Music / Amaranthe

L-R: Nils, Henrik, Elize, Olof, Johan, Morten

Amaranthe is a Swedish/Danish Power Metal/Melodic Death Metal band that are noticeable for their poppy melodies.

They formed in 2009 under the name Avalanche, but were forced to change the name due to a copyright issue. Shortly after, they released a demo called Leave Everything Behind, with Olof doing the basswork as Bassist Johan Andreassen joined after the recording. Formed by Jake E and Olof Mörck), the project began taking shape when singers Elize Ryd and Andreas Solvestrom signed on, as did drummer Morten Løwe Sørensen. Andreas left the band after 2013 to join the band Reaching Fall, and Henrik Englund took over gravel duty. Jake E then left the band in 2017 and subsequently formed a new group, Cyhra; Nils Molin of Dynazty then replaced him.

The name of the band, often questioned, is originally an uncommon French last name.

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Members

• Olof Mörck - guitars, keyboards (2008-present), bass (2008-2009)
• Elize Ryd - female clean vocals (2008-present)
• Morten Løwe Sørensen - drums (2008-present)
• Johan Andreassen - bass (2009-present)
• Nils Molin - male clean vocals (2017-present)
• Mikael Sehlin - harsh vocals (2023-present)

Past Members:

• Andreas Solveström - harsh vocals (2008-2013), rhythm guitar in "Burn With Me" video
• Jake E - male clean vocals (2008-2017)
• Henrik Englund Wilhelmsson - harsh vocals (2013-2022)

Discography

• Amaranthe (2011)
• The Nexus (2013)
• Massive Addictive (2014)
• Maximalism (2016)
• Helix (2018)
• Manifest (2020)
• The Catalyst (2024)

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This Band provides the examples of each tropes:

• Attention Whore: The narrator of "Drop Dead Cynical".

  I need attention, feed on my addiction
  I want the action, satisfaction

• The Cameo: Manifest has guest performers on two songs. Noora Louhimo of Battle Beast sings a duet with Elize on "Strong", and former Arch Enemy vocalist Angela Gossow provides the gravel to Elize's soprano on "Do or Die".
• Costume Porn: Do a Google Image Search for Elize Ryd. Pick any picture. Literally. Any picture.
• Crapsack World, Escapist Sanctuary: "Digital World" is about this.
• Crossover: Amaranthe covered Sabaton's "82nd All the Way" in 2020 to promote their European tour with the Swedish war machine, and got to perform it live with Sabaton in Oslo, Norway.
• Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: "Mechanical Illusion", "Future On Hold" and "Electroheart" play this for all the horror it's worth.
• Cyberpunk: Most of The Nexus; naturally, considering that its theme is technological transhumanism. "Trinity" and "Digital World" on Massive Addictive also have shades of this.
• Genre-Busting: Well, well. Power Metal, Metalcore, pop metal, electronic metal, Melodic Death Metal, and less commonly Industrial Metal can describe this band, but with their pop side so integrated into their metal, it's hard to see if any of those labels can encompass their style.
• Genre Mashup: Melodic Death Metal + electropop.
• Green Aesop: "Faster", "The Game", "Do Or Die" and "Theory of Everything", the last one in a considerably more optimistic tone than the others.
• "I Am" Song:
  • "Invincible". It doubles as a particularly fierce "I Am Great!" Song, sounding like a superhero's Badass Boast.
    Can't you see who I am? I'm invincible
    Like a force that is out of control
    But this power runs deep in my soul, unbreakable
  • "Strong".
    I am stronger than I've ever been
    Watch me now, I'm drowning in the deep
    It's a burden, I'm not alone here
    But it's so quiet since you're gone
    I know one day I will be again
    Strong

• Jade-Colored Glasses: "Drop Dead Cynical".
• Lighter and Softer: Than most standard Metalcore acts.
  • They've done a few covers of other metal bands, and the songs tend to have less of a hard edge compared to the originals. Examples include "Army of the Night" by Powerwolf and "82nd All The Way" by Sabaton.
• Male Band, Female Singer: Downplayed. Elize, the band's sole female member, is part of a three-person Vocal Tag Team.

• The Men in Black: The video for "Hunger" features several members of the band being abducted and imprisoned by black-suited government agents.
• Metal Scream: Henrik and Andy, both high-register type 1. Notable difference is, Andy tends to hold his screams longer while Henrik is more of a Motor Mouth.
• Morality Ballad: "Burn With Me" seems to be one, with the subject to never treat people wrong, since it might be their or your last day.
• Ms. Fanservice: Elize is not shy about showing skin or playing up her body in videos and live performances; a lot of videos verge on Three Minutes of Writhing.
• My God, What Have I Done?: In the music video for "Burn With Me," Jake went insane from the sight of Elize dying in a car wreck, more so since he deserted her after an argument.

• Self-Titled Album: Their debut.
• Sexy Surfacing Shot: In their music video for "Invincible", Elize Ryd emerges from a pool. Special shots are devoted to her breasts, buttocks, and legs.
• Shout-Out:
  • "Trinity" opens with a distorted male voice saying, "Resistance is futile".
  • "Digital World" opens with the quote "There are of course those who do not want us to speak."
• Signature Style: Has been described as "a healthy dose of pop fused with a heavily metalcore-inspired melodic death metal sound".
• Silly Love Songs: "Amaranthine", "Limitless", "Endlessly", "Crystalline".
• Soprano and Gravel: Normally Elize, and to a lesser extent Jake, then Nils (soprano and tenor); Andy, then Henrik (gravel). "Do or Die" has Angela Gossow providing the gravel instead.
• Special Guest: Elize herself during a Nightwish concert along with Alissa White-Gluz when Anette Olzon was sick. She also does vocals on Timo Tolkki's Avalon's The Land Of New Hope. She is also occasionally a live background vocalist, dancer, and actress for Kamelot.
• Transhuman: This is what a sizable chunk (if not all) of The Nexus is about, particularly transhumanism of the Cyborg variety, most prominently in "Mechanical Illusion", "Electroheart" and of course "Transhuman".
• We All Die Someday: Used in "The Score".
  We all die
  The goal isn't to live forever
  The goal is to create something that will
• Unflinching Walk: Book Ends the video for "Hunger", with the band walking away from an exploding building.
• Vocal Tag Team: Amaranthe's trademark sound comes in part from their three lead vocalists who go back and forth in every song, who as of 2019 are Elize (female pop style), Nils (male melodic rock style), and Henrik (Harsh Vocals).

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