Under the Red Cloud
Under the Red Cloud is the twelfth studio album by Finnish progressive metal band Amorphis, released worldwide on 4 September 2015 through Nuclear Blast. The album was produced by Jens Bogren, who was described as "just the right person" by keyboardist Santeri Kallio. This would be the band's last album with longtime bassist Niklas Etelävuori who left in 2017.
Reception
Upon release, the album received critical acclaim. Cryptic Rock reviewed the album, finding that it had more of a focus on melody than the previous album, and it had a wider variety of instruments, which was more in line with the band's pre-2012 work. "The Four Wise Ones" was described as an "instant classic" song, "pure melodic death metal at its finest." Cryptic Rock also saw songs that were heavy metal, folk metal and rock ballads.Under the Red Cloud debuted at No. 144 on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 1,600 units in the US in its first week.
Personnel
Amorphis
- Tomi Joutsen – vocals
- Esa Holopainen – lead guitar; music
- Tomi Koivusaari – rhythm guitar; music
- Niclas Etelävuori – bass
- Santeri Kallio – keyboards; music, engineering
- Jan Rechberger – drums
Miscellaneous staff
- Chrigel Glanzmann – flute, tin whistle
- Martin Lopez – percussion
- André Alvinzi – additional keyboards
- Linus Corneliusson – mixing assistance
- Pekka Kainulainen – lyrics
- Valnoir Mortasonge – artwork
Additional Vocalists
- Aleah Stanbridge – backing vocals
- Jens Bogren – backing vocals, mixing and mastering
Orchestra
- Jon Phipps – additional and strings arrangements
- Österäng Symphonic Orchestra
Engineers
- Lasse Väyrynen – Jan Rechberger's percussion
- David Castillo – Martin Lopez's percussion
- Jyri Riikonen – grand piano, Hammond and Rhodes
- Jonas Olsson
- Viktor Stenqvist