Amaranthe | |
|---|---|
 Amaranthe performing at Wacken Open Air 2023 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Avalanche (2008–2009) |
| Origin | Gothenburg, Sweden |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Labels | |
| Members |
|
| Past members |
|
| Website | amaranthe |
Amaranthe is a Swedish heavy metal band originally known as Avalanche. The band is notable for their blend of various metal genres and having three lead vocalists.
Formed by Olof Mörck (Dragonland, Nightrage) and Joacim "Jake E" Lundberg (Dreamland, Dream Evil) in 2008, the project began taking shape when singers Elize Ryd (toured with Kamelot) and Andreas Solveström (Cipher System, Within Y) signed on, as did drummer Morten Løwe Sørensen (The Cleansing, Koldborn, Mercenary). Bassist Johan Andreassen (Engel) joined after the photoshoot for the Leave Everything Behind demo but before the recording of the first album Amaranthe . The band was originally called Avalanche until May 2009, when they were forced to change their name due to legal issues. [1] The members chose to rename the band Amaranthe. They later released their first demo, Leave Everything Behind.
The band's debut album, Amaranthe , was released in April 2011 and reached a peak position of 35th on Swedish charts and 16th on Finnish Charts. [2] [3] Their second album, The Nexus , was released in March 2013. [4] Guitarist Olof Mörck described the album as having greater contrasts, a more controversial mix of genres, and featuring more creative freedoms than Amaranthe. [5] According to Olof, the band "took everything [up] to eleven" in the new album. [5] The album reached 6th on Swedish charts, [2] 4th on Finnish charts, [3] and reached a peak of 12th on the US Heatseekers charts. [6]
In October 2013, harsh vocalist Solveström left the band and was replaced by Henrik Englund Wilhelmsson (Scarpoint). [4] Their third album, Massive Addictive , was released on 21 October 2014. [7] A special compilation Breaking Point - B-sides 2011-2015 was released on 30 October 2015. It consists of b-sides and bonus tracks from Amaranthe's career. Their fourth album, Maximalism , was released on 21 October 2016.
In November 2016, male clean vocalist Jake E announced that he would take a break from the band. [8] In February 2017, the band confirmed that he was permanently leaving. [9] In March 2017, he joined Cyhra. [10] In July 2017, Amaranthe stated on their Facebook page that Nils Molin of Dynazty would join the band as their permanent vocalist, after filling in for Jake E on tour dates.
On 10 August 2018, they released their new single, "365", from their new album Helix , which itself was released on 19 October. [11] At that time, they wrote and performed the credits theme song to the 12 oz. Mouse special "INVICTUS". [12] On 16 October 2019, they announced that they had signed with Nuclear Blast Records. [13]
On 3 January 2020, the band released their rendition of Sabaton's "82nd All the Way", originally taken from Sabaton's 2019 studio album The Great War . [14] On 13 February, the band released the single "Do or Die", [15] which features former Arch Enemy-vocalist Angela Gossow on growling vocals and Arch Enemy-guitarist Jeff Loomis on the guitar solo. The official music video, which was filmed in Spain, was released the next day. [16] In the music video's description, the band's label Nuclear Blast announced that their sixth studio album would be released in September 2020.
On 5 March, the band released the music video for "Endlessly", originally from the album Maximalism. The video was directed, filmed and edited by Duminciuc Bogdan and is actually the documentation of the Transylvanian wedding between guitarist Olof Mörck and his wife Cătălina Popa (the flutist from the German symphonic metal band Haggard), which took place on 19 July 2019 at Sungarden, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. [17] Amaranthe released their sixth studio album, titled Manifest , on 2 October 2020. [18] The first single 'Viral' was released on 26 June 2020, followed by a second single, 'Strong,' on 14 August 2020, and 'Archangel' as the third single on 18 September 2020.
In December 2021, Amaranthe released a single called "PVP". The track was written as the official anthem for the Swedish E-Sports world cup team at the E-Sports world championship. [19] The single was accompanied by a music video and a Browser game, hosted on the band's website.
On 8 June 2022, Wilhelmsson announced his exit from the band, saying that he wished to spend more time with his family and began to dislike touring over the years. He also said that he was planning on releasing solo material in the near future. The band announced they would be joined by two special guests as his replacements at their summer shows of that year. [20] On 6 October, Amaranthe released the first single "Find Life". [21]
On 27 June 2023, Amaranthe released the second single for "Damnation Flame", in which they revealed the identity of their new harsh vocalist, Mikael Sehlin. [22] The band later announced their seventh studio album, The Catalyst , which was released on 23 February 2024. [23] On 26 September, the band unveiled the third single "Insatiable". [24] On 16 November, they premiered the fourth single "Outer Dimensions". [25] On 11 January 2024, Amaranthe released the fifth single "Re-Vision". [26] The music video for the title track "The Catalyst" was released 23 February 2024, coinciding with the album release. [27]
Even as their body of work grows, where exactly Amaranthe's music fits into the heavy metal sphere remains notoriously undefined. Band members, websites, and critics have referred to the band and their albums as various different genres such as pop metal, [28] [29] melodic death metal, [28] [30] [31] metalcore, [32] [33] power metal, [30] [34] [33] [31] symphonic metal, [34] [35] [36] [37] death metal, [32] heavy metal, [38] and alternative metal. [38]
Current members
Former members
Former touring members
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. It was founded by Carcass guitarist Michael Amott along with Johan Liiva, who were both originally from the death metal band Carnage. The band has released eleven studio albums, three live albums, three video albums and four EPs. The band was originally fronted by Johan Liiva, who was replaced by German vocalist Angela Gossow in 2000. Gossow left the band in March 2014 to become the group's manager and was replaced by Canadian vocalist Alissa White-Gluz.
Falconer was a Swedish power metal band from Mjölby, formed in 1999 by the former guitarist of Mithotyn, Stefan Weinerhall. Falconer carried on many of the traditions set by Weinerhall's previous band and played a fusion style of power metal that utilizes folk instrumentation and melody to create a more medieval sound.
Timo Tapio Tolkki is a Finnish musician best known as the former guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer of the power metal band Stratovarius. With his tenure lasting for more than twenty years, he was the longest standing member of the band before his departure in 2008. After leaving Stratovarius he formed two supergroups named Revolution Renaissance and Symfonia, both of which have since disbanded. In a 2011 article by Guitar World magazine, Tolkki was included in the all-time top 50 list of the world's fastest guitarists.
Nightrage is a Greek/Swedish melodic death metal band originally from Thessaloniki. They later re-located to Gothenburg, Sweden.
Dimension Zero is a melodic death metal band based in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was formed in 1995 as a side project by In Flames' former guitarists Jesper Strömblad and Glenn Ljungström. The former Marduk drummer and vocalist Jocke Gothberg joined later on vocals, as well as Hans Nilsson on drums.
Angela Nathalie Gossow is a German vocalist, best known as the former lead singer for the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. Her other previous bands include Asmodina and Mistress.
Dragonland is a Swedish power metal band. The group is known for their self-produced The Dragonland Chronicles fantasy saga covering their first, second, and fifth albums, and for the original symphonic/electronic parts by Elias Holmlid.
Astronomy is the fourth studio album by Swedish power metal band Dragonland, released in Europe on 13 November 2006 and in North America on 28 November 2006. While their third album Starfall focused heavily on keyboards and had a more upbeat lyrical tone, according to guitarist Olof Mörck, Astronomy is "gloomier, more stygian and packed with crunching guitars; both furiously fast and bone-grindingly heavy."
Apocalyptica is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Helsinki, formed in 1993. The band is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso, and jazz drummer Mikko Sirén. Originally a classical-style Metallica tribute band, the band eventually adopted a neoclassical metal style without the use of conventional guitars and bass. They have sold over four million albums to date.
Olof Mörck is a Swedish musician who is the guitarist and one of the songwriters of the heavy metal band Amaranthe, as well as guitarist of the power metal band Dragonland. He was also a member of Nightrage between 2006 and 2011 as a guitarist. Notably, he has provided two guitar solos for the 2009 album The Isolation Game by the Italian melodic death metal band Disarmonia Mundi.
The Isolation Game is the fourth full-length studio album by the Italian melodic death metal band Disarmonia Mundi, and was released on December 9, 2009 by Coroner Records. It features guest appearances by Björn "Speed" Strid of Soilwork and Olof Mörck of Nightrage/Dragonland/Amaranthe.
Dynazty is a Swedish power metal band from Stockholm.
The Nexus is the second studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Amaranthe. The album was released on varying dates in March 2013, starting on the 13th in Japan and concluding on the 26th in the US. The Nexus is a development of the sound and ideas Amaranthe introduced on their first record. The band stated that they felt "the contrasts are greater, the mix and blends of genres is more controversial, and more creative freedoms were taken in this album." It was the last album with harsh vocalist Andy Solveström.
Hanna Elise Isabell Maj Höstblomma Ryd, known professionally as Elize Ryd, is a Swedish singer, best known as one of the three vocalists and co-lyricist in the heavy metal band Amaranthe. She also gained some popularity prior to the band's inception by performing guest vocals for the American power metal band Kamelot, both on tour and in the studio. She sings in the soprano range.
Alissa White-Gluz is a Canadian singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, and former lead vocalist and founding member of the Canadian metalcore band the Agonist. Her vocal style includes both growling and clean vocals (singing). Although primarily associated with melodic death metal and metalcore, she has appeared as a guest vocalist for power metal, symphonic metal and deathcore bands, notably Kamelot, Delain, Carnifex and Powerwolf, and has performed live with Nightwish and Tarja Turunen.
Maximalism is the fourth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Amaranthe. It is also the final album to feature vocalist and co-founder Jake E. It was recorded between April 18 and August 3, 2016 and released on October 21 the same year.
Amaranthe is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, known for their combination of pop rock and death metal. Their discography consists of seven studio albums, one compilation album, one extended play, thirty-six singles, and thirty-three music videos. To date, the band has sold 500,000 album copies worldwide.
Helix is the fifth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Amaranthe. It is also the first album featuring the band's new clean male vocalist Nils Molin (Dynazty), since the departure of the band's former clean male vocalist Jake E.
Manifest is the sixth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Amaranthe. It was released on 2 October 2020 via Nuclear Blast.
The Catalyst is the seventh studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Amaranthe. The album was released on 23 February 2024 through Nuclear Blast and was produced by Jacob Hansen. It is the first album to feature Mikael Sehlin on harsh vocals.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
