Amaranthe have become my favourite punching bag as of late, but they really set themselves up for it with that last release of ‘Massive Addictive‘ that was nothing more than Abba on acid…at best. With 2016 having such a rich array of excellent metal albums, we gotta find something rotten right?
[tracklist]
01. Maximize
02. Boomerang
03. That Song
04. 21
05. On The Rocks
06. Limitless
07. Fury
08. Faster
09. Break Down And Cry
10. Supersonic
11. Fireball
12. Endlessly
[/tracklist]
[details]
[length]39:42[/length]
[record_label]Spinefarm Records[/record_label]
[release_date]21st October 2016[/release_date]
[/details]
Even though I’ve bashed this band to bits as of late, a small part of me wants ‘Maximalism‘ to actually be good. I liked the debut and sophomore album, and I do feel the musicians of Amaranthe ought to be respected as they are very talented individuals. I simply don’t understand why they have taken the direction they have with their music – it’s like their guiding philosophy has been Rihanna meets In Flames produced by Tiesto.
I was hoping ‘Maximalism‘ would make amends, maybe just one or two fantastic tracks that bring back the metal fury in the high-pulse electro that originally kicked the band into gear. Sadly that is just not happening anymore, and it’s only getting worse if the opening track of ‘Maximize‘ has anything to say about it, where modulated synths, pop-hooks and disco beats dominate.
What’s even more frustrating is that now it seems like the harsh vocals are only sprinkled in to justify Amaranthe as metal. Well they definitely aren’t now. Tracks like ‘Boomerang‘ seem to clearly set out Amaranthe’s agenda as searching for a Eurovision smash, and it’s quite possible that songs like the cringing ‘That Song‘ are setting frontwoman Elize Ryd up for a career in pop.
It’s all rather irritating to a fan expecting metal, and it even must be rather questionable to a pop fan trying to take something away from the music as well. The biggest shame of all is the collabarative of talented musicians taking a direction that does not look good to those who are the most critical.
If you were to take one thing away from ‘Maximalism‘ is that the final ballad of ‘Endlessly‘ is actually brilliant by my ears, it’s performed flawlessly. I am a real sucker for that Disney style metal ballad though, but it’s a bit of a paradox ending the album like that – we know the band can still write excellent, and completely relevant music, so why aren’t they doing it? All in all, ‘Maximalism‘ is colossal, commercially-driven disappointment.
[verdict]No[/verdict]
[why]If you had any glimmer of hope that Amaranthe would abandon their pop transcendence and make a more metal approach, it’s all gone now. ‘Maximalism’ offers nothing to a metal fan, and should be left alone.[/why]
