Amaranthe/Audio Reign The Gov August 27, 2024

They came, they conquered and obliterated anything in their path. They were like Gods or Demi Gods, they were Amaranthe and they tore apart The Gov on Tuesday August 27, 2024. Before the wrath of Amaranthe, local lads Audio Reign hit the stage for a 30-minute set warming up the crowd with songs like One Way, Crown, Forgotten You and Relentles

After a short intro Amaranthe ripped straight into the powerful in your face Fearless grabbing the crowd by the throat. The first thing that was noticed was the absence from the band of vocal growler Mikael Sehlin and replaced for this tour by Samy Elbanna who had previously worked with Amaranthe. From Fearless the band moved in Viral and Digital World taking no prisoners as they moved from song to song.

The music was tight, vocals were breathtaking, drumming mixed in with lead and bass guitar were blistering chaos. Damnation Flame had the crowd jumping, chanting and some thrashing about. They then moved into Boomerang an upbeat and Aussie appropriate song that I’m sure will be used as an anthem for the tour.

365 was next, what a wicked song and one that I asked to be put in the set when I interviewed Elize (Ryd), but I’m sure many others asked for it. It was then time for Crystalline, a beautiful song that has you feeling you are in an enchanted forest and the duet from Elize and Nils (Molin) is so serene. Bringing us back to earth was Interference but it was The Catalyst that had my spine cringing as the Gods were back and they were out for blood. Elize pierced your inner soul while Nil ripped out your heart. Mix that with the pounding drums and thundering guitar work and some growling vocals and you have the storm - The Catalyst.

With what brain you have left songs like Amaranthine where the crowd got out their phones to light up the room, The Nexus and Call Out My Name were added to the set. The band weren’t finished yet and had the crowd involved in a Amaranthe Olympics to see how loud the crowd could get and if we were going to be the loudest in the world. Then came That Song with an anthem inspired chorus with Queen samples thrown in for good measure. The night finished off with Drop Dead Cynical a raw in your face song. What a night, what a journey of blistering carnage the band took us on and I’m still riding it.