Swedish rockers Amaranthe are back with their third studio release ‘Massive Addictive’, and their larger than life sound is pushed even further with an epic swirl of melody and vocal harmony courtesy of the divine Elize Ryd. The singer spoke with Glam Adelaide about the music process and how she’s looking forward to touring Australia in 2015.
The bubbly Swede sips coffee from her Stockholm hotel lobby in her pyjamas as we speak, as it’s quite early and she insists that it’s great for her singing voice.
Massive Addictive is a step up from their previous albums, and the songwriting process was somewhat different from previous offerings. “Focusing on this album, we worked a lot to find sounds on the Nexus Keyboard, that’s how most songs started. As the band and I don’t live in the same city, they sent the tracks to me and I found a vocal melody from what I heard. Certain sounds explained an emotion to me, so inspiration essentially comes from those fantastic sounds from the keyboards.” The signature ‘larger than life’ sound that Amaranthe are known for is never lost on massive Addictive, and Drop Dead Cynical is testament to that with its throbbing energy and sheer power.
“We get a lot of inspiration from our fans and things that happen to us, your view of the world changes when you’re out there playing and meeting people. That’s part of how we made this album. We wanted to make this album more ‘poppy’ and catchy than previous albums.”
Classically trained since a child, it’s curious as to why someone with a blissful voice as Ryd has gravitated towards industrial metal a her preferred medium, but she says that it was almost accidental. “To begin with I was just a part of the creation process, when they (Amaranthe) played the first demo for me though, I offered some input that they liked and after the demo’s were recorded they wanted me to stay and keep contributing creatively. They felt we’d created something very unique so as long as I could contribute to the songwriting I thought why not, as this is the type of rock I’d like to listen to!”
If you’ve seen Ryd perform with Amaranthe, it’s evident that her theatrical background has given her a huge stage presence and with her natural beauty, there’s little doubt that Amaranthe are destined for big things. “I try to bring the theatrics into metal, it was my passion and it goes together. It’s a little freer with a band though , and not so stage-managed so I love to try new things and express myself without being ‘in the box’. One of my dreams a child was to travel, and with the band it’s allowing us to do that.”
Australian fans can look forward to Amaranthe next year, with details of their tour to come soon. “We’re planning that right now,” says Ryd. “That’s the priority for us. ” Her only concern about coming to Australia though, is that she may like it as much as her Swedish friends who’ve come to visit but ended up staying here. “I have so many friends that never returned from Australia, everyone seems to just want to move there and stay forever. I’ve heard it’s a fantastic place and I’ve only heard good things,” she says with a laugh. We discuss the natural beauty of Australia, how you can literally be snow skiing, trekking the desert, and scuba diving the reef all in a single day (with the assistance of an airplane of course!) Ryd finds out that I’m a Scuba Diver and excitedly claims that she’s an Advanced Diver also, and pencils me in for an Open Water dive when she gets here. No pressure!
She discusses being the only female in a male dominant band, and how she simply gets on with the job with her bandmates. “We’re like a family, or it’s like being in a marriage really. Sometimes you can spend too much time together. Sometimes it’s tough to be the only female, and we occasionally have differences but we’re trying to come up with what works for us and that keeps us together. We do have a lot of fun together though- just last week we were partying hard.”
Ryd says they’ve considered adding an extra female to the group for balance. An Anni-Frida to your Agnetha perhaps? I quip.
She laughs heartily and says ‘Absolutely!’
Just quietly, Amaranthe’s stunner of a leading lady is doing just fine all by herself!
The Swedish Epic, Symphonic and with a touch of Melodeath band AMARANTHE released their third album ‘MASSIVE ADDICTIVE’ via Spinefarm Records / Caroline Australia on October 17TH and it hit the iTunes metal charts at # 2 behind Slipknot. Along with Drop Dead Cynical, have a listen to the contrasting Trinity
http://www.facebook.com/AmarantheBand
iTunes: http://bit.ly/MASSIVEADDICTIVE_iTunes
Interviewed by Darren Hassan
Twitter: @DazzHassan
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