Esa Holopainen

The debut album of SILVER LAKE by ESA HOLOPAINEN is finally released via Nuclear Blast and comes not only with the legendary guitar riffs of Esa Holopainen from AMORPHIS, one of Finland's biggest guitarists and metal songwriters, but also seven famous rock and metal vocalists such as Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Einar Solberg (Leprous), Björn "Speed" Strid (Soilwork), Anneke Van Giersbergen and many more, that dive you into a world of catchy, progressive metal masterpieces that breathe the beauty and melancholy of Finland.

It's been 24 years since AMORPHIS changed the metal world forever with their second album »Tales From The Thousand Lakes«; an epic piece of work that paved the way for one of the most successful Finnish music careers of all time. On twelve albums so far, AMORPHIS has brought us closer to the Finnish national epic, the "Kalevala", toured the world several times, received countless gold records and managed to achieve success after success with their unmistakable mix of metal, folklore and rock.

Lead guitarist Esa Holopainen and drummer Jan Rechberger formed the band Amorphis in Finland in 1990. To complete their lineup they recruited vocalist/guitarist Tomi Koivusaari and bassist Olli-Pekka Laine. They released a demo in 1991 called Disment of Soul. The demo was so successful in getting attention for the group that they acquired a record deal and released an EP the same year. They next released their first full-length album, The Karelian Isthmus, in 1992. The following year, their early demo recording session was released as Privilege of Evil…

Finnish masters of Melancholic Metal, AMORPHIS, are pleased to announce the release of their new upcoming album »Under The Red Cloud«. The worldwide release is scheduled for September, 04th via Nuclear Blast. “The album is titled »Under The Red Cloud« and the artwork is done by Valnoir Mortasonge,“ guitarist Esa Holopainen states. “Valnoir is well known from his works for LAIBACH, PARADISE LOST, WATAIN, BEHEMOTH and many more. It was a great pleasure to work with him as he catched the lyrical topics really well. Colors and details describe the music perfectly.“ Esa comments: “»Under The Red Cloud« is produced by Jens Bogren who did amazing job with the album. There's a lot's of elements in the songs but every note and element is in perfect harmony so that the result is fucking heavy and melodic. All I can say is that »Under The Red Cloud« will be in my personal Top 3 AMORPHIS albums that we've ever done.“