by Craig Newman
– Columnist —
Sweden’s Amaranthe’s new album Massive Addictive will be released on Spinefarm Records on October 21 in the U.S. With a U.S. tour planned with Within Temptation, as well as headlining shows booked, the band is gearing up for a busy winter season. Hardrock Haven caught up with lead vocalist Elize Ryd who discusses the new album while Amaranthe are on tour at Europe.
CN: Hi Elize, how are you and the group doing? The new album is done and the group is currently doing shows at Europe. The year went by fast since your first headline tour across the U.S. last year for The Nexus album with Kobra And The Lotus, ending the tour at The Roxy, at Hollywood, California which was the last show of the tour. That show had energy from start to finish. The music and energy from both bands was fun. Both bands spent time after the show meeting the fans. Talk about the new album and tour. The group has a new album to be released this fall which the fans have been waiting for. Briefly explain the new songs?
ER: Hello and thanks for having me! Me and the group are doing just fine! I’m right now on my way to the airport. We play at a festival in Czech Republic tomorrow. The new songs are both massive and addictive of course! I think they represent each genre in a more clear way than on the two previous albums. It was very fun to work on the new songs. I play around with the vocal melodies more than I’ve been able to do earlier. The band has developed in the right direction and we have established our style, that have made the songwriting process easier for me personally. It’s more fun to create things now also when you know you have a stable fan base to write for.
CN: Hennrik Englund Wilhelmsson is the new screamer with the group. Describe his vocals and did he contribute to the lyrics?
ER: Henrik is a versatile growler and that’s been very useful to us in the creating. He is open minded and we all really like that about Henrik. He’s extremely stable and tight, and on top of that he’s a funny guy. Henrik has not contributed to the lyrics on this album.
CN: Did you also contribute to the writing of the songs? And what was the sound you wanted to have for this album?
ER: I have contributed in the same extent as on The Nexus album. I stand most for the vocal melodies, that’s my ace in the making, to build up the spirit and emotion I want to represent. I wanted the new album to sound more modern, sporty, intense, unlimited, playful. It’s actually very hard to put words on it, I’m looking forward to hear the fans’ reaction. It’s most important for me to always think forward and to keep the voltage alive in the music.
CN: Explain the album cover?
ER: It’s designed by Olof and Gustavo. It’s very different from the other two album covers since the members can’t be seen anymore, which I think is a little bit sad since Henrik is a very good looking guy (laughs)! No, actually Olof’s will was to change the impression since the band has developed on all other fronts. It’s very clean, simply gold and white. The logo looks fantastic, they’ve made a very good job I think.
CN: When the announcements that Within Temptation and Amaranthe are doing shows together on the west coast especially Los Angeles, California. The fans of both bands are happy to see you. That I believe is Within Temptation first tour of the U.S. that starts at San Francisco, California then to Los Angeles. They have played the U.S. before but some East Coast shows. How many songs from the new album will be performed when opening the show? And how many from the album when you headline your shows at places you have not performed that was recently posted that will be for more US shows as the headliner?
ER: All I can reveal right now is that we will play at least two songs from the upcoming album, and I’m pretty sure that we will add a few more new songs when we do the headline shows, but we haven’t taken any final decision on which yet. Everyone in the band hungry to represent all the new material.
CN: When deciding which songs to or not perform. Who has the final say? It is done by flipping a coin or rock, paper, scissors?
ER: (Laughs) that would be great! My feeling is that we’ve been pretty good on taking common decisions in the group so far. We must be very careful regarding the set list and be sure to choose the songs that best represent the band. Especially when you only have 35 minutes on stage. The singles are given of course. So far we have enough of them to fill a support act, it will probably be more hard in the future, not impossible we might need to start flip a coin then.
CN: Your U.S. fans are looking forward to seeing the band again. Thanks for your time and I hope to see you and WT on this tour. You want to say a message to the fans?
ER: Always! I want to say thank you for being so amazing, and thanks for supporting me and Amaranthe. I love you all and I’m looking forward to meet you soon. Kisses and hugs!
Visit Amaranthe online: http://www.amaranthe.se/
