Amaranthe – The Catalyst – 2024
The Catalyst is the seventh album by Swedish Metal band Amaranthe. As a Swede, I suppose I should have heard them before—or at least heard of them—but I haven’t. There’s simply too much music these days. Everything is easily accessible through the internet and streaming services. It’s not like the good old days when you had to track down new releases and actually pay attention to what was going on in the music scene. I guess it’s also an age thing, even though I find it hard to accept that I’m getting older. I still feel 25, though I suppose that’s not quite my physical age anymore.
Amaranthe, at least on The Catalyst, features both clean female singing and growling male vocals. It’s a concept that usually works pretty well, and I think Amaranthe does it very well. I like the contrast between the very heavy growling and the more melodic female vocals. It’s not as operatic as Tarja Turunen or Evanescence—it’s more a blend of pop and metal than of metal and classical opera. I’m speaking about the vocals only, of course. Don’t mistake The Catalyst for Pop Metal, because it’s not.
The melodies aren’t as accessible as they would have been in a more pop-oriented metal style—radio-friendly, you might say. Or maybe I’m just a dinosaur who doesn’t realize that pop music no longer sounds like it did in the ‘80s. Either way, I really like the passion and intensity in this kind of metal. I think it exists somewhere in the shadowland between traditional Heavy Metal, elements of Power Metal, and even touches of Industrial Metal. I realize I’m out on a limb here—there are just too many subgenres these days. It was easier back then.
That said, The Catalyst is one of the most vital and impressive new albums I’ve listened to in quite a while. I suggest you check it out. If you’re anything like me, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
