Oct 28, 2002 Metal Abyss (Gre) Amaran is a brand new Stockholm based band and "A World Depraved" is the first full-length album that they release. In fact the band is playing really heavy, (some may call it melodic death music) but also melodic and in some parts atmospheric music at the same time (you don't have to use only keyboards, in order to write atmospheric music!). Also the good thing with Amaran is the vocals of Johanna De Pierre that are full of passion and emotions. The album has many good and pleasant-sounding songs such as, "Little Victory", "Faith Healer and "Karma In Flesh". Moreover the production of the album is very good and the sound of the guitars is so massy! We are talking about a very heavy production! The fans of heavy and melodic music should check out this newcomer band. Their debut album is very good but I'm sure that they will write much better songs in the near future. As a result, don't hesitate to buy an album from a new and not very known band, cause many times the new bands has a lot to give to metal music. T.A. 7,5/10 Oct 24, 2002 Vampire Magazine (Hol) After hearing the first ten seconds one might expect a band similar to Meshuggah, Ominous and the likes. However, after this heavy start it's soon made clear that Amaran are a heavy/power metal band  with a female singer, like for example Sinergy. However, Amaran has a more raw edge to it, using some heavy thrash staccato riffing. Despite the heaviness frequent usage of melodic riffing makes this album accessible to every metal fan. Don't expect another opera female voice singing high-pitched vocal lines as vocalist Johanna sings more in the mid-range frequencies like Anneke (The Gathering), Cristina (Lacuna Coil) and Kimberly (Sinergy). Fans of these vocalists will surely like Amaran as well. My favorite songs are "Faith healer", "Void", "Daffodil", "Imperfect", "Little victory" and "Ode". In short, a band which has some freshness to it's music due to the use of heavier riffing. Accompanied with an excellent production done by one of the best producers around in the metal genre (Jacob Hansen) and it should be clear that this album comes recommended. Oct 24, 2002 Metalprovider As I had never heard of this band before, I was strange to listen to them. It was a good surprise for me! They are playing melodic heavy metal and they are really good! The female vocalist is absolutely great and the beautiful metal riffs make the compositions catchy and easy to listen to. You will not find sophisticated music there just simple, pure and true heavy metal played right from the heart. I think that this is Amarans first album (after some demo recordings) and if they continue this way then the future belongs to them. Nice try! 7.5/10 Reviewed By Nikos "Volrath" Oct 24, 2002 Babylon Magazine (Ita) Just make a gift to yourselves and listen to this , "Faith Healer". A bomb like opening, a sharp involving metal riff and a well supported by a heavy rhythmic session married to a female voice, which can stand the comparison to the one of Anneke Van Giesbergen of the Mandylion or to the one of Agnete M. Kirkevaag of the Madder Mortem. The comparison to this two bands didn't came to my mind just by chance, because also here we find, a part the talented female singer, a band which can play true metal (ok, for the Gathering I'm talking about the time of Mandylion), with dynamic guitars, which are, following the best Scandinavian tradition, always catchy and characterized by a full sound (very good is the strophe of "Void"). Sometimes this band reminds me of the Sentenced, even though they are much more soft in their melodies and always evil enough. Important ins the drum role, capable of adding body and color to the compositions. The thing on its whole is well made, so that, at the end, it is the voice to appear a bit sour: it is beautiful and involving in the fast pieces ( I think that "Lullaby" has got all the characteristics to become a classic), but still a bit shy on the melodic and atmospheric parts. It shouldn't be a problem anyway, because I hope that for the future they will bet on speed, instead of choosing a more accessible, but without strength, solution. The balance they obtained between violence and atmospheres is very good and I would say they are nearly magical if you think that they are at their debut. The reason why I prefer to avoid such a comment are two: I've seen too many bands starting in a great way and getting lost afterwards and I think they should take their own steps without the pressure coming from too much attentions from the outside. Let's enjoy "Imperfect", "Little Victory", "Rusty Warhorse", "Karma In Flesh" and the other small jewels of this record. The Amaran still need to grow (and they'll do it if they'll get the possibility of doing it), learning to make their proposal a bit more different. Very good and involving, anyway, so much that in my personal hit I place them behind the Madder Mortem, but before all the others. Response: 7,5 (Sauron) (Translated by Daniela Andreata) Oct 24, 2002 The Temple Of Metal (Gre) Very interesting, was the first thing that came in my mind after listening the first couple tunes of this CD. Amaran sounds like a simpler In Flames, like a heavier The Gathering and like a tenderer Dark Tranquility. This makes them a band that adopts the known Swedish sound in the guitars, with an excellent female vocalist, and the ability to shift from heavy material to more hard rock oriented forms. So Amaran manages not to become predictable in "A world depraved", but this doesn't make the band an original act. With such stereotyped influences, you will often listen something quite familiar to your ears. Thankfully they don't simply copy / paste the music they like. I found quite interesting tunes like "Faith healer", "Rusty warhorse", "Lullaby" and "Little victory" while the rest of the material is not inferior to them. Jacob Hansen once again delivers a brilliant production, especially as I've mention earlier the guitars sound often like they are ready to explode. I also found interesting the front cover, a bit spooky I must say! In conclusion, Amaran won't disappoint the fans of the bands I've mentioned. In my opinion if they keep up in this pace, soon they will have their own unique sound. Oct 24, 2002 Deliriummag (USA) Amaran - A World Depraved (Listenable Records) I had never heard of Stockholm, Sweden band Amaran before, so I had no idea what this band was about until I popped in their disc. Amaran play a powerful groove oriented metal full of mood and energy. The vocals fronted by Johanna De Pierre are sultry, sexy and full of range and eloquence. A World Depraved was recorded in Denmark with sound engineer Jacob Hansen and the production is quite impressive for a debut album. All ten tracks were great and I plan to listen to this album a lot more. Contact: Listenable Records, B.P. 73, 62930 Wimereux, FRANCE. -Luna Oct 24, 2002 Progpower (Ger) Amaran are a new band out of Sweden that mix some potent styles of music with the female vocals of Johanna DePierre melted in with some not so traditional heavy metal musical signatures. Whilst I'd class the band musically as heavy metal, they have influences from death metal and extreme bands (without the speed or intensity) and a vocalist who'd fit nicely into a female fronted metal band ala Dreams of Sanity, Edenbridge, and The Gathering. The album is good, above average in fact, but it's far from great. On the positive side is the mixture of music presented. Very rarely have a band managed a mosaic quite like this with elements of death metal (In Flames), doom metal (Anathema or My Dying Bride), and more traditional elements of classic heavy metal. A few extreme moments presented paint an aural image of Emperor but always the melodic vocals of Johanna mean that the album never jumps the chasm towards the heavier side of metal. It's an album that grows on me the more I listen to it and whilst usually I can make up my mind on an album pretty early, Amaran have created an indecisiveness in me where after many-a-listen I can still not criticize it heavily nor unrequitedly praise it. The twin guitars of Ronnie Backlund and Kari Kainulainen create the majority of strange cross-breeding on this album and it's a mix that is fresh, indignant, and bolstered by the a tight, but oft-repetitive, rhythm section that attempt to balance out their sound though instead create some unoriginal melodies. You might be able to gather then that in the overall scheme of things A World Depraved sounds a little familiar throughout its 41 minutes. Whilst Johanna has a nice voice she can be monotonous in her delivery at times with a limited range. If you think of a more powerful but less exciting Astrid van der Veen (from Arjen Lucassen's side project Ambeon) then you have her voice. There is a definite lack in spark on the album but thankfully Amaran don't overcompensate by loading you up with long tracks. The short tracks makes for a better listening journey. There are a couple of not so brilliant tracks including the wandering 'Daffodil' and the less than perfect 'Imperfect' (although there are some great riffs here) but as imperfect as that song is they make up for it easily with tracks like 'Void', 'Little Victory', and 'Karma in Flesh' which showcase Johannas more than capable vocals. Amaran have given us a very interesting album that is definitely worth listening to (although the cover is not so inviting). That said, I hope for a more polished album in the future to bring out the best of the band members. - Gary Carson [17-08-2002] Rating: 7 of 12 points Aug 25, 2002 Hardradio (USA) Amaran - A World Depraved (Listenable) Occupying a rich and rewarding space between melodic thrash and dangerously accessible power metal, Amaran further tantalize with classy, understated female vocals. The headbanged brew instantly recalls Lullacry, or Dark Tranquillity crossed with Nocturnal Rites, Amaran filtering their passionate, hooky songs through a hardening crunchy production job somewhat akin to Sneap's Nevermore. The riffs on here are almost too good to be true for a debut offering (see the wildly anthemic 'Daffodil', with its crazy, inventive dual lead solo, 'Faith Healer', 'Rusty Horse' and the smacking guitar stomp of 'Received A Kiss'), Amaran injecting a dose of doom and Entombed into their combative sound. Only complaints: a few draggy moments late in the disc and a bit too much cut (i.e. not enough bottom end) on the bass drum. Rating 8 Aug 25, 2002 Swedishmetal.net (Sweden) Amaran: A metal band with power influences and female vocals. I am still a bit old-fashion and slightly uncomfortable with female metal singers. But this is good. Their singer, Johanna De Pierre has a beautiful and clean voice that suits fine to their music. The way she sings provides the music with a lot of emotions. The guitars are quite heavy, but it wouldn't hurt if they were ten melodic songs with catchy refrains. When I first listened through the album I got the feeling that the songs sounded a little bit too alike. Almost like every song was a long lasting moan after some shiny warrior on a white horse. But when I listened to it again I started to like it more and more. The refrains are sticky, so don't be surprised if you start to sing along or if you have their songs playing in your head all day. This is fresh and new, I like it. 6 of 10 Katarina Aug 25, 2002 Metal-Observer (Germany) (8.5/10) Vincent My vote for best record label of the year so far goes to Listenable Records. The new THEORY IN PRACTICE, VILE, GRIEF OF EMERALD, SCARVE, the upcoming MORS PRINCIPUM EST and also the debut-CD by AMARAN are one by one beauties of records! Swedens AMARAN debuts in the Metal world with their album "A World Depraved". First of all the artwork, a fantastic image of a dark horizon with leafless trees, in an endless ocean, it looks fantastic. I'm a sucker for artwork and this is really beautiful stuff, almost enough for a good grade. Well, fortunately the artwork is not the determining factor for that, AMARAN also delivers a rock solid debut. The style can be best described as female-fronted Power Metal, but without sounding like for instance NIGHTWISH. First of all, the music is very technical, with fantastic guitars that would be perfect for any Death metal bands as well (though the riffs have more this power-esque feeling to me), something that also counts for the drums. Secondly, there are no keyboards. And then for the vocals, vocalist Johanna DePierre doesn't sing in an operatic way on this record, but instead has a very strong voice which suits the music of AMARAN perfectly! The result is a heavy dynamic record that is more than fine for a debut! Tracks of increased interest are the opener "Faith Healer", "Rusty Warhorse", the magnificent "Daffodil" and "Little Victory". A small minus, the album drags on a bit near the end, something that doesn't badly alter the overall view of the CD, but does lower the grade just a tiny bit. Still the fact is that "A World Depraved" is a solid debut album and a nice introduction to beautiful things to come from AMARAN! (Online August 8, 2002) Aug 05, 2002 Metal-Observer (Germany) (8.5/10) Alex AMARAN! At mp3.com I had downloaded the song "Rusty Warhorse" and was floored. I had definitely planned to contact the band, but as so often you tend to forget things. Well, now I have "A World Depraved" on Listenable and I am happy. Heralded as "Power Metal with female vocals" one name, of course, shoots through your brain: NIGHTWISH. But AMARAN are different, a lot different! Musically they combine riffing of the Gothenburg-school with Melodic Metal, at times quite demanding song-structures and the powerful, clichŽ-free vocals of frontlady Johanna DePierre. To put the style into words is pretty difficult, because they manage to cleverly elude any certain categorization. Technically high standing they combine heavy guitars with a lot of atmosphere and great melodies, but never drift off into the shallow predictability of many bands, but spices up the compositions with surprising breaks and twists without damaging the flow of the songs. Trademark of AMARAN is the voice of Johanna, which I would describe as a mix of THE GATHERING's Anneke van Giersbergen, LEFT HAND SOLUTION's Marianna Holmberg and LACUNA COIL's Cristina Scabbia, powerful, but still somehow soothing and relaxed, no soprano, even though she can reach those regions, if the song needs it. Check-out-tips are the first quartet "Faith Healer", "Rusty Warhorse", "Void" with its irresistible riff and "Daffodil", but there are no fillers on "A World Depraved", but you should grant the CD a few rotations before judging, just as a side-note! Even though single ingredients are nothing new in the Metal-scene, it is the combination that AMARAN presents us with that makes then original and that, even more in this quality, should absolutely be supported! (Online August 3, 2002) Jul 29, 2002 Lords Of Metal (Holland) Yvette: She may not be from the metal-scene by origin, but she is the most stalwart from all the girls in that world known to me: Johanna De Pierre, the vocalist of Amaran. A band from Stockholm that releases their debut this month, named 'A World Depraved'. Two guitar-players and a bass-player responded to an advertisement in the paper, in which Johanna offered her singing-skills. Her voice seemed perfect for Amaran. A sturdy but well schooled voice that can reach low and high tunes. The atmosphere of Amaran is comparable to that of Lacuna Coil. But these songs are more technical. And it does not seem to matter in what kind of band they play, but you cannot avoid the Swedish sound if you are dealing with a Swedish guitar-player. It is embedded to deep. Above all Amarans guitar-players do a lot of solos, which sound pretty well. And the drummer does his thing also, in a very dynamic way. While listening Amaran for the first time you would think you are dealing with a pop-ish band. But they deserve a more honourable title. The songs may be catchy, but the band members also know how to use their instruments well. I think Amaran has a good chance. 80/100 Jul 25, 2002 Metal.de (Germany) Thanks for the translation Haggi! Amaran sounds like a band from Stockholm is supposed to sound: swedish & heavy. Their sound, which lies somewhere between In Flames and classic metal and also has it's share of Meshuggah-like Prog-Riffs, rocks hard. The special thing about Amaran isn't really the instrumentation, but the risk of combining this sound with a female-singer. I'd say this experiment was successful. This style is really original and works perfectly! The songs are both; heavy and melodic at the same time and are softened by various atmospheric breakdowns. The vocals and the guitars switch carrying the lead melodies without either of them trying to be too much in the foreground. So you can enjoy "A World Depraved" with it's relatively short 41 minutes without getting tired. The bridge between headbanging sweden-sound and eerie gothic is built really well and should appeal to fans of both genres. Jul 24, 2002 Bravewords Occupying a rich and rewarding space between melodic thrash and dangerously accessible power metal, Amaran further tantalize with classy, understated female vocals. The headbanged brew instantly recalls Lullacry, or Dark Tranquillity crossed with Nocturnal Rites, Amaran filtering their passionate, hooky songs through a hardening crunchy production job somewhat akin to Sneap's Nevermore. The riffs on here are almost too good to be true for a debut offering (see the wildly anthemic 'Daffodil', with its crazy, inventive dual lead solo, 'Faith Healer', 'Rusty Horse' and the smacking guitar stomp of 'Received A Kiss'), Amaran injecting a dose of doom and Entombed into their combative sound. Only complaints: a few draggy moments late in the disc and a bit too much cut (i.e. not enough bottom end) on the bass drum. 8.0 Martin Popoff Jul 23, 2002 Metal-Realm (Greece) Amaran is a new borned group from Stockholm. They exist since spring of 2000. They started from Kari Kainulainen and Ronnie Backlund and they become a complete band after their first demo that recorded on Karis (guitar) computer with a drum machine. After their demo finally find a drummer and finally this February recorded in Aabenraa, Denmark, with sound - engineer Jacob Hansen their first album. About their sound, Amaran play something like a mix of power and heavy metal. They are doing well and the element that characterize them exceptional is the female vocalist Johanna DePierre. She is really impressive and with her ethereal voice adds bonus marks to the technical music of Amaran. I think that they have a lot to learn and give these guys. Their debut is positive and they will surprise a lot with their stunning mix of heavy chunky guitars and loud and dynamic drumming with female vocals. Andreas Giannakis, June 2002 Jul 11, 2002 Unrestrained (Canada) The beauty of 'A World Depraved' is that it is a very deceptive record early on. With a female singer fronting the band and some nice melodic passages to set the album in motion, shades of The Gathering, Lacuna Coil and various others come to mind. But then things start to change. The music becomes a lot heavier. Singer Johanna DePierre starts to use her voice differently, almost like another instrument for the bands music to work off. And then there's the dual guitar work, fancy enough to grab your attention, but strong enough to push the music into the spotlight (check out the tracks "Void", "Lullaby" and "Karma In Flesh"). These swedes play some great, catchy music that will no doubt have many music fans latching onto their sounds. A splendid listen all around. 7/10 Adrian Bromley Jul 08, 2002 Quintessence Amaran is a relatively new band from Sweden, that got signed to listenable based on their Promo 2001. So, this is actually the first time I got to listen to their music, which is quite an experience. The first run of "A world depraved" in my discman, made me think that this music sounded very familiar, but I could not point my finger on that familiarity. Musically it's mid-tempo metal with crunchy guitars. It reminded me a bit of In Flames but also Nevermore, but they're no rip-off at all. Just try to imagine a mixture of the aforementioned bands and you somewhat get an idea what they sound like. On top of the music there are beautiful vocals sung by a female vocalist called Johanna De Pierre. Fortunately she hasn't got these opera-style vocals I got to detest lately. She sings in more lower regions without sounding masculine. To give you an idea how she sounds, you should think of a mix of The Gatherings Anneke van Giersbergen and Caroline Wilson, who sang on the one and only record released by English doomsters Mourn. Actually the vocals fit very well to the music. Recorded at Aabenraa Studio in Denmark with Jacob Hansen turning the knobs, the result is very good. It sounds open and fresh. With the proper promotion and lots of live-performances this band could have a bright future ahead of them. Although this isn't extreme metal, this should appeal to a lot of metal fans in some way. My advise to all you readers is to check this album out, you might actually like it very much. I know I did. Aim March: Jun. 25, 2002 Amaran - A world depraved Metal Heart Webzine (Sweden) - translated by Mikael Amaran is a metal band from our very own capital, Stockholm. The music they play is hard to put a label on, it's like a mix between power metal and Goth metal but still it's not, if you see what I mean! Behind the microphone in this band stands a female vocalist named Johanna DePierre. Her voice can be compared to Tarjas in Nightwish, if she's as good remains unsaid. The album contains 10 songs of different calibers. The album starts out very strong with the songs "Faith healer" and "Rusty warhorse" who both are heavy and gloomy with wonderful melodies. What I associate with goth metal in the music is the slightly heavy and gloomy atmosphere existing in all of the songs. That, on the other hand, which sounds like power metal are the riffs and sometimes the melodies. "Daffodil" is my absolute favorite song of the album, and it's indescribably good. There's something magic about the entire song, but mostly about the vocals, which are handled excellently by Johanna. It's songs like this one that makes me listen to this album often. All of the songs are very high standard, and all the band members seem to put their own mark on the music. The riffs stand out on some parts, while the drums and the bass get the musical space they need too. I think this album might attract fans of all metal genres, because the music mixes quite a few styles even if it's the power and goth metal genres who are most clearly heard. Anyway, I recommend this album strongly! David Noaksson - 7.5/10 Jun 22, 2002 Rate - 8,5 in 10. Roadie Crew Magazine (Brazil) Featuring the beautiful voice of Johanna DePierre, the Swedish guys of Amaran, Kari Kainulainen (guitars), Ronnie Backlund (guitars), Mikael Andersson (bass) and Robin Bergh (drums) has as the debut album the good 'A World Depraved'. Presenting very heavy instrumental parts, with some variations and technic, that contrasts with the tune of Johannas voice, that for some moments sounds like Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil) and Anneke Van Giersbergen (The Gathering), but she has personality and a very strong punch (non-agressive) in her voice and that's good, because some bands that has female vocals turns to, sometimes, a kind of sleeping pill, and this is not the case of Amaran. The 10 tracks appearing in the album are very varied, with most of the moments full of very powerful guitar riffs, some of them more 'soft', and also those more melodic, all made with lots of inspiration and good taste. The quality of the songs is very constant, where it's hard to point one or more 'best' songs. 'A World Depraved' is a homogen album. But if you want to only know a bit about (by internet, for example) you can try tracks like 'Faith Healer', 'Rusty Warhorse' or 'Lullaby'. This band started very well! Ricardo Campos Jun 22, 2002 Metal Eagel webzine (Greece) AMARAN are a newcomer band from Stockholm, Sweden, and "A World Depraved" is their debut album. Like most of the metal bands coming from Sweden, AMARAN have some, very few, of the 'typical' N.W.O.S.D.M. elements, like the heavy riffing, bringing to mind IN FLAMES (occasionally). Most of the songs are mid-tempo and not speedy as hell, like the Swedish metal school wants them to be. Whatsmore, AMARAN have, contrary to other Swedish metal bands, is female vocals. Johanna DePierre manages to fit in perfectly with the music, even though, at first, she didn't have that kind of band into mind when putting an ad in search of a band (that's how they found her). Her vocals are quite operatic, (don't try to compare her with Tarja of NIGHTWISH, because the match would be unfair for Johanna), melodic (of course) and give a somewhat dramatic flavor to the songs. Check this band since you can listen to something not many bands have done. 8/10 Konstantinos "BattleRageR" Vasilakos Jun 10, 2002 Darkscene (Germany) Translation by Texas Fried Criminal If you always wanted to know how a melange of In Flames and Lacuna Coil sounds, you should definitely check out Amaran, because what these Swedes deliver is pretty much what could come from such a musical marriage of north and south. The guitars rock in the good old Swedish-death style, the riffs are at times highly reminiscent of In Flames, but with a female singer and vocal melodies that bring to mind the aforementioned Italian gothic stars Lacuna Coil Amaran become more than just the 1000th useless In Flames imitation. While in the beginning the album is surprisingly hard, almost to the point of being brutal, once you get to the third song "Void" the bands soft side comes out, incorporating great melody parts and at times somehow progressive parts. Simply an ingenious blend from beginning to end that makes this album a very unique piece of music with female vocals that for once don't sound like unnerving women's wailing, but simply comes across down to earth and powerful. It's a bit of a pity though, that the slightly messed up production tends to drag the cool vocals into the background, because these vocals are what gives the songs that cutting edge of originality! It's hard to recommend any songs from this interesting album since every song sounds distinctive and Amaran employ a lot of different tools to emphasize their style. But non-the less I'd like to recommend the passionate "Daffodil" as highly as the Swedish sounding "Faith Healer" or the mystical "Karma In Flesh"... In any case, "A World Depraved" is for those of you who are looking for something new. 8/10 Caroline Jun 07,2002 Powermetal (Germany) Thanks to TexasFriedCriminal for the translation Finally, another positive surprise! When I had read "Power Metal with a female vocalist" I got terrible Nightwish apprehensions, but thank goodness they were unwarranted. Not that I would hate Nightwish or anything, but the world can surely do without another carbon copy of this finish band. Whereas Power Metal is a slight misnomer, since most of the songs lack power. But that's not a bad thing because the 10 melodic treats are quite tasty. Mostly at home with Melodic Metal, the tracks sometimes wander off into Power Metal but primarily gain sustenance from the tender and emotional vocals of songbird Johanna De Pierre, who could be compared to Lacuna Coil front woman Cristina Scabbia, if at all. Anybody who can still remember Sahara should be able to perfectly imagine the musical direction. Starting off powerful and hard, the opener ("Faith Healer") gets refined when, after about 40 seconds Johanna's floating voice comes in. A recipe used successfully in the other 9 songs too, the more so as Amaran have managed to write songs that get stuck in your ears after only a few listens. "Void", featuring a cool riff, makes this grade as easily as the following, melodic "Daffodil". In addition, you can't hear a single filler on the whole CD, but only tracks of the categories good or better. Whether "Little Victory" or "Karma In Flesh", every track has got delicate melodies and good hook lines. There are also, i.e. subtly incorporated breaks on "Imperfect", that help to keep it interesting for the whole time. Another positive aspect worth mentioning is that there is no true ballad, but Metal guitars and heavy rhythms throughout. Since the production also manages to satisfy even the highest demands there is little left to complain about Amaran's debut, at most the rather short playtime of only 42 minutes is a negative point. But this can be forgiven with such a high-class album. In conclusion, all friends of melodic metal with wonderful female vocals should have a listen, you will probably rush out and get this album. Very nice. Song recommendations: Faith Healer, Void, Little Victory May 24, 2002 Pitfather (Holland) Reviewer: Henke Amaran is one of the new bands on Listenable records. I usually don't look in a bio of a band, before I hear the promo. This way my mind is totally open for what to come. After hearing the first tunes of Amaran I thought it would be some kind of Meshuggah thrash (the pounding drums and guitars). But after this kind of intro the music involves a more In Flames approach. Waiting for that familiar screaming/grunt I was again misled. A nice female vocal starts the song and it turns out that she sings on the whole album. Don't expect to hear a Tarja (Nightwish) or an other opera alike singer, but a more Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering) and Karen Gilligan (Cruachan) approach. The music reminds me the whole album of the more slow heavy parts of In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Listen to the track 'Void' (especially the guitar parts) and you know what I mean. I this a bad thing you may wonder? Well, not for me. I love this sound! The acoustic parts in songs like 'Imperfect' and 'Little Victory' are very nice. I must admit that I was not totally satisfied after the first time that I was listening the album. Everything was ok and nice, but the songs did not stay in my head. After a couple of times I really got to appreciate Amaran. At the moment it's one of the most turned CD in my player. That should say enough right? 4/5 May 16, 2002 Tartarean Desire (Sweden) "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"." (7.5/10) May 12, 2002 MetalCrypt (Canada) Rating: 4.25/5 Date reviewed: May 10, 2002 Reviewed by: Michel Renaud When I reviewed Amaran's promo CD last year I was hoping that a full-length would follow soon. The band quickly got signed by Listenable Records and there we have it. "A World Depraved" is their first full-length album, which includes songs from last year's promo. The promo was very well received and the band has elected to build on their winning formula, the overall album being in much the same vein as their promo material. Once again Amaran treat us with an intelligent blend of melodic hard rock/metal - and once again so damn catchy that I can't get most songs out of my head, thanks in part to another great vocal performance by female vocalist Johanna De Pierre whose voice is quite melodic and relaxing but can also hit the high notes when needed. While the album is melodic in essence, there's still a couple of songs that can practically be put in the "rocker" category, the guitars becoming heavier and more aggressive than on the rest of the material. A very good debut album for Amaran that should please those who liked their previous material. And only some other melodic "metal" bands with female vocals, this here is guitar-driven... That in itself is a good point in a time where too many bands are starting to put keyboards before guitars. I think Amaran will outlast some of those bands that are more pop-ish gimmicks than real bands that can produce quality material on a regular basis. Highly recommended. May 01, 2002 Heavy Metal Mania webzine (Greece) Amaran exist since 2000 and they are quite known in the underground since their one and only demo was very well acclaimed by the fans as well as the press. Actually, this is the first band I come across which plays melodic Swedish Death Metal and uses female vocals. These female vocals are clean and, most importantly, they do not sound like most female singers. She does not have an angelic voice nor an operatic one and thankfully she does not try to sing this way. Her vocals are anguished when appropriate, beautiful when called for, and always strong. The guitar riffs on the other hand are also very well worked, chunky and powerful, but also pretty typical for this kind in some parts. This antithesis creates a balanced result, which brings out different feelings raging from aggression and energy to agony and melancholy. This is a nice combination that, for starters, gives a personal touch to their music, a rather rare phenomenon for a debut album. Jacob Hansen has done a really nice job in the production so the sound quality is very good, although the guitars could have been heavier. This is a band to look for in the future. Street Date: May 20, 2002 OVERALL SCORE: 8