Review by Paul Monkhouse for MPM
Over the course of six albums Amaranthe have struck out on a path that is most decidedly their own.
Along with BabyMetal, there are various bands on the planet who could splice two utterly seemingly incongruent genres into one glorious whole but with their mix of almost ‘Eurovision’ style pop with raging slabs of the heaviest of metal they’ve found a winning formula.
‘Manifest’ is an adrenaline charged rush that will make you want to smash things up one moment and then sing and dance like a teenager at a P!nk or Taylor Swift show the next, all with neck breaking switches.
The perfect blend of the three vocalists is a huge key to their success, the sugar and spice of clean singing from Elize Ryd and Nils Molin with Henrik Englund Wilhemsson’s guttural roars providing an ear catching sound.
Founding member Olof Mörck on guitar and the rhythm section of Morten Løwe Sørensen on drums and bass from Johan Andreassen are no slouches either and take absolutely no prisoners as they bring the musical thunder and curves under the trio of singers.
‘Fearless’ kicks things off in suitably epic style, an adrenaline rush of tight, fast riffing as the irresistible hooks and breaks erupt like a pyromaniac let loose in a fireworks factory and so it goes. Track after track blister and uplift in equal measure as ‘Make It Better’ and ‘Scream My Name’ sweep along with epic symphonic heaviness alongside arrangements that dip into elements of pop and modern R&B.
‘Viral’ grinds and then flies in a mix of Lordi’s gothic metal with the groove of Destiny’s Child whilst ‘The Game’ brings a slew of rapid fire fret burning, wrecking ball drums and utterly heroic singing.
There is light and shade of all varieties of hue throughout ‘Manifest’, not just in the way that the tracks straddle their seemingly unimaginable gulfs in origin.
Any band that came move seamlessly from the rampaging Viking attack of metal monster ‘Archangel’, through to the orchestral balladry of ‘Crystalline’ and thrown in the heavy-duty rap of ‘BOOM!’ has to be absolutely fearless.
The latter, featuring Heidi Shepherd from Butcher Babies, is a particular sign to the massive crossover potential to the album and is sure to tear the place apart when they next grace the hallowed turf of Download.
It’s left to the killer duo of ‘Die and Wake Up’, with its perfect bridge between animalistic nu metal and sunshine hooks, followed by the rousing cry of ‘Do or Die’ to close the album in fine style as the Swedes leave the arena, victory won.
Following a European tour earlier this year opening for Sabaton it seems inevitable that Amaranthe will be walking those self same arena stages as headliners before long and with material as good as is shown on this release, they’ll have legions of new fans swelling the ranks.
No matter which way you look at it, ‘Manifest’ is magnificent.
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