Tales from the Thousand Lakes

1994 studio album by Amorphis

Studio album by

Amorphis

Released

12 July 1994

Recorded

September 1993

Genre

Melodic death metal, death-doom, gothic metal

Length

40:13

Label

Relapse

Producer

Tomas Skogsberg and Amorphis

Amorphis chronology

Privilege of Evil
(1993)

Tales from the Thousand Lakes
(1994)

Elegy
(1996)

Singles from Tales from the Thousand Lakes

"Black Winter Day"
Released: 1994

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]

Tales from the Thousand Lakes is the second studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. It is a concept album based on the Finnish national epic, Kalevala.

The album was an influential release in the development of the melodic death metal genre,^[1] predominantly mixing the genre with death-doom^[2] and gothic metal,^[3] compared to the band's death metal debut. This showcases a more melodic sound for the band, with hints at their later, more progressive direction. The album also introduced synthesizers and clean vocals to the band's sound, though the latter was used sparingly.

This is the first Amorphis release to have an official keyboardist, Kasper Mårtenson, as any previous of the band's releases had the band's own drummer, Jan Rechberger, provide the empty keyboardist role until the band decided to have a keyboardist and also to find one being Mårtenson. With Mårtenson in the band, it is the first time the band's original lineup changed by having an additional member. Jan Rechberger would leave the band after this album but rejoin the band for 2003's Far from the Sun.

The original limited version (on digipack) had a cover of "Light My Fire" by The Doors added as a bonus track. It was later re-released in 2001 with most tracks from the Black Winter Day EP and the "Light My Fire" cover added as bonus tracks.

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Thousand Lakes"	(instrumental)	K. Mårtenson	2:04
2.	"Into Hiding"	traditional	E. Holopainen, O.P. Laine	3:45
3.	"The Castaway"	traditional	T. Koivusaari, E. Holopainen, O.P. Laine, K. Mårtenson	5:32
4.	"First Doom"	E. Holopainen	E. Holopainen	3:52
5.	"Black Winter Day"	traditional	K. Mårtenson	3:50
6.	"Drowned Maid"	traditional	T. Koivusaari, E. Holopainen, O.P. Laine	4:23
7.	"In the Beginning"	traditional	E. Holopainen, O.P. Laine	3:37
8.	"Forgotten Sunrise"	E. Holopainen	E. Holopainen	4:53
9.	"To Fathers Cabin"	traditional	E. Holopainen, O.P. Laine	3:50
10.	"Magic and Mayhem"	traditional	E. Holopainen	4:27
Total length:				40:13

Bonus tracks

Tracks 11–13 added from the Black Winter Day EP; track 14 is a bonus track:

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
11.	"Folk of the North"	(instrumental)	T. Koivusaari	1:17
12.	"Moon and Sun"	traditional	T. Koivusaari	3:36
13.	"Moon and Sun Part II: North's Son"	traditional	T. Koivusaari	5:10
14.	"Light My Fire" (The Doors cover)	The Doors	The Doors	2:53
Total length:				12:56

Credits

Band members

Tomi Koivusaari – vocals, rhythm guitar
Esa Holopainen – lead guitar
Olli-Pekka Laine – bass
Jan Rechberger – drums
Kasper Mårtenson – keyboards

Additional musicians

Ville Tuomi – clean vocals, speech

Art

Sv Bell - Cover artist

References

^ ^a ^b Anderson, Jason. Tales from the Thousand Lakes at AllMusic. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
^ "Amorphis - Tales From The Thousand Lakes | Metalfan.nl Review". Metalfan.nl (in Dutch).
^ Müller, Jan (6 April 2013). "Savatage – The Wake Of Magellan Review". Metal1.info (in German). Retrieved 23 January 2022.