AMORPHIS Guitarist Talks Christmas

The German edition of Metal Hammer magazine recently spoke about Christmas with guitarist Esa Holopainen of Finnish metallers AMORPHIS. During the chat, Esa talked about what the celebration means to him personally, for his band, and he offered some insight into the Finnish attitude towards Christmas.

Watch the interview at this location.

AMORPHIS will release its first-ever live DVD in the spring of 2010, in time for the band's 20th anniversary. The filming took place on November 20, 2009 at Club Teatria in Oulu, Finland, where AMORPHIS was supported by STRATOVARIUS and BEFORE THE DAWN. In addition to the full-length live show, the anniversary DVD will include plenty of bonus material documenting the band’s impressive career.

During the recent five-week European tour, AMORPHIS played to sold-out venues in London and Paris as well as in Sofia, Bulgaria and various German towns. Likewise, the recent Finnish tour started with sold-out shows in Jyväskylä and Joensuu.

"Skyforger", the new album from AMORPHIS, sold around 1,300 copies in the United States in its first week of release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD landed at position No. 33 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"Skyforger" entered the official chart in the band's home country at position No. 1. Released on May 29 via Nuclear Blast Records (May 27 in Finland), the follow-up to the "Eclipse" and "Silent Waters" LPs, both of which were certified gold in the band's native Finland, was recorded at Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki.