Just before we released Tales From The Thousand Lakes we got the idea to use the Kalevala for our lyrics. Amorphis firmly rooted in folk, ethnic and oriental music, using that in combination with stories from the Kalevala seemed like a very original and unique idea to us. We were the first metal band who actually pulled that off. It gives our music a nice atmospheric edge which is very important to us.
Tomi Koivusaari / Amorphis interview, Ghost Cult, 2013
AMORPHIS released their second album Tales from the Thousand Lakes - based on the national epic Kalevala - on this day in 1994 through Relapse.