Amaranthe: – Breaking Point – B-Sides 2011-2015

[schema type=”review” name=”Amaranthe: – Breaking Point – B-Sides 2011-2015″ description=”Label: Spinefarm Records” author=”Amy Wiseman” pubdate=”2015-10-30″ ]

Swedish pop-metal leaders Amaranthe have decided to gather up all of their B-sides from their three albums and release them in one digital collection, called “Breaking Point – B-Sides 2011-2015”. The collection is comprised of six acoustic tracks and two regulars.

The album starts with a throwback to the first album, with an acoustic version of Hunger, which also appeared on their second album, “Nexus”, as a bonus track. Their debut album was good, though it’s hard to deny that a lot of the songs sound more or less the same. If you feel the same way, this is already an interesting take on a familiar song. Musically, it’s got a rather different sound, and the acoustic violin is a nice touch. There are no harsh vocals or growls at all, though Elize Ryd (vocals) is really testing the limits of her voice. It’s a little much at the end of the first chorus and the very end, but otherwise it’s quite fine throughout. Afterlife is one of the acoustic versions that you may not have come across before now. It has a less differentiated acoustic sound than Hunger had, but the harmonizing between Ryd and Jake Lundberg (clean vocals) continues to be a strong point, particularly when the music seems focused on emphasizing their voices, rather than accompanying them.

Amaranthe seems to have a tradition of slowing their albums down on the sixth track, with Amaranthine, Burn With Me, and True on each album respectively. These three songs are lovely already as metal songs, so the potential for all of them as acoustic tracks is pretty high. Amaranthine is a bit of a toss-up in this sense. It doesn’t quite beat its original predecessor for quality, but if you’ve grown tired of the original, the change in style might appeal to you. The addition of acoustic violin continues to be delightful in Burn With Me, and Ryd’s voice reaches a new level of gentleness. In all of these songs, however, some aspect of beauty seems to get lost. True is perhaps the most obvious in this. The delicate piano still manages to somehow be loud and harsh against the gentle lyrics. There is something in this song that is just too much and kills the original mood.

Trinity, from their latest album, “Massive Addictive”, is perhaps the worst transition to the acoustic style. Somehow, the music doesn’t suit the lyrics or the style in which it is sung. The vocals are perhaps too intense for the music itself. It starts out quite strong, but ultimately sounds a bit odd during the chorus – there is too little going on to accompany the vocals. This is a song that needs the extra oomph from the music; it feels naked without it.

One thing that’s a touch strange about the acoustic songs is that a few of them have a bit of a medieval or renaissance feel to them, expressed through the violin. The sound itself is lovely and compliments the music nicely, but the style is a bit odd for their traditionally poppy, produced music. They aren’t a folk or Viking -style band, so it clashes against what you’re used to from them, for better or for worse.

Breaking Point is now the first taste of a ‘new’ Amaranthe song, though in reality these last two tracks appeared on the special edition of their self-titled debut. In true B-side sense, it feels like an old song from a known band. However, it actually manages to avoid sounding exactly like every other early Amaranthe song (with the exception of the chorus). The growls from Englund are perhaps the most novel thing in this track – they fall into more of a metalcore style, which is not much like what they’ve become on the albums. It’s interesting to see how one of the most original-sounding songs didn’t actually make it to the album itself. The last track, Splinter in My Soul, is similar in this sense, though it actually sounds completely different from the rest of the tracks on “Amaranthe”. This song is great simply because it’s a complete change-up from what you’d expect from the band.

There isn’t exactly anything earth-shattering on “Breaking Point”, but if you’re a fan of Amaranthe and have grown a bit tired of the same songs, you might enjoy this as an extra treat to tide you over until they put out a new album. I don’t think it’ll necessarily make them any more fans, but it serves as a nice gift to those who have been loyal to them since they appeared on the scene.

Line Up:
Elize Ryd – Female vcals
“Jake E.” Lundberg – Clean male vocals
Olof Mörck – Guitars, Keyboards
Morten Løwe Sørensen – Drums
Johan Andreassen – Bass
Henrik Englund – Growling male vocals

Tracklist: 01. Hunger (acoustic) 02. Afterlife (acoustic) 03. Amaranthine (acoustic) 04. Burn With Me (acoustic) 05. Trinity (acoustic) 06. True (acoustic) 07. Breaking Point 08. Splinter in My Soul

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