Amaran - Pristine In Bondage
Listenable Records - posh056 - 2004
By Philip Whitehouse
Tell you what, if I could play guitar like Kari Kainulainen and Ronnie Backlund, I wouldn't be sitting at my brother's computer in my parent's house, shovelling Texas Barbecue Sauce Pringles into my mouth and delivering judgment on extreme metal bands. I'd probably be off on tour somewhere, delivering frantic melodic thrash to arena crowds while thirty backstage groupies catfight for the opportunity to fellate me repeatedly.
Ahem - but I digress. Amaran are a Swedish extreme metal act whose music encompasses much from the world both of thrash metal and from the NWOBHM - Iron Maiden-esque duelling guitars and fiddly solos compete with frenetic, muscular riffage to create a soundscape which is by turns dense, melodic, hooky and neck-snappingly heavy. Over all this are the fantastic female vocals that really give Amaran their identity - no Angela Gossow like growls, no over-the-top operatics - just damned good, well-controlled mid range singing, rather like Cristina Scabbia or Anneke from The Gathering.
The production delivers a powerful, balanced and clear sound allowing each instrument to stand out, including the excellent basswork and the tighter-than-my-wallet drumming, while the tracks all stand out individually as well-written, compact and professional thrash gems. The best parts come when the two guitarists embark on spiralling duel harmonies, particularly in the outro to highlight track 'Wraith' which features a hypnotically melodic duel guitar harmony which rivals any I've heard before.
Looking forward to where these guys go from here - now I'm off to practice my scales, 'cos those groupies aren't gonna wait forever...
8.5/10
Amaran Official website
Listenable Records website
Listenable Records - posh056 - 2004
By Philip Whitehouse
Tell you what, if I could play guitar like Kari Kainulainen and Ronnie Backlund, I wouldn't be sitting at my brother's computer in my parent's house, shovelling Texas Barbecue Sauce Pringles into my mouth and delivering judgment on extreme metal bands. I'd probably be off on tour somewhere, delivering frantic melodic thrash to arena crowds while thirty backstage groupies catfight for the opportunity to fellate me repeatedly.
Ahem - but I digress. Amaran are a Swedish extreme metal act whose music encompasses much from the world both of thrash metal and from the NWOBHM - Iron Maiden-esque duelling guitars and fiddly solos compete with frenetic, muscular riffage to create a soundscape which is by turns dense, melodic, hooky and neck-snappingly heavy. Over all this are the fantastic female vocals that really give Amaran their identity - no Angela Gossow like growls, no over-the-top operatics - just damned good, well-controlled mid range singing, rather like Cristina Scabbia or Anneke from The Gathering.
The production delivers a powerful, balanced and clear sound allowing each instrument to stand out, including the excellent basswork and the tighter-than-my-wallet drumming, while the tracks all stand out individually as well-written, compact and professional thrash gems. The best parts come when the two guitarists embark on spiralling duel harmonies, particularly in the outro to highlight track 'Wraith' which features a hypnotically melodic duel guitar harmony which rivals any I've heard before.
Looking forward to where these guys go from here - now I'm off to practice my scales, 'cos those groupies aren't gonna wait forever...
8.5/10
Amaran Official website
Listenable Records website
