AMORPHIS

The days when live albums were regarded as essential entries in any great band's catalogue are long gone, but AMORPHIS are doing more than most to inject some value into the idea. "Queen Of Time (Live At Tavastia 2021)" is the Finnish veterans' fourth live record, but the first to focus exclusively on one album. Released in 2018, "Queen Of Time" is notable for featuring the original AMORPHIS line-up for the first time since the seminal "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" (1994),  but also for being one the strongest records in the band's largely flaw-free catalogue.

Their 13th studio effort capped off the run of incredible albums that the Finns had made since recruiting Tomi Joutsen as vocalist for 2006's "Eclipse" and received widespread acclaim for its rich mixture of heavy, stirring material and more elegant and subtle fare. Performing it live in its many-splendored entirety and to an audience of devoted acolytes in Tavastia, Finland, AMORPHIS sound enraptured by their own material and the collective experience of bringing it to life.

This is a fans-only affair, but it's a righteous and joyful one. "Queen Of Time" boasts some of the finest songs AMORPHIS have ever written, and thanks to immaculate performances and a huge, venue-filling sound, this front-to-back odyssey practically roars from the speakers. Highlights are numerous: curtain-raiser "The Bee" is a magnificent encapsulation of everything that this band do so well, with a typically commanding Joutsen vocal and every riff and keyboard motif zinging with crystal-clear oomph; "The Golden Elk" shines a bright light on AMORPHIS's progressive streak, with lashings of guitarist Esa Holopainen's trademark insidious melodies and a palpable sense of windswept melancholy; "Wrong Direction" is a gleaming, up-tempo squall of poetic pathos and thunderous drama; epic closer "Pyres On The Coast" is vivid, cinematic and dense with mystical atmosphere. The shiniest diamond on offer is, perhaps inevitably, "Amongst Stars", a fiendishly catchy and emotional exercise in melodic bravado, augmented here (as on the original album) by the presence and life-affirming vocals of Anneke Van Giersbergen, with whom AMORPHIS should clearly collaborate more often.

Genuinely great live albums are few and far between, but "Queen Of Time (Live At Tavastia 2021)" presents a truly worthwhile moment in time, captured for posterity. And with AMORPHIS still on majestic form (last year's "Halo" might just be their strongest album to date),  this will ensure that the faithful return in their droves next time the band hit the road. Quite right too.