Amaranthe Essentials

Sweden’s Amaranthe transform their country’s passions for heavy metal and dance music into soaring anthems that unite mosh pits and dance floors. Formed in Gothenburg in 2008, the outfit honed a mix of metalcore and death metal layered with classical-informed fret-work and featured a triple-singer attack anchored by Elize Ryd (who had previously worked with power-metal act Kamelot). They achieved global recognition with the release of their third album, 2014’s MASSIVE ADDICTIVE, and its aptly titled 2016 follow-up, Maximalism. Both sets find Amaranthe building complex matrices of arpeggiated synths, roiling breakdowns, and trance grooves that sparkle like crystal yet also deliver nasty body blows. On subsequent records, including 2020’s Manifest, they embrace the crunch of nu-metal as well as dubstep, proving the group are a deep well of sonic invention when it comes to blending extreme metal with electronic music.