Label: Spinefarm 2014
Review by Kimmo Toivonen
I’m a bit late with this review but maybe it’s because this album hasn’t been that massively addictive as its’ would title suggest. The first Amaranthe album hooked me straight away and the second effort had almost the same effect, but this third album…
I’ve given it quite a few spins but I’m afraid it’s my least favourite of the three.
The first taste of ”M.A.” was the single/video track ”Drop Dead Cynical”, which was nowhere near as good as the singles from the previous albums. I hoped it wasn’t a sign of things to come, but I guess it was. The band’s hooks just aren’t as dangerously catchy and melodic as before. Especially the first half of the album contains way too many songs that I can’t remember even though I just listened to them. That’s not usual for Amaranthe…
The first and frankly the only ”chills-down-my-spine” moment of the album is the track number 8, ”Over And Done”. It’s a surefire Amaranthe-hit with its’ Abbaesque melody and dynamic arrangement and it’s sheer madness if it’s not a single at some point. ”Danger Zone” is another clever and hook-laden track, although the dominance of the growled vocals doesn’t win any extra points from me. Other tracks I want to mention are ”Trinity”, ”Digital World”, ”Exhale” and the title track which are all good, but not the kind of tracks that you’ll catch yourself humming throughout the day.
Amaranthe website
I believe that your review is spot on for this album. It is the first physical Amaranthe album I've bought after falling in love with their songs on YouTube. M A definitely lacks the intensity and flair of their earlier works,although the single 'Drop Dead Cynical' still gets frequent repeats on my playlist!
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