Amaranthe is a band I stumbled across recently. Having released their first album just two years ago, they’re a relatively new group who has developed an incredibly unique sound, a sort of heavily pop-infused mixture of melodic death metal and power metal.
If that sounds strange, well, it is, but it’s also incredibly awesome, although others disagree with me vehemently. Their slick, tailored sound has earned Amaranthe quite a bit of ire from certain corners of the metal fanatics’ kingdom, but you know my philosophy about metal haters: they need to get a life, enjoy the things they like, and stop hating the things they don’t.
So where does the name Amaranthe come from? Well apparently ‘amaranthe’ comes from the Greek ‘amarantha’ meaning unfading, and amaranth (with no ‘e’) is a type of flowering plant that produces a seed that is high in protein and is a staple in some parts of South America. The band, however, apparently chose the name Amaranthe as it had a ‘mysterious’ ring to it – that, and they had to abandon their initial choice of Avalanche due to copyright issues.
Anyway, on to this week’s song: “1.000.000 Lightyears”. (Yes, that means one million. Amaranthe is Swedish, and it’s common in most parts of Europe to use a period rather than a comma as the delimiter). There’s no official music video for the song, but the band did release a fun video of themselves performing the song in Japan mixed with footage of their trip there. As always, I’ve added my own running commentary after the video.
0:24 – The first singer is Jake E, the band’s clean male vocalist.
0:27 – That’s the band’s clean female vocalist, Elize Ryd.
0:30 – And finally, the band’s harsh vocalist, Andreas Solveström.
0:39 – Keep an eye on the bassist’s facial expressions throughout. Here, he shows off his crazy face.
0:44 – Bassist (in the middle) is not amused.
0:46 – Now he’s sporting the ‘dude bro’ face.
1:16 – Note the fan sporting the most metal of all personal accessories: the leopard print man purse.
2:29 – The guitarist, Olof Mörck, is a very underrated soloist, IMO.
2:52 – Take note: the only acceptable piece of clothing for a heavy metal fan is a black T-shirt.
3:00 – Wait – there’s an interloper. A girl in a school uniform! How did she get in?
Well, that’s it for today. Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Image credit: Featured image by Cecil (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.
I can appreciate the crowds’ enthusiasm for a good show (especially after seeing a Jimi Hendrix special on PBS last night, my first rock and roll concert experience). The female singer provides a bit of softening to the harsher male vocalist. I also liked seeing how they seemed to be enjoying their cultural experience!