There’s a good reason why she features as prominently in the music videos as she does. Not only can Elize sing with the best of them, her outfits are always among the best too. On “ Massive Addictive” Ryd took the forefront and hopefully “Helix” will capitalize on her considerable talents, both as a mascot and as a singer.
Amaranthe would have just been another modern rock band if it weren’t for her presence. There’s no contesting that Olof Mörck is the creative force behind the entire operation but he’s practically invisible once Ryd takes centerstage. Ryd was instrumental in Amaranthe changing from a stock symfo metal outfit into a full-blown Eurodance rock band. If past records are any indication for Amaranthe’s surge in popularity then it would be only just to acknowledge just how important Elize Ryd has been for the brand. Amaranthe has no need for male singers in two contrasting styles much in the same way their insistence on rock elements is redundant in lieu of the prominence of dance beats and electronics in their sound. It’s telling enough that ‘365’ is at its best when the guitars and drums are silent giving Ryd and the techno beats the space they require. Which is shaking her hips, singing, and engaging in the occassional spoken word and sultry whispering. The highlight is, of course, doe-eyed Elize doing what she does best. The sound effects in ‘365’ are something straight out of 90s Eurodance song (or a recent Dimmu Borgir album) and if it weren’t for the prevalent and apparently very necessary and completely vanilla groove riffs this would’ve been a straight up techno club banger. Why Amaranthe still insists on a drummer is anybody’s guess as the standard 4/4 drumming could have been easily been replaced by computer beats by now. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. If the techno beats that serve as an opener are anything to go by you’d think that Amaranthe finally at long last abandoned the guitars and drums. ‘365’ is the lead single and precursor to the new “Helix”. Not that anybody comes to Amaranthe for the male singing. It leans closer to “Massive Addictive” in terms of composition and is the recording debut for freshly-minted male singer Nils Molin who replaced Joacim "Jake E" Lundberg. This advance single does nothing particularly novel with the sound that Amaranthe has been pushing for the last two records. Whereas Republica fully embraced their 80s wave-synthpop component on their “Speed Ballads” album, Amaranthe insists on its rock band setup, even though that is arguably their weakest and most redundant aspect.
“Massive Addictive” and “Maximalism” were both great Eurodance records that largely coasted off the work of Britpop band Republica. The prospect of a new Amaranthe single is always reason for excitement, especially when it serves as a precursor to a new album.