{"id":47282,"date":"2014-12-03T08:38:09","date_gmt":"2014-12-03T13:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=47282"},"modified":"2014-12-03T08:38:09","modified_gmt":"2014-12-03T13:38:09","slug":"amaranthe-massive-addictive-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/amaranthe-massive-addictive-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Amaranthe | Massive Addictive <\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Amaranthe\"Just one year after their last release (2013\u2019s The Nexus<\/em>), Swedish pop metal sensation Amaranthe is back with a new album, their third overall, titled Massive Addictive<\/em>. The band seems to have both momentum and serious backing from their label, so this album seems geared towards making the band stars outside of their home territory. The band has such a unique and memorable formula \u2013 essentially ABBA meets In Flames, with male, female and screamed vocals \u2013 that with the right exposure it\u2019s easy to imagine them taking over the world.<\/p>\n

There was an obvious formula to the first two Amaranthe albums. Each song would essentially go clean verse, clean verse, growled verse, repeat as necessary. With Massive Addictive<\/em> the band has moved away from that formula, trying out different patterns and approaches. The synth-pop elements are dialed way up, making this their most pop (and even dance floor)-friendly affair yet. That side of Amaranthe\u2019s sound is perfect for Elize Ryd\u2019s vocal style, but stands in stark contrast to Henrik England\u2019s metalcore-ready screams. Jake E\u2019s more traditional heavy metal vocals give the album an \u201cin\u201d with power metal fans. The album is super-poppy, super-catchy and even if it does seem as shallow as a Katy Perry album it\u2019s just so damned fun to listen to.<\/p>\n

Massive Addictive<\/em> is just that. It\u2019s impossible to resist and very easy to put on repeat. It doesn\u2019t matter how full of manly metalness you are, tracks like \u201cDrop Dead Cynical\u201d and \u201cDigital World\u201d will have you bouncing around your car like a teenager. Then there are tracks like \u201cDynamite\u201d and \u201cUnreal\u201d where you realize just how big a pop star Elize Ryd could have been had she chosen that path. If you\u2019re looking for the songs that are closest to Amaranthe and The Nexus, give \u201cTrue\u201d and \u201cAn Ordinary Abnormality\u201d a listen.<\/p>\n

If you already hate Amaranthe, this album will make you hate them even more. The fact is though, if Massive Addictive<\/em> reaches the right ears, it\u2019s going to be a game changer for this hard-working and extremely talented band. It\u2019s such a perfect crossover album, and one that \u2013 if the gods are good \u2013 will put them on a level with bands like Volbeat and Within Temptation. Sugar-coated pop metal never sounded this good.<\/p>\n

Genre: Metal, Power Metal<\/p>\n

Lineup:
\nOlof Morck (g) (k)
\nHenrik Englund (v)
\nElize Ryd (v)
\nJake E. Berg (v)
\nMorten Sorensen (d)
\nJohan Andreassen (b)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:<\/p>\n

1.\tDynamite
\n2.\tDrop Dead Cynical
\n3.\tTrinity
\n4.\tMassive Addictive
\n5.\tDigital World
\n6.\tTrue
\n7.\tUnreal
\n8.\tOver and Done
\n9.\tDanger Zone
\n10.\tSkyline
\n11.\tAn Ordinary Abnormality
\n12.\tExhale<\/p>\n

Label: Spinefarm Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.amaranthe.se<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven Rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist — Just one year after their last release (2013\u2019s The Nexus), Swedish pop metal sensation Amaranthe is back with a new album, their third overall, titled Massive Addictive. The […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":47283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[9871,2317,8919,9872,2267,1097,3875],"class_list":{"0":"post-47282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-amaranthe","9":"tag-cd-review","10":"tag-elize-ryd","11":"tag-massive-addictive","12":"tag-metal","13":"tag-power-metal","14":"tag-spinefarm-records"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}