The Beginning of Times

The Beginning of Times is the tenth studio album by Finnish metal band Amorphis, released on 25 May 2011 in Finland, 27 May in Europe and June 7 in the United States. Like previous Amorphis albums, The Beginning of Times is a concept album. The central character of the songs is Väinämöinen, described by the band as "the iconic hero of Finnish mythology".[6]

The Beginning of Times
Studio album by Amorphis
Released	25 May 2011 (2011-05-25) (FI) 27 May 2011 (2011-05-27) (EU)[1] June 7, 2011 (2011-06-07) (US)[2]
Recorded	January 2011[3]
Studio	Sonic Pump Studios, Helsinki, Marco's CockPit, Kuopio
Genre	Progressive metal,[4] melodic death metal, hard rock[5]
Length	54:42[6]
Label	Nuclear Blast
Producer	Marco Hietala (vocals), Amorphis
Amorphis chronology
Magic & Mayhem – Tales from the Early Years (2010) The Beginning of Times (2011) Circle (2013)
Singles from The Beginning of Times
"You I Need" Released: 20 April 2011

Release

Singles

On 11 April 2011, Amorphis premiered the first single "You I Need" on their Facebook page.[7] It was released digitally in Finland on 20 April 2011,[8] and in other countries on 22 April 2011. Early the next month, the band released another new song, "My Enemy", again on Facebook.[9]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[10]
Jukebox:Metal	[11]
PopMatters	[5]
Metal-Temple.com	[12]
Rockfreaks.net	[13]
MetalUnderground.com	[14]
Sea of Tranquility	[15]

The Beginning of Times had a strong sales debut week, charting at No. 1 on the Finnish Albums Chart and No. 16 on the German Media Control Charts.[16][17]

In a professional review for PopMatters, Adrien Begrand praised the album, going so far as to say that Amorphis have never sounded better with their current line-up and describes the album as "a slick, classy blend of death metal and melodic hard rock".[5] Amateur reviews have also been positive, with Craig Hartranft of DangerDog proclaiming "The Beginning of Times finds Amorphis in grand form, doing what they do best".[18]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Pekka Kainulainen[6].

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Battle for Light"	Santeri Kallio	5:35
2.	"Mermaid"	Kallio	4:24
3.	"My Enemy"	Tomi Koivusaari	3:25
4.	"You I Need"	Kallio	4:22
5.	"Song of the Sage"	Kallio	5:27
6.	"Three Words"	Esa Holopainen	3:55
7.	"Reformation"	Holopainen	4:33
8.	"Soothsayer"	Koivusaari	4:09
9.	"On a Stranded Shore"	Kallio	4:13
10.	"Escape"	Kallio	3:52
11.	"Crack in a Stone"	Holopainen	4:56
12.	"Beginning of Time"	Holopainen	5:51
13.	"Heart's Song" (Bonus track)	Holopainen	4:07

Personnel

Amorphis Tomi Joutsen – vocals Esa Holopainen – lead guitar Tomi Koivusaari – rhythm guitar Niclas Etelävuori – bass guitar Santeri Kallio – keyboards; synthesizers; piano; organ Jan Rechberger – drums

Additional personnel Savotta Choir – additional male vocals Netta Dahlberg – additional female vocals Iikka Kahri – flute, clarinet & saxophone Marco Hietala - vocals production Mikko Karmila - mixing Travis Smith - cover art Pekka Kainulainen - lyrics

Additional personnel 2 Erkki Virta - lyric translation Sami Koivisto - engineering Thomas Ewerhard - layout Svante Forsbäck - mastering Stefan de Batselier - photography

Charts

Chart (2011)	Peak position
Finnish Albums Chart[16]	1

References

1. "AMORPHIS | The beginning of times – Nuclear Blast". Nuclearblast.de. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
2. "AMORPHIS – Discography". Nuclear Blast USA. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
3. "Blabbermouth.Net – Amorphis: New Album Update". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2013-07-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. Begrand, Adrien. "Amorphis: The Beginning of Times < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
6. "New Album "The Beginning Of Times" – Amorphis". Amorphis.net. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
7. "Listen to "You I..." Facebook. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
8. "You I Need Amorphis". Download.mtv3.fi, Bonnier Group (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
9. "Listen to "My..." Facebook. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
10. Rivadavia, Eduardo (2011-05-30). "The Beginning of Times – Amorphis : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
11. "Jukebox:Metal review". Jukeboxmetal.com. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
12. "Metal Temple Review". Metal-temple.com. 2011-05-18. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
13. "review". Rockfreaks.net. 2011-05-30. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
14. "Metal Underground Review". Metalunderground.com. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
15. "Sea of Tranquility Review". Seaoftranquility.org. 2011-06-09. Retrieved 2012-09-30.
16. "Amorphis: The Beginning Of Times". Ifpi.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2011-06-02.
18. "Review : Amorphis – The Beginning of Times :: New Music Review :: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock :: CD Album Music Review : Craig Hartranft". Dangerdog.com. 2011-05-23. Retrieved 2012-01-15.