Before I begin this live report, I wish to convey my apologies for the PREY FOR NOTHING members, who played the role as the warm up act for the Finnish giants, for not being able to attend their performance. I am sure that presented their new offerings and themselves with the same grace and honor that have been showing since the beginning.

A little after the designated hour for their appearance on stage, the Finnish AMORPHIS, first time in Israel, sadly like most of the Metal artists gone old over the years making their debut in our country that hasn't been really Metal savvy all these years, began their Israeli journey. Generally, this is one of the best concerts that I have been too in a while. Extreme Metal or not, Israel received quite a treat, for a fair price I might add, from one of the Metal world's greatest artists, true artists at their craft of rejoicing what can be inferred as Progressive Metal with the likes of Doom / Folk / Death Metal. AMORPHIS had a lot to present to the Israeli audience that evening, playing the best of their hefty discography of their eleven albums, including the two singles out of their newest "Circle" album, via Nuclear Blast Records, which was released in the eve of the gig. Furthermore, I have to hand it to the productions crew of Reading 3, which along with the Amorphis roadies and tech personal, aided AMORPHIS with an impressive overall sound engineering / balancing, nearly flawless. I had to mark the decent work of the production crew as in Israel to maintain a true sound for Metal music has always seemed to be quite a struggle.

Since the tracklist of 18 songs is quite a number, I won't bore you with every song's details, though I have to admit that I was rather hypnotized most of the time to what I was looking and listening to, even had the chance to headbang to the older numbers of the list. I have to No doubt that the deliverance of the tracks; including older titles (several in newer versions) proved to me that AMORPHIS are live animals. Prior to this performance, I had the honors to attend their gig at Wacken 2010, and boy that was intense and one of the peek emotional moments of the festival. Back to the list of songs. Though my heart will always reserve burning hot spots for the band's old classics such as "The Castaway", seeing it on stage for the first time caused me chills, "Better Unborn", delivered with a fine duet between AMORPHIS's frontman Tomi Jousten and ORPHAND LAND's Kobi Farhi on the clean vocals, "Vulgar Necrolatry", "Against Widows", "My Kantele", "Into Hiding" (Tracks that brought me back to the blackened high school days, walking around school with a discman not caring for anyone else but the music that overwhelmed my senses, while around me most of my peers didn't know what Metal is truly is) and the renewed orchestration of "Black Winter Day" that closed the gig, I believe that the new AMORPHIS' perception of their music, along how far reaching it got, is something else and made them highly successful as band for nearly every type of Metalheads.

Songs in the manner of the my true admiration "Sky Is Mine", "Silver Bride" and "Sampo", all three taken from the "Skyforger" album, which is my most favored of the band's latest discography, sounded just right, it was like listening to on CD but much energized. Also I believe that these songs were delivered even better in quality in comparison to the earlier Wacken gig of the band. Tomi Jousten, which for some time proved that he is quite a figure both as a performer persona and a vocalist, was very impressive, he took the place by storm and these songs elevated him even more. Nonetheless, nothing will take away the performances of the new crunchers out of the "Circle" album, "Hopeless Days" and "Shades Of Grey". It seemed to me that the local folks, which I assume that these two tracks were dished to them for the first time as not each and every one of them actually listened or watched the feeds on YouTube, liked what they heard. "You I Need", the enchanting "Alone" and "House of Sleep", "Mermaid" and "Towards and Against", are additional classics that embrace them under the flag of AMORPHIS live is a mere must.

I believed that I have covered what can be covered of this gig. I have to admit that it was possibly one of the demonstrations of skill, grace and charisma I have ever seen here in Israel. This concert was a true example of the meaning of taking Israel by storm. I wish to thank ICP Concerts for making the effort upon fetching AMORPHIS, this experience was carved to my skin.

Setlist:
1. Silver Bride
2. Towards and Against
3. Mermaid
4. Sampo
5. Hopeless Days
6. Shades of Gray
7. The Castaway
8. Better Unborn
9. Karelia (Intro)
10. Vulgar Necrolatry
11. The Smoke
12. Sky Is Mine
13. Against Widows
14. You I Need
15. Alone
16. My Kantele
17. Thousand Lakes )Intro)
18. Into Hiding
19. House of Sleep
20. Black Winter Day