I remember first hearing about Swedish metal band Amaranthe five years ago when they released their debut self-titled album. With songs like Hunger and Automatic on it – it became a favourite of mine. Somehow over time, however, they managed to slip my mind until recently. So when the chance came to review their new album (their fourth) Maximalism I jumped at the chance to see what they’d been up to.
Amaranthe are unique in the fact they have three vocalists. Elize Ryd and Jake E. sing while Henrik Wilhemsson screams. The three blend together well to form a power metal/melodic death metal/pop metal band that make albums to remember. On this new record we have a bit of everything: from lead single That Song – a poppy yet hard rock classic that will be stuck in your mind for days, to Fury – a fast and furious metal anthem full of Wilhemsson powerful heavy vocals. There’s even a song titled after an Australian icon: Boomerang.
The album ends with the haunting and beautiful love song, Endlessly. This is the first time the band have dedicated a whole song to one singer, and it’s not hard to see why. You can tell this is a deeply personal song for Ryd and her vocals are absolutely phenomenal on it. I’ve already listened to Maximalism about half a dozen times and each time it just gets better and better and to me, it’s easily one of my albums of the year. The album has everything, from heavy screams to haunting melodies to catchy riffs and songs. Now to just wait for them to finally head down under to perform these songs live!
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