Unfortunately, Metal is a relatively male-dominated genre. We don’t know why people are always talking about how loud women can be. But that’s how the industry is – which makes Amaranthe just that much different than everyone else. Their band includes a woman, Elize Ryd, who does half of their vocals.

Elize is the only woman in the band, out of seven members, but we’ll take whatever equality we can get. We’re seeing more and more metal bands out of Sweden, which has mostly contributed house music to the scene in the last few years. We’d love to see an Amon Amarth and Amaranthe collaboration album (just putting that out there).

Melodic Death Metal

IF you took Elize out of the equation, Amaranthe would be metal, no doubt about it. But her clear and haunting vocals (which remind us of Aurora, who found fame in Frozen two) give the music a pop twist. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re trying to ease yourself into metal music, Amaranthe would be a good place to start.

Speaking of starting, the band first got together in 2008. It consists of Elize Ryd, Andy Solvestrom, Henrik Englund, Jake E., Johan Andreassen, Morten Lowe Sorenson, and Olaf Morck. Try saying all those names three times fast!

Massive Addictive Sound

The bands’ first album, Nexus, pretty much flew off the charts. It exceeded expectations in their home country of Sweden, but also around the globe. The same is true of their next albums, Addictive and Maximalism, which came out a year apart. Their more recent work has taken a step away from pop and towards EDM, as they’re influenced by many of their Swedish musical peers. No matter how they evolve over time, they’ll always put on a great live show.