Amaranthe
Amaranthe, the fast-rising modern metal sextet,will release their sophomore album, ‘The Nexus’, on March 25th via Spinefarm Records.
Produced by Jacob Hansen (whose credits include Volbeat, Dreamshade & Ginger Wildheart, and who worked on Amaranthe’s 2011 self-titled debut), ‘The Nexus’ sees the Swedish/Danish outfit further honing a musical style that blends cutting-edge melodic metal with soaring pop melodies, the whole thing topped off by a unique three-vocal attack...
Says guitarist and band co-founder Olof Morck: "The moment has come to let loose ‘The Nexus’ on an unsuspecting world! This time we went all the way with our futuristic dream-nightmare - a no-compromise vision steeped in deep contrast between the mechanically ultra-heavy and shimmering serene melody.
‘The Nexus’ is everything we dreamed about doing with our debut album; we laboured to make this offering as diverse as it is direct and catchy... and remember, no-one can be told what ‘The Nexus’ is - you have to hear it for yourself!"
A new single/video - title track, ‘The Nexus’ - will be made available from all usual outlets/platforms on January 25th. The clip has been directed by Patric Ullaeus,who has worked with names such as In Flames, Arch Enemy & Dimmu Borgir; he was also responsiblefor Amaranthe video The Hunger’ - lead single from the band’s highly successful debut, now at a whopping 3.5 millionYouTube views (and counting).
Olof: "We wanted thenew video to have a decidedly cinematic feel, in the vein of a Hollywood action movie, with a slightly darker angle than our previous promos. We wanted lots of extras & explosive action scenes, and we knew that Patric was just the man for the job!
In Support of Album One, which made an international impact right from the start, hitting the charts in several countries, the band played shows around the world, mixing special guest spots (opening for Hammerfall, Kamelot & more) with headline outings and festival appearances; the latter included Loud Park in Japan (where the album has sold in excess of 30,000 copies, topping the Japanese import charts ahead of Lady Gaga!), Bloodstock in the UK, ProgPower in the US and Wacken in Germany
In Sweden, meanwhile, on the back of unswerving support from Bandit Radio, who presented them with the ‘Breakthrough Artist’ award (one of several on the Amaranthe mantlepiece), the band played a triumphant homecoming show in August 2012, appearing in front of a 10,000-strong crowd at Liseberg Amusement Park in Gothenburg.
All of which means that ‘The Nexus’ (the single, the video, the album) is a much-anticipated arrival, but with new tracks such as ‘Afterlife’, ‘Invincible’, ‘Mechanical Illusion’ and likely second single ‘Burn With Me’ showing just how effective the band’s hybrid style can be, 2013 should see Amaranthe building spectacularly on the international plaudits & successes of the past two years; already, the six have an extensive on-the-road plan locked into place, starting with
a run of dates in Finland, followed by a co-headline Europeantour with Finnish metallers Stratovarius in March; this will see the band visiting 13 different countries, from Slovakia through to Spain, then the spring/summer will be spent at a variety of major European festivals - Sweden Rock, Nova Rock in Austria, Graspop in Belgium, Tuska in Finland, Metaltown & Getaway in Sweden, and more, with the Full Metal Cruise (leaving from Hamburg, Germany) lined up for May.