Amaranthe - The Catalyst (2024)

Amaranthe are in the half of their second decade and The Catalyst is their 7th full-length release. One of the worst things that can happen to you is entering a conversation about the genre they belong to. Not strictly Power, not Symphonic but some elements are present for sure, with the same applying to Metalcore. If you combine all those along with a strong pitch of Pop then you may come close. Correct, Amaranathe have very strong Pop attributes in their music to the point that they have one foot in that genre and one in Metal.

Another thing that makes them distinct are their 3 singers. They cover the roles of clean female and male vocals with the puzzle becoming complete with a growler/harsh vocalist. All 3 participate in almost every song either by alternating between them or sharing the spotlight together.

If you have listened to Amaranthe before but refuse to surrender the “true metal warrior” banners, there is absolutely no way things will be different with The Catalyst. If you like them on the other hand, then I am glad to be the bearer of good news because it shreds. It is guaranteed that during the album’s 40 min duration you will have a great time. You will want to headband, jump, dance and sing along. You will also have no other choice than to praise the vocal lines because they are so good. What has been managed is that the songs are super catchy that you will definitely exit the first listening sessions with some melodies in your head. Simultaneously though there are many great things going on that you will need to revisit a lot in order to get everything The Catalyst has to offer.

Diving into some personally noteworthy songs firstly with a pleasant surprise, the band gave us the very theatrical Damnation Flame that stands out with its uniqueness within the album. If you are familiar with the previous record Manifest you can expect something similar to Archangel. Another strong strike comes from the amazing Resistance. Not only does it have a chorus that any Power Metal band would be jealous to have, but I identified some references to Bella Ciao both in lyrics and melodies. Don’t know if it was done on purpose, but if yes then it was done masterfully. Speaking of great choruses, we can’t omit Interference that also has a guitar and keyboard riff that came straight out of a Rammstein session.

Moments like that can be found anywhere. Find Life reminded me of Within Temptation at their best, Re-Vision will definitely give you a strong urge to move your body while Stay a Little While drops the adrenaline for a beautiful ballad with powerful performances.

If I wanted, I could spend an eternity finding opinions that bash Amaranthe’s sound. But Amaranthe do something that very few can nowadays. They surprised me. Each time I listened to The Catalyst, what came out of the speakers was inspired music that is modern, fresh, has its own identity and made me smile. Perhaps we need more bands like them that do things differently. All I know is that in a year that seems very busy with new music, this record will be hardly dethroned from the top positions. And this comes from someone that refused to listen to them three years ago.