Amoral (band)

Amoral is a death metal band from Helsinki, Finland. Their music has elements from such genres of heavy metal as melodic death metal and thrash metal, with progressive influence and a technical style of playing. As of November 2005 Amoral has released two albums and performed extensively in bars, clubs, festivals and other venues in Finland and Europe.

Line-up

Current members

*Niko Kalliojärvi - vocalist
*Ben Varon - guitarist
*Silver Ots - guitarist
*Erkki Silvennoinen - bassist
*Juhana Karlsson - drummer

Former members

*Matti Pitkänen - vocalist
*Ville Sorvali - bassist
*Silver Ots - bassist (in studio)

Biography/Discography

Early times

Amoral was formed in 2000 by Varon, Karlsson and Ots and their first vocalist was Matti Pitkänen. Pitkänen was substituted by Kalliojärvi initially as a temporary replacement, then as a member of the band. Former band members also include Ville Sorvali from Moonsorrow as a bass player. Before Sorvali joined Amoral the bassist's position was open for a period of time, and the bass track on some of their demos was played by Ots. Amoral released two demos, "Desolation" and "Other Flesh", with varying line-up 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. The bankruptcy of Rage of Achilles followed not long after and Amoral was discovered by Spikefarm, a division of Spinefarm, a major Finnish rock and heavy metal record label. Under Spikefarm Records Amoral 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 very positive reviews from metal magazines and webzines around Finland and Europe, and Amoral played numerous gigs following the release and thenceforth. Their rise from the underground metal scene was further benchmarked by a month-long European tour with renowned metal bands Finntroll and Naglfar. Amoral was also lined up for Tuska Open Air Metal Festival 2005, the main heavy metal festival of Finland.

Decrowning

Soon after the European tour Amoral returned to the studio to record their second album, Decrowning over the spring and summer. The album was released in Finland and several other countries in October 2005 and will be released in Japan and USA in March 2006. The second album has similarly gathered generally praising reviews and a music video has been shot for the song "Lacrimal Gland" from this album. The band also 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.

Releases

*Desolation, demo, 2001
*Other Flesh, demo, 2002
*Wound Creations, album, 2004 (Spikefarm)
*Decrowning, album, 2005 (Spikefarm)

See also

*Amorality
*Scandinavian death metal
*Music of Finland

External links

*Amoral's official website
*Spinefarm Records' website