Under the Red Cloud
2015 studio album by Amorphis
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Under the Red Cloud is the twelfth studio album by Finnish progressive metal band Amorphis, released worldwide on 4 September 2015 through Nuclear Blast. The album was produced by Jens Bogren, who was described as "just the right person" by keyboardist Santeri Kallio.[4][5][6] This would be the band's last album with longtime bassist Niklas Etelävuori who left in 2017.
| Under the Red Cloud | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 4 September 2015 | |||
| Studio | Fascination Street Studios | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 49:56 | |||
| Label | Nuclear Blast | |||
| Producer | Jens Bogren[3] | |||
| Amorphis chronology | ||||
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Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Under the Red Cloud" | Pekka Kainulainen | Santeri Kallio | 5:33 |
| 2. | "The Four Wise Ones" | Kainulainen | Esa Holopainen | 4:40 |
| 3. | "Bad Blood" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 5:23 |
| 4. | "The Skull" | Kainulainen | Tomi Koivusaari | 5:04 |
| 5. | "Death of a King" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 5:14 |
| 6. | "Sacrifice" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 3:56 |
| 7. | "Dark Path" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 5:08 |
| 8. | "Enemy at the Gates" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 5:07 |
| 9. | "Tree of Ages" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 4:36 |
| 10. | "White Night" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 5:15 |
| Total length: | 49:56 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Come the Spring" | Kainulainen | Koivusaari | 3:27 |
| 12. | "The Wind" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 5:48 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Come the Spring" | Kainulainen | Koivusaari | 3:27 |
| 12. | "Winter's Sleep" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 6:37 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Shades of Gray" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 7:28 |
| 2. | "Narrow Path" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 4:46 |
| 3. | "Sky Is Mine" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 4:22 |
| 4. | "Silver Bride" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 4:18 |
| 5. | "Into Hiding" | traditional | Holopainen, Olli-Pekka Laine | 4:09 |
| 6. | "My Kantele" | traditional | Holopainen | 6:39 |
| 7. | "Nightbird's Song" | Kainulainen | Koivusaari | 5:09 |
| 8. | "Hopeless Days" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 5:24 |
| 9. | "House of Sleep" | Paavo Haavikko | Holopainen | 5:29 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Enigma" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 5:33 |
| 2. | "Far from the Sun" | Pasi Koskinen | Amorphis | 5:00 |
| 3. | "Silent Waters" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 5:53 |
| 4. | "My Kantele" | traditional | Holopainen | 5:09 |
| 5. | "Silver Bride" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 4:56 |
| 6. | "Sampo" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 6:54 |
| 7. | "Alone" | Koskinen | Amorphis | 6:57 |
| 8. | "The Wanderer" | Kainulainen | Kallio | 4:54 |
| 9. | "Her Alone" | Kainulainen | Holopainen | 7:46 |
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Blabbermouth.net |   [7] |
| Angry Metal Guy | [8] |
| PopMatters | mixed[9] |
| Cryptic Rock | [10] |
Upon release, the album received critical acclaim. Cryptic Rock reviewed the album, finding that it had more of a focus on melody than the previous album, and it had a wider variety of instruments, which was more in line with the band's pre-2012 work. "The Four Wise Ones" was described as an "instant classic" song, "pure melodic death metal at its finest."[11] Cryptic Rock also saw songs that were heavy metal, folk metal and rock ballads.[11]
Under the Red Cloud debuted at No. 144 on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 1,600 units in the US in its first week.
Charts
| Chart (2015) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] | 20 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] | 53 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] | 40 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] | 50 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[16] | 2 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[17] | 85 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[18] | 25 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] | 10 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] | 11 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[21] | 21 |
| UK Progressive Albums (OCC)[22] | 10 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[23] | 16 |
Personnel
Amorphis
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Miscellaneous staff
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Additional Vocalists
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Orchestra
|
Engineers
- Lasse Väyrynen – Jan Rechberger's percussion
- David Castillo – Martin Lopez's percussion
- Jyri Riikonen – grand piano, Hammond and Rhodes
- Jonas Olsson
- Viktor Stenqvist
