Review of Amaran - A World Depraved

When it comes to the heavier bands fronted by women who exclusively sing with a revered clean voice a few that quickly come to mind are of course Lacuna Coil and The Gathering. Whereas I am a fan of both bands, at times their music minus the angelic vocals doesn't always deliver the goods that I am after. With an overall heavy-rock backbone set in place for The Gathering's, Anneke Van Giersbergen and Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia to sing over, it seems as if the actual music at times is diluted, bordering on downright ordinary. I do realize that both band's focus is mainly upon their extraordinary singers, but does the music written for them to sing over have to suffer? On several occasions if it wasn't for either of their vocal performances I wouldn't give their music the time of day. Enter Amaran, hailing from Stockholm, Sweden and also fronted by a very capable female singer, have quickly solved my dilemma with the aforementioned bands. Delivering a very aggressive backbone for lead singer Johanna De Pierre's emotional vocals, Amaran have found a formula that works and works damn well. Brandishing the patented Swedish melodic metal angle, Amaran set the perfect pace, powerful metal coupled with even more powerful female vocals. Pierre's voice is spectacular throughout with the easy comparison to both Giersbergen and Scabbia, yet in her case she has some damn solid metal to sing over. Musically a comparison to In Flames, Dark Tranquillity and Arch Enemy would be in order, but also not the rule, Amaran do tone it down on a couple of songs all the while only amplifying Pierre's hypnotic vocal styling. This release may very well set the standard of this genre, being able to appeal to the full on mullet metal guy yet at the same time finding a home amongst a more conservative listener. I must stress that while the main focus is of course on Pierre's vocals if you take them away you still have the substance of some very impressive metal. Bottom Line: Cheers to Amaran for making the album that fills in all the gaps. Gone are the over-used choruses, the three cord progressions and the overall sub-standard music that we just accept because the vocals are so powerful. Amaran have a bright future in store for them if they keep creating music of this caliber. I am not quite sure how exactly I would have dissected this album if there were a male vocalists at the helm but hey, fuck it maybe I am diving too deep because in the end it's not just Pierre's vocals that keep me coming back for more.

Release Details

Amaran

A World Depraved

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