Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Amaranthe - The Nexus (2013)
I already said that Amaranthe is a great band that's underrated in the metal community, but that's only for their self-titled album and this one, The Nexus. These two albums keep the diverse style perfectly balanced. As for later albums, the trance overpowers the heaviness causing the metal quality to decrease, and that ratio gets slightly worse per each album, while I still like many of the songs from them. So we gotta enjoy the perfect one-two punch while we still can, with their second album The Nexus!
Like I said before, Amaranthe's 2011 self-titled debut is a clap of well-mixed thunder (though I'm scared of loud thunder, don't laugh). The thunder keeps rolling with album #2, The Nexus, which promised metalheads a greater future for the band, but of course because of those later albums, it ended up being a false promise...
The album begins "Afterlife", another great opener that exemplifies everything you want from the band. Sharp guitars and massive drums are taken to different levels by trance keys. What really stands out is, you guessed it, is the triple-vocal approach. The combination of the female singing of Elize Ryd, the male singing of Jake E. Lundberg, and the screaming of Andreas Solveström are something you would never hear from another band. This cyclone of sound makes you want to turn into Sonic and beat up Dr. Eggman's robots through the wind and light. "Invincible" really displays the band's Nightwish influences while mixing them with the trance metal sounds from other bands like Crossfaith and Blood Stain Child. An interesting example of such a genre! That chorus would make you scream "ONE MORE TIME!!!", which is what Andreas screams between the two parts of each chorus. The title track has crushing music helped out by this vocal team. It really sets apart from any music you hear nowadays. The top-notch lyrics have a positive tone of never giving up. An energetic song of metal heaven on pop earth! "Theory of Everything" has beautiful optimistic energy.
"Stardust" once again has the awesome unique mix of power metal and metalcore. One of Andrea's screamed verses have quite some deep meaning ("My nemesis is my own belief and my actions will change why I'm here!!"). "Burn With Me" is a power ballad with only clean singing that sounds like Evanescence/Flyleaf with the addition of male vocals and a slight industrial feel. Great song, but the vocals sounds a bit like the terrible autotune. "Mechanical Illusion" is an awesome song, despite sounding a little more mechanical. "Razorblade" is another amazing song that mixes catchy and epic, especially in the razor-sharp guitar work.
"Future On Hold" is a futuristic-sounding song with great vocal synergy. It actually fits well with the ongoing pandemic (as of writing this review) that has put the FUTURE ON HOLD. The "Shutdown sequence" narrations sound almost like it was taken from a sci-fi video game. "Electroheart" is an excellent mix of metal growls and electropop vocals with energetic imagination. It fits well as the theme for an invincible cyborg superhero and, don't hate me for saying this, it's Aqua gone metal! "Transhuman" is a trance metal anthem for the evolution of human life. "Infinity" is an inspiring closing song for this band and future generations of trance metal. That's right, "Infinity" shall keep metal alive for a modern future!
The Nexus is a logical progression for the band that has continued the perfect sound from their first album. This proves that the band can be a rising force in modern metal, but sadly, their later albums would have them going a downward direction. Anyway, The Nexus would sure make you think against dissing Amaranthe. Highly recommended!
Favorites: "Afterlife", "The Nexus", "Stardust", "Mechanical Illusion", "Electroheart", "Infinity"