Amaranthe is a Swedish heavy metal band originally known as Avalanche. The band is notable for their blend of various metal genres and having three lead vocalists.

History

Formation, self-titled debut album and ''The Nexus'' (2008–2013)

Formed by Olof Mörck ( Dragonland, Nightrage) and Joacim "Jake E" Lundberg (Dreamland, Dream Evil) in 2008, the project began taking shape when singers Elize Ryd (toured with Kamelot) and Andreas Solveström ( Cipher System, Within Y) signed on, as did drummer Morten Løwe Sørensen (The Cleansing, Koldborn,

Mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

). Bassist Johan Andreassen ( Engel) joined after the photoshoot for the '' Leave Everything Behind'' demo but before the recording of the first album '' Amaranthe''. The band was originally called Avalanche until May 2009, when they were forced to change their name due to legal issues. The members chose to rename the band Amaranthe. They later released their first demo, ''Leave Everything Behind''. The band's debut album, '' Amaranthe'', was released in April 2011 and reached a peak position of 35th on Swedish charts and 16th on Finnish Charts. Their second album, '' The Nexus'', was released in March 2013. Guitarist Olof Mörck described the album as having greater contrasts, a more controversial mix of genres, and featuring more creative freedoms than ''Amaranthe''. According to Olof, the band "took everything pto eleven" in the new album. The album reached 6th on Swedish charts, 4th on Finnish charts, and reached a peak of 12th on the US Heatseekers charts.

''Massive Addictive'' and ''Maximalism'' (2013–2017)

In October 2013, harsh vocalist Solveström left the band and was replaced by Henrik Englund Wilhelmsson (Scarpoint). Their third album, '' Massive Addictive'', was released on 21 October 2014. A special compilation '' Breaking Point - B-sides 2011-2015'' was released on 30 October 2015. It consists of b-sides and bonus tracks from Amaranthe's career. Their fourth album, ''

Maximalism In the arts, maximalism is an Aesthetics, aesthetic characterized by excess and abundance, serving as a reaction against minimalism. The philosophy can be summarized as "more is more", contrasting with the minimalist principle of "less is more" ...

'', was released on 21 October 2016. In November 2016, male clean vocalist Jake E announced that he would take a break from the band. In February 2017, the band confirmed that he was permanently leaving. In March 2017, he joined Cyhra. In July 2017, Amaranthe stated on their Facebook page that Nils Molin of Dynazty would join the band as their permanent vocalist, after filling in for Jake E on tour dates.

''Helix'' and ''Manifest'' (2018–2021)

On 10 August 2018, they released their new single, "365", from their new album ''

Helix A helix (; ) is a shape like a cylindrical coil spring or the thread of a machine screw. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is for ...

'', which itself was released on 19 October. At that time, they wrote and performed the credits theme song to the 12 oz. Mouse special "INVICTUS". On 16 October 2019, they announced that they had signed with

Nuclear Blast Records Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

. On 3 January 2020, the band released their rendition of

Sabaton A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armour, body armor that covers the foot. History Sabatons from the 14th and 15th centuries typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot, following poulaines, f ...

's "82nd All the Way", originally taken from Sabaton's 2019 studio album '' The Great War''. On 13 February, the band released the single "Do or Die", which features former

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a Supergroup (music), supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass (band), Carcass, Armageddon (Swedish band), Armageddon, Carnage (band), Carna ...

-vocalist Angela Gossow on growling vocals and

-guitarist

Jeff Loomis Jeff Loomis (born September 14, 1971) is an American musician, best known for his role as lead guitarist in the progressive metal band Nevermore during its existence from 1991 to 2011, as well as brief tenures in its precursor, Sanctuary (band) ...

on the guitar solo. The official music video, which was filmed in Spain, was released the next day. In the music video's description, the band's label

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

announced that their sixth studio album would be released in September 2020. On 5 March, the band released the music video for "Endlessly", originally from the album ''Maximalism''. The video was directed, filmed and edited b
Duminciuc Bogdan
and is actually the documentation of the Transylvanian wedding between guitarist Olof Mörck and his wife Cătălina Popa (the flutist from the German symphonic metal band Haggard), which took place on 19 July 2019 at Sungarden,

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Amaranthe released their sixth studio album, titled '' Manifest'', on 2 October 2020. The first single 'Viral' was released on 26 June 2020, followed by a second single, 'Strong,' on 14 August 2020, and 'Archangel' as the third single on 18 September 2020.

''The Catalyst'' (2021–present)

In December 2021, Amaranthe released a single called "PVP". The track was written as the official anthem for the Swedish

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world cup team at the E-Sports world championship. The single was accompanied by a music video and a

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, hosted on the band's website. On 8 June 2022, Wilhelmsson announced his exit from the band, saying that he wished to spend more time with his family and began to dislike touring over the years. He also said that he was planning on releasing solo material in the near future. The band announced they would be joined by two special guests as his replacements at their summer shows of that year. On 6 October, Amaranthe released the first single "Find Life". On 27 June 2023, Amaranthe released the second single for "Damnation Flame", in which they revealed the identity of their new harsh vocalist, Mikael Sehlin. The band later announced their seventh studio album, '' The Catalyst'', which was released on 23 February 2024. On 26 September, the band unveiled the third single "Insatiable". On 16 November, they premiered the fourth single "Outer Dimensions". On 11 January 2024, Amaranthe released the fifth single "Re-Vision". The music video for the title track "The Catalyst" was released 23 February 2024, coinciding with the album release.

Musical style

Even as their body of work grows, where exactly Amaranthe's music fits into the heavy metal sphere remains notoriously undefined. Band members, websites, and critics have referred to the band and their albums as various different genres such as pop metal, melodic death metal,

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...

, symphonic metal,

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

, heavy metal, and

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

Band members

Current * Olof Mörck – guitars, keyboards, synthesizers (2008–present), bass (2008–2009) * Elize Ryd – female clean vocals (2008–present) * Morten Løwe Sørensen – drums (2008–present) * Johan Andreassen – bass (2010–present) * Nils Molin – male clean vocals (2017–present) * Mikael Sehlin – harsh vocals (2023–present) Former * Joacim "Jake E" Lundberg – male clean vocals (2008–2017) * Andreas Solveström – harsh vocals (2008–2013) * Henrik "GG6" Englund Wilhelmsson – harsh vocals (2013–2022) Touring * Olle Ekman – harsh vocals (2015) * Chris Adam Hedman Sörbye – clean vocals (2016–2017) * Rob Love Magnusson – guitars (2019) * Samy Elbanna – harsh vocals (2022, 2024) * Richard Sjunnesson – harsh vocals (2022) * Melissa Bonny – clean vocals (2025)

Timeline

Discography

* '' Amaranthe'' (2011) * '' The Nexus'' (2013) * '' Massive Addictive'' (2014) * ''

'' (2016) * ''

'' (2018) * '' Manifest'' (2020) * '' The Catalyst'' (2024)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2008 establishments in Sweden Swedish melodic death metal musical groups Swedish metalcore musical groups Swedish musical sextets Swedish power metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2009 Musical groups from Gothenburg Female-fronted musical groups Mixed-gender bands Nuclear Blast artists Spinefarm Records artists