It strikes me that these days, a great deal of the quality Metal acts in existence are hailing from the realm of Finland, which I suppose is not any stranger than Seattle (USA), Florida (USA) or Sweden. It just amazes me that seemingly out of nowhere a particular country or city can become such a pinicle of importance. In the csae of the new Finnish metal revolution one band truly stands out amid all others. The resilant lanscape of melody and agression delivered by Amorphis has remained a constant since their inception in the early 90's. While finding their roots in death metal and Finnish folklore their penchant for communicating unreserved melody in their songs has garnered them the praise of true Metal fans the world over. The band are currently preparing to unleash their 11th studio release titled Skyforger. To get the inside word, I spoke with frontman Tomi Joutsen in regard to their latest endevor, covering such issues as the balance of clean vs death vocals found in their music, his continued up's and downs having replaced Pasi Koskinen in 2005, being sick during every U.S. tour and having the album Silent Waters releesed prior to Skyforger be certified gold in the band's native Finland. A feat never accomplished by any of their pre-Tomi Joutsen era releases. Will lightening strike twice? See what Tomi has to say in the conversation below. .