Amoral (band)

This article is about the death metal band. For the term associated with ethics, see Amorality.

Amoral (band)
Playing at Tuska 2009 festival
Background information
Origin	Helsinki, Finland
Genres	Technical Death Metal (old) Power Metal (currently)
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Imperial Cassette
Website	amoralweb.com
Members
Ben Varon Ari Koivunen Masi Hukari Juhana Karlsson Pekka Johansson
Past members
Silver Ots Erkki Silvennoinen Matti Pitkänen Ville Sorvali Niko Kalliojärvi

Amoral is a metal band from Helsinki, Finland. At their first three full-lengths they played progressive technical death metal and melodic death metal styled music. The band's 4th album was an about-turn, replacing the dominance of quirky death metal with an exemplary display of riff-driven, heavy, yet melodic power groove and the occasional sing-along chorus, thus owing in equal measures to the likes of Skid Row and Pantera. Amoral has performed extensively in bars, clubs, festivals and other venues in Finland, Europe, and Japan. Amoral released Beneath in the US via The End Records in February 2012.

Biography

Early times

Amoral was formed in 2000 by Varon, Karlsson, and Ots; their first vocalist was Matti Pitkänen, who was quickly replaced by Niko Kalliojärvi. Former band members also include Ville Sorvali from Moonsorrow on bass. For some time before Sorvali joined Amoral, the band was without bass player, and Ots played bass on some of their demos. Amoral released two demos, Desolation and Other Flesh, with varying line-ups, and played some minor gigs before releasing their first full-length album.

Wound Creations

Amoral signed with Rage of Achilles Records and released their first album, Wound Creations, in 2004. After the bankruptcy of Rage of Achilles Amoral was picked up by Spikefarm, a division of Spinefarm Records, a major Finnish rock and heavy metal record label with whom they re-released Wound Creations and added a bonus track ("Metamorphosis" from an early demo) to mark the new release version. The album has received predominantly positive reviews from metal magazines and webzines around Finland and Europe, and Amoral played numerous gigs following the release and thenceforth^{[citation needed]} Their rise from the underground metal scene was further marked by a month-long European tour with renowned metal bands Finntroll and Naglfar, and their inclusion in Tuska Open Air Metal Festival 2005, Finland's most important heavy metal festival.

Decrowning

Soon after the 2005 European tour, Amoral returned to the studio to record their second album, Decrowning. The album was released in Finland and several other countries in October 2005 and in Japan and the United States in March 2006. A music video has been shot for the song "Lacrimal Gland." The band embarked on a second European tour in the spring of 2006. The 37-date tour was headlined by Dark Funeral and Naglfar, and supported by Amoral, Endstille, and Asmodeus. Amoral has since played a showcase gig in Japan and a mini-tour in Italy.

Reptile Ride

Amoral's third album was first announced on their website in early July 2006. The album was recorded in Studio Sound Supreme in Hämeenlinna in early 2007, and it was released in August 2007. A video was shot for the opening track and first and only single of the album, "Leave Your Dead Behind."

Show Your Colors

Amoral's fourth studio album was announced in November 2008 when the band announced Ari Koivunen as their new front man. The album was also the debut of bassist Pekka Johansson. On January 21, their first single Year of the Suckerpunch was put up the band's MySpace account. At the first single and also at the total album Amoral replaced the previous growling vocals with clean vocals and big choruses. "Year of the Suckerpunch" was on the Finnish national radio Ylex´s playlist with the highest hopes of receiving song of the year for 2009. The album, Show Your Colors, was released May 6, 2009..Show Your Colors has also been released in Great Britain, Germany, USA, Canada and Japan. The album was ranked by public voting as the fifth best domestic metal album at the Finnish Metal Awards 2009.

12 January 2010 the band announced that Amoral and Silver Ots had parted ways. Valtteri Hirvonen, who already played at the European tour 2009 replacing Silver, was announced to be the "permanent stand-in guitarist" for the time being.

Beneath

2010 Amoral worked with it´s 5th album 'Beneath. Studio blog is online. At the end of 2010 Amoral announced it´s new guitarist Masi Hukari, who shared the lead guitar with Ben Varon as well as co-wrote two of the songs.

'Beneath was recorded at Sound Supreme studios in Hämeenlinna and was produced by Janne Saksa and guitarist Ben Varon. The album continues on the path Amoral started with ”Show Your Colors” . The emphasis is still on solid songwriting, big hooks, new arrangements and guitar riffs, but the scale is wider than ever before: From 9-minute epics ”Beneath” to straight-forward rock songs ”Silhouette” and ”Same Difference”, to nods to the band's death metal past ”(Won't Go) Home” and ”Staying Human” and talks between acoustic guitars and industrial landscapes in ”Wastelands”. The CD was released 26th October 2011. The Japan edition was out 19th October. The first single "Same Difference" was released at the beginning of summer 2011.. The second single "Silhouette" was played first time on Radio Rock (FI) 3rd October and was followed by a video. Silhouette has both electric and acoustic versions, from which the acoustic one is the original. 14th February 2012 Beneath was released in the US via The End Records and in Mexico it was released 15th February 2012. The album was ranked by public voting as the fourth best domestic metal album at the Finnish Metal Awards 2011.

Amoral will make its US live debut 15th March 2012 at the South By Southwest (SXSW) event in Austin, Texas.

Members

Current members

• Ari Koivunen - vocals
• Ben Varon - guitar
• Masi Hukari - guitar
• Juhana Karlsson - drums
• Pekka Johansson - bass

Former members

• Silver Ots - guitar, bass
• Niko Kalliojärvi - vocals
• Erkki Silvennoinen - bass
• Matti Pitkänen - vocals
• Ville Sorvali - bass

Discography

Studio albums

• Wound Creations (2004), Spikefarm
• Decrowning (2005), Spikefarm
• Reptile Ride (2007), Spikefarm
• Show Your Colors (2009), Spinefarm
• Beneath (2011), Imperial Cassette
• Beneath (US) (2012), The End Records

Singles

• Leave Your Dead Behind (2007)
• Year of the Suckerpunch (2009)
• Gave Up Easy (2009)
• Same Difference (2011)
• Silhouette (2011)

Demos

• Desolation (2001)
• Demo II (2002)
• Other Flesh (2002)

External links

• Amoral's official website
• MySpace Page
• Amoral's official Forum
• Spinefarm Records website
• Blabbermouth News of Amoral 2004 >
• Interview with Ari Koivunen and Ben Varon of Amoral by FREE! Magazine
• Interview 2007