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Tuesday 27 February 2024

Reviews: Amaranthe, Karkosa, Stellar Remains, Dream Academy (Reviews By Matt Bladen, Zak Skane, Charlie Rogers & Rich Piva)

Amaranthe – The Catalyst (Nuclear Blast) [Matt Bladen]

Having been at the forefront of the electo metal sound for 15 years Amaranthe can be considered originators now. Many symphonic metal bands have adopted the mixture of EDM and power metal that they brought to audiences around the world just as the gothic, orchestra driven symphonic sound was wearing a little thin. It was bold and dynamic but now many bands have jumped on the bandwagon. Where Amaranthe have lasted are that they are never afraid to change things up and that they have resiliently survived many line up changes, though the core membership of Elize Ryd and Olof Mörck has been what keeps the band releasing music. 

On their seventh record there has been another change, as Elize and clean singer Nils Molin strengthen their link as singers since the last album, long time growler Henrik Englund Wilhelmsson, departed the band to spend more time at home, so The Catalyst features Mikael Sehlin, who has a much more aggressive snarl, showcased on the 2020 Paralydium album Worlds Beyond. This new blood adds a nastier edge to some of the heavier tracks, as many of the compositions are bolder, more guitar driven and more dramatic than on the last couple of albums. The vocal trio sound re-energized from the rapid fire opening, through the poppy bounce of Insatiable and the gothic Damnation Flame, the diversity of Amaranthe’s new record is clear, Mörck using the last three years to create the most bombastic creations of their career. 

I’ll admit it’s the first time I’ve been excited about an Amaranthe album for a while possibly because there seems to be a lot of nods to Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Jim Steinman, Children Of Bodom and Daft Punk. Olof says it’s their most theatrical album, based around the concept of change, each song deals with a different type of change, Stay A Little While is a proper romantic duet while Breaking The Waves adds some more traditional symphonic fayre, Outer Dimensions a Eurovision rocker. With the strongest vocals trio they’ve had for a while, Olof Mörck stretching himself in the song writing and the rhythm section of drummer Morten Løwe Sørensen and bassist Johan Andreassen on fire The Catalyst is one of the strongest entries into the Amaranthe discography. 8/10

Karkosa - Esoterrorcult (Redefining Darkness Records) [Zak Skane]

Karkosa explode into this album with classic black metal fury, from it’s opening track Encorcalled Spirits where are greeted with classic but pin point accurate blast beats, thundering and fast drum rolls. The guitar riffs go from gothic voiced cleans to razor sharp tremolo picked melodic lines captured to pure perfection. The vocals stem from demonic lows to the cursed haunting frys, whilst also throwing in some choir sounding clean vocals. 

The momentum follows on with track Poison Of God which pushes the musician abilities from it’s statically fast tempos, frantic chord changes and hellish arpeggios. Through out this whole album the band levels of insanity from track to track for example, Donni Sanctum still manages to escalate the intensity with it’s aggressive minor chords strumming, chilling Bass solos and venomous nihilistic lyrics. The chilling instrumental Axis Mundi brings in some crystal clean guitar passages played with some chilling classical flare whilst soundscapes of crow cawing in the background. 

On the second half of the album highlights consist of ,the eerie vocal passages and the frantic guitar tapping of Remnants Of Creation and Cyclopean Gateway brings in some comic lyrical content, throat cutting pick scrapes, progressive time signature transitions and eerie soundscapes. To close it off the climatic ending of Angelus Ejections brings us to a chaotic closer. Karkosa have made a splendid example of what a modern release of what an Extreme Black Metal record should be; well produced, well preformed and really fucking extreme, if you are a fan of bands like Behemoth and Lorna Shore. 10/10

Stellar Remains - Wastelands (Gutter Prince Cabal Records) [Charlie Rogers]

Astro-metal seems to be an ever-growing flavour at the moment, with the path cleanly cleared by contemporary artists like Denver’s Blood Incantation, or Leeds’ Cryptic Shift. Following them through the stargate is Australian solo-project Stellar Remains, a 6 track EP entirely written, performed, and produced by one Brisbanian called Dan Elkin - it looks like the only thing Dan didn’t do here was paint the artwork!

Taking themes and aesthetics from atmospheric black metal, through contemplative progressive rock, all the way down to sludgy, dirge laden death metal, Wastelands invites the listener to a varied aural experience. Clocking in at 26mins, there’s 4 main songs on offer, a 2 minute instrumental intro titled Ceaseless Charade Of The Living Dead setting the tone for the release, and an 85 second interlude called The Invisible Man to break the midpoint of the listen.

I particularly enjoyed the closing track Cloudbearer, with it’s polyrhythmic, high energy main riff that gives way to a stratospheric, almost meandering middle 8 passage. Multiple textures being used to convey a sense of depth and wonder, there’s a lot of interweaving melodic and harmonic content layered within the song. 

It’s well produced, fully embracing the modern guitar and bass tonality you’d expect from extreme metal, while also sprinkling some clean adjacent tones over the top parts where needed. The vocals varied from harsh growls to black metal shrieks, often placed low in the mix where they don’t always shine over and above the instrumentation, which largely fit the style.

While there is a lot of technical ability on display, the record could do with more hooks. Few passages left any permanent trace in my memory, and I struggle to recall much of the record after putting it down for a few hours. There are certainly enjoyable passages in the moment, however the lack of earworms makes me wonder why I would want to put it back on rather than listen to a different release. If Dan can crack the code to writing memorable bangers, Stellar Remains could be a force to reckon with. 6/10

Dream Academy - Religion, Revolution, & Railroads (Cherry Red Records) [Rich Piva]

This is now the second time I may have gotten in over my head, this time volunteering to review the new Dream Academy box set from the awesome label Cherry Red Records, who are experts at this kind of package and really any other type of reissue you are looking for. Last time it was Cutting Crew, which I found I really don’t like except for their big hit. The result from this time is pretty similar. The one big US hit, Life In A Northern Town, is one of the best songs of that generation, but I was left very underwhelmed with the rest of the band’s three albums and various remixes, B-Sides and rarities found on this 80-track set.

The lack of punch from the band’s discography is again one of my major feedback points. Maybe I just don’t like 80s pop deep cuts or full albums? I feel like that can’t be true given my Duran Duran and Gary Numan love, but it is worth investigating. The main reason why I took this on was that one of my favorite musicians of all time, Lindsey Buckingham, produced their second album, Remembrance Day, and for sure you can hear little quirks from him in the guitar work and the band’s sound, but even he could not really save this for me, but it was interesting to hear something else he was involved in outside his solo stuff and work with the Mac. David Gilmour produced albums one and three, but I am not really a Floyd guy enough to care (send the hate mail to my editor) and the songs just don’t connect with me anyway.

So again, like my Cutting Crew experience, musically, I would give this a three (a bit higher), but package wise and getting the Cherry Red treatment is always a ten (Cherry red is always awesome) hence the middle ground here. For big Dream Academy fans only. 5/10

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