Metal Cereal #1: Amaranthe

There is a reason why I haven’t written anything for Metal Cereal yet. I keep going through my metal and as much as I love my metal, it wasn’t well updated. Then, after clicking on random videos on youtube and going down a random metal rabbit hole, I found this band and they have changed my view on metal: Amaranthe.

Amaranthe is a Swedish metal band that is somewhat of a supergroup. There are THREE vocalists: a clean female vocalist (formerly sang with Kamelot), clean male vocalist (who sang with Dream Evil) and a harsh male vocalist. The keyboardist and guitarist? Originally played for Nightrage and Dragonland (a great band, even if their name sounds stupid. Don’t judge me!) the other members have played with other strong metal bands, and well,  this group thrives. After listening to their self titled debut album, this group is firing on all cylinders. What is interesting though, if the vehicle they are propelling.

To me, this group sums up all things metal from 2000s on. My metal palette was confused at first due to the blending of styles, but that is what makes this group stand out so much: the diversity of styles. The vocalists compliment each other so well, providing a lot of variance and excitement in every song. Not only that, but every instrument in addition to the vocalists has their fair share of exemplification. This is also a tough feat to overcome. Whenever there is a musical collaboration there is generally a more dominant artist or instrumentalist (like how in Rebecca Black’s Friday no one remembers the rap section that is equally awkward!) However, every musician stands out in all of the songs on this album.

Now, for the negative attributes of this band. This group has received some reviews that the songs are canny and uninspired.  Although I don’t agree with the uninspired section, I can say that I feel like the band made a checklist of what makes a good metal song and stuck to that list. Most every song has these qualities:

- overly emotional clean male vocals

- screamer guy to add more intensity

- girl singer/sex appeal (Yeah, I know you can’t hear that. Wudup!?)

- double bass/ sweet drum rhythms

- sweet solo/ keyboard intros and interludes

- the bass guy mercilessly headbanging. After all, what is a metal bassist to do?

BASS SOLO! E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E

Here’s my rebuttal for all that. Yeah, it’s an intense thrill ride from beginning to end to the extent that the only point of rest is their ballad. Yet, even then it’s very emotionally charged. However, I know that the greatest of bands have been accused of writing one song over and over. Listen to even the most metal of bands. Although their songs resemble their other content, they have a central sound that is unique. This is why the latest Iron Maiden album went platinum and no one happily talks about Kiss’s disco album.

It's not disco, it's 70s rock...

So, here’s my last point. This group is good if you want a band that sums up different styles of metal in a nice yet intense manner. The best news? They show no signs of stopping. They just released their new single and they are touring with power metal giants Stratovarius in March and April! So, I definitely recommend this band because they’re going to be something big… if they haven’t gotten there already.

How does your mouth feel after eating your metal cereal!?