Swedish female-fronted pop metallers AMARANTHE have posted the video for “Drop Dead Cynical,” which comes from their forthcoming third album, Massive Addictive. Massive Addictive is true to its title. The band’s signature, larger-than-life sound, comprised of kinetic riffing, pulsating beats and celestial, melodic choruses, remains in tact, but the album finds AMARANTHE continuing to explore a range of dynamics and with a willingness to push themselves even further.
Massive Addictive was tracked at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, EPICA) at the helm.
The 12-song album is a flawlessly executed clinic of masterfully and carefully crafted European metal, boasting Olof Mörck’s surgically precise riffs and soaring solos alongside Morten Løwe Sørensen’s rhythmic thrust and Johan Andreassen’s booming low-frequency assault. Elize Ryd’s vocals are as emotive and empowering as ever, filling the room, while Jake E’s melodic vocals are an outpouring of power. New screamer Henrik Englund Wilhelmsson puts his stamp on the material, as well.
The sound is both massive and addictive, from the unforgettable, driving sounds of “Drop Dead Cynical” to the anthemic title track to the stadium-sized soar of “Digital World” to the emotionally haunting power semi-ballad “True”. Massive Addictive is an exercise in dynamics and is one that refuses to play by any sort of genre-specific, prescribed rules.
“We have lived and breathed this album every hour and every day the last year, and to know that this music is about to reach everyone’s ears is beyond exciting,” guitarist Mörck enthused about Massive Addictive. “Following the first leg of the ‘Nexus’ world tour, we sat down and agreed that we wanted the next album to be really fresh, new and even to raise a few eyebrows, all while retaining our signature sound.”
He continued, “Massive Addictive is in every way that huge leap forward we wanted to achieve and the album definitely contain our strongest song writing to date. The press often asks us to ‘describe the album with three words’; this time, the answer is simple — it’s MASSIVE, it’s ADDICTIVE, and most importantly, it’s AMARANTHE!”
Massive Addictive track listing:
1. Dynamite
2. Drop Dead Cynical
3. Trinity
4. Massive Addictive
5. Digital World
6. True
7. Unreal
8. Over and Done
9. Danger Zone
10. Skyline
11. An Ordinary Abnormality
12. Exhale