that is more an artistic endeavor than capturing a live concert. All Joutsen’s raps are in Suomi, but minimal overall. Would have liked a little more old school footage (if there is any), but that’s just selfish. Great package!
