| The Beginning of Times | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Amorphis |
| Cover: | The Beginning of Times (Amorphis) album cover.jpg |
| Released: | (FI) (EU)[1] (US)[2] |
| Recorded: | January 2011[3] |
| Studio: | Sonic Pump Studios, Helsinki, Marco's CockPit, Kuopio |
| Genre: | Progressive metal,[4] melodic death metal, gothic metal, hard rock |
| Length: | 54:42[5] |
| Label: | Nuclear Blast |
| Producer: | Marko Hietala (vocals), Amorphis |
| Prev Title: | Magic & Mayhem – Tales from the Early Years |
| Prev Year: | 2010 |
| Next Title: | Circle |
| Next Year: | 2013 |
The Beginning of Times is the tenth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis, released on 25 May 2011 in Finland, 27 May in Europe and 7 June in the United States. Like previous Amorphis albums, The Beginning of Times, is a concept album. The central character of the songs is Väinämöinen, described by the band as "the iconic hero of Finnish mythology".
On 11 April 2011, Amorphis premiered the first single "You I Need" on their Facebook page.[6] It was released digitally in Finland on 20 April 2011,[7] and in other countries on 22 April 2011. Early the next month, the band released another new song, "My Enemy", again on Facebook.[8]
The Beginning of Times had a strong sales debut week, charting at No. 1 on the Finnish Albums Chart and No. 16 on the German Media Control Charts.[9] [10]
In a professional review for PopMatters, Adrien Begrand praised the album, going so far as to say that Amorphis have never sounded better with their current line-up and describes the album as "a slick, classy blend of death metal and melodic hard rock". Amateur reviews have also been positive, with Craig Hartranft of DangerDog proclaiming "The Beginning of Times finds Amorphis in grand form, doing what they do best".[11]