AMARANTHE – Brisbane, Australia 1st September 2024
It’s rather appropriate for Amaranthe to have an album called Maximalism in their back catalogue. The title of that 2016 long-player is basically a one-word description of the band’s ethos – packing power metal, EDM, metalcore, pop and three vocalists into a massive sound that uplifts and conquers.
It’s also the Swedish combo’s first time on our shores, ending their Australian/NZ tour with tonight’s performance at The Tivoli. Now, they are touring their latest album The Catalyst and not a moment too soon, as evidenced by the frenzied excitement tonight’s audience shows towards them.
With Finnish harsh vocalist Samy Elbanna standing in for regular Mikael Sehlin, it’s otherwise the group people are familiar with – clean vocalists Elise Ryd and Nils Molin, guitarist Olof Morck, bassist Johan Andreassen and drummer Morten Sorensen. This gang of musicians all step up to the plate and deliver a crowd-pleasing, energetic and massively entertaining set.
The one aspect that affects every performance tonight is the sound, which is not up to the Tivoli’s usual standards. This is particularly evident in the opening band, Brisbane’s rock/metal power trio Krave, with the instruments reduced to a muddy rumble (the guitar is practically inaudible) and only the vocals ringing through clearly. Whether it was a technical issue or local volume restrictions, I couldn’t say but without finger pointing, these sound issues did persist to varying degrees throughout the night.
That said, Krave are a quality local live act, with bassist/vocalist Siana Davis a charismatic, cheerfully unhinged frontwoman. Despite the sound issues, their pumped-up rock tunes (somewhere between hard rock and alt-metal) go down a deserved treat with the crowd. Prompting mass devil horns from appreciative audience members, their set is received with enthusiasm, the crowd’s appetite whetted for tonight’s headliners.
Which brings us to Amaranthe, a group that simultaneously sounds grandiose and epic, while also condensing their compositions into no-nonsense three-minute pop songs. Beginning with the reliably anthemic Fearless, the scene is set for approximately one-and-a-half hours of giddily melodic unhinged pop metal. Nils Molin is our master of ceremonies, psyching the crowd up between songs, while Elise Ryd is a great singer and an utterly magnetic performer. Stand-in harsh vocalist Samy Elbanna is similarly pumped up, handling the vocal parts and stage craft like he’s been in the band for years.
In fact, all members are showmen of sorts, standing on risers and stalking the stage with intent, all the while getting the audience to sing and clap along. Some of the more wild, bombastic moments include Damnation Flame from the new record, the deliciously cheesy metal synth pop of Boomerang and the Eurovision pomp of Viral. There are changes in tone as well, such as the power ballad Crystalline which reminds me very much of Britney Spears (not an insult) and the similarly uplifting Amaranthine off their debut album from the heady days of 2011.
If I had any criticism, it would be that as a band with a strong base in EDM textures and elements of synth pop, it would be good to have a keyboardist in the live line-up, so they can throw in keyboard solos and live parts. With these elements instead being pre-recorded (as well as some choral parts to beef up the choruses), it seems a little at odds with the live instrumentation going on at the same time.
Ultimately, however, Amaranthe succeed because they give the audience exactly what they want – fast, layered and insanely catchy anthems performed with conviction and a sense of fun. For the encore, they come back with the frenzied Archangel, the We Will Rock You-esque That Song and singalong favourite Drop Dead Cynical. And cynicism is nowhere to be seen as beaming faces leave the theatre.
Reviewer: Matt Thrower
Photographer: Davey Rintala @fastlanephoto
