Amaranthe - Amaranthe |
Published May 01 2011
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Leave Everything Behind |
| Genre | Melodic Modern Metal |
Elize/Jake/Andy
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Vocals
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| Tracks | 12 |
Olof
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Guitar
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| Runningtime | 43 Min. |
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Guitar
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| Label | Spinefarm |
Johan
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Bass
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| Release | 13 April 2011 |
Morten
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Drums
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| Country | Sweden/Denmark |
Olof
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Keyboard
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| Producer | Jacob Hansen | ||
| Similar artists |
Nightwish, Pain, Sonic Syndicate |
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I was a bit sceptic at first whan I approached this new band from Sweden/Denmark, looking like the usual calculating and placed band playing "modern melodic metal", but I am frankly very positively surprised by their music.
Any fan of Nightwish and Pain, and most of the modern sounding metal bands from Sweden, England and USA, will most likely appreciate this. The use of three singers (one clean male, one male growl, and one female) gives a nice dynamic touch to it all, and everything rolls along nicely on a bed of great leads and riffs, on occasions reminicent of Dark Tranquillity. Sure, we have seen and heard this setup before, but seldom this good.
Breaking this album down song by song is not really necessary, since the overall level is very high with a great deal of catchy riffs, vocal lines and choruses that are sticking like glue, while still being metal enough to please at least me, usually a big and conservative fan of mainly death- and thrash metal.
There is not one song that are bad or falls far behind the top ones, but since the level is otherwise so high, it feels like perhaps Rain and Director's Cut don't really reach all the way, and while Amaranthine is a semi-ballad which I normally don't care much for, this is a perfectly acceptable one, with a high and cozy Nightwish factor.
Some voices may, or rather will, be raised over the fact that everything is a bit too streamlined and radio friendly. Granted, the songs all follow a certain pattern with the verses on a couple of occasions being nothing more than a transport area to the exploding choruses, which are the elements this band lives on, but it's nevertheless damn good.
It will be very interesting to follow this band in the future, and especially catching them in a live situation during the upcoming summer festival season. The debut album is nothing short of great, but that we have seen before. If they keep this level of songwriting up, and take out the turns just a bit more with some different arrangements, they will be a band to reckon with in this genre for some years to come, mark my words.
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Performance
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Originality
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Production
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Vocals
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Songwriting
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8 |
6 |
8,5 |
8,5 |
8 |
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Summary
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8 chalices of 10 - Tommy |
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