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When I
received the promo / demo cd from Amaran last year I was pretty confident that
they would soon be signed and now they have found their way to the French
label Listenable Records. This debut album contains all four tracks from the
promo cd but also six new ones. Listenable used to sign only more extreme acts
but now they are beginning to explore more atmospheric music with bands like
Pale Forest and Amaran. It wouldn't be fair to compare Amaran with Pale
Forest though since Amaran is a real metal band with heavy distorted guitars
and aggressive riffs. The band was formed in 2000 and features among others
the Entombed sound-guy Ronnie Backlund as well as a female vocalist named
Johanna De Pierre. She has a very strong voice that is always on top of the
music which is still very thick throughout most of the album. There are a
couple of more atmospheric tracks like "Rusty Warhorse" where her voice can
be studied more closely for those of you who appreciate that. The music is
very much jazz / fusion inspired metal and reminds me a lot of the debut album
from Alas (the project of Hate Eternal's Erik Rutan), although not quite as
elaborate. Amaran is one of the most original and creative Swedish metal bands
at the moment and they have produced a very fine debut release. The only thing
I think could have been done better is the production. Stand-out tracks:
"Rusty Warhorse", "Lullaby",
"Imperfect".
| Tracklist |
1. Faith Healer 2. Rusty |
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Warhorse 3. Void 4. Daffodil 5. Lullaby 6. |
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Imperfect 7. Little Victory 8. Karma In Flesh 9. Received |
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A Kiss 10. Ode |
: 41.26
| Buy other Amaran albums |
