Pristine in Bondage [Extra tracks] [Import]

Pristine in Bondage [Extra tracks] [Import]

Track Listings

1. Atropine

2. Revolution Without Arms

3. Coming Home

4. Inflict

5. Without Stains

6. Katharsis

7. 24 Pills

8. Wraith

9. Crow Me

10. Primal Nature

11. As We Fly [*]

12. Seven Long Years

13. Nocturnal

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Japanese edition of the sophomore album from Swedish metal act featuring former members of Mourning Sign, features 13 tracks including 3 bonus tracks, 'As We Fly', 'Seven Long Years' & 'Nocturnal. Avalon. 2003.

Tracks:

Atropine
Revolution Without Arms
Coming Home
Inflict
Without Stains
Katharsis
24 Pills
Wraith
Crow Me
Primal Nature
As We Fly [*]

Customer Reviews:

AMARAN : "Prestine In Bondage".......2005-12-24

~FIVE STARS~
=============

This is without question one of the finest female fronted Metal outfits I've ever heard. It's highly melodic, and straight forward Metal for the most part, but there's something special going on beyond that here. These are some great musicians in their own right, and there's something to be said about a band that can produce great song writing. AMARAN does it all with "Pristine In Bondage"....

I'm a huge Lacuna Coil fan, and this is the closest thing I've heard in comparison. Although I will say AMARAN is heavier than Lacuna Coil...

AMARANs' sound is a classic expample of old-school Heavy Metal rather than the new age experimental approach that Lacuna Coil seems to delve into more and more. There's no keys here, or weird elements involved, it's more "Heavy Metal" than say "Goth Metal" in that aspect. Very catchy riffs, excellet melodic guitars, and galloping drum beats....

Maidenistic one said???....Indeed. This is like a new age Maiden, fronted by a female vocalist, with Lacuna Coil dripped in for good measure. "Pristine In Bondage" is a masterpiece....

AMARAN can hold it's own, and "Pristine In Bondage" is proof of that. Buy it with the upmost confidence...

One of the finest albums in years........2004-11-12

Amaran, Pristine in Bondage (Listenable, 2003)

Amaran are the best thing since sliced bread. Well, certainly the best thing since Lacuna Coil touched down on American soil back in '98. With their second album, Pristine in Bondage, Amaran evolve their sound while still keeping it as heavy as ever.

The best thing about Amaran's albums is that they show effort of being consciously put-together as albums, rather than just collections of songs. Pristine in Bondage is even more like this than was A World Depraved, ripping open with "Atropine," probably the best album-opening track (in context of the album) since Jesus Lizard buried our ears with "Boilermaker" back in 1992. You can tell the band were already thinking about how this would sound in an arena in front of fifty thousand screaming fans when writing the intro to this track, and it's pulled of with perfect success. They deserve arenas with fifty thousand screaming fans far more than most metal bands.

After that, the album shines with stellar tracks. "Inflict," the first single (the video can be streamed from the band's website, by the by), is actually one of the weaker tracks on the album, so if you check out the video and it blows you away, buy this album at your earliest opportunity. The band add a new touch with male vocals in "Katharsis," an exceptionally interesting track even by Amaran's standards; it continues on with the band's existence-long obsession with Christian imagery (they're doing that resurrection thing again), blending it with grindcore-style vocals that, suprisingly, blend perfectly with
Johanna DiPierre's angelic alto. (Fans of Lacuna Coil will be pleased.)

While there is much to make of Amaran being yet another band riding the wave of female-fronted goth-metal that's enjoying popularity in the mainstream at present, don't let the band's makeup lull you into believing this is another Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, or Evanescence. The music is far more Pantera than Metallica, and the male vocal delivery is best summed up as a Swedish version of Brujeria. This will not ever be mistaken for something that's going to play on your local lite-rock station (even the band's only ballad, on their previous album, is too heavy for your local lite-rock station. Trust me on this). For the discerning metalhead, especially the discerning Lacuna Coil or Evanescence fan, this album is an absolute must. One of the best slabs of vinyl/digitized aluminum to come out of Sweden in years that hasn't been released by Survival Unit.

Special note should be made, by the way, to pick up the Japanese import version, which contains three extra tracks, "As We Fly," "Seven Long Years," and "Nocturnal," all of which are some of the band's strongest material. You will be singing "As We Fly" in your head for weeks after your first listen. Trust me, it's been a month and a half and I'm still singing it in my head. *****

Perfection Of Many Elements.......2004-10-25

It's a rare occasion to stumble across something that seemlessly crosses so many genres as Amaran. Thrash? Death Metal? Power Metal? Gothic? I've heard this album called all of the above, and perhaps it fits all and none of those labels at the same time. Death and thrash elements are heard in the brutality of the pounding riffs. Power metal influences are heard in the excessive and flawless solos. All of this is topped off by an amazing female vocalist who, for lack of a better comparision, sounds a bit like Anneke from the Gathering on the quieter parts and like the girl from Evanescence on the louder parts. No keyboards, synths or any of that, just talented, pure metal with a semi-gothic singer. Like what would happen if you crossed In Flames, Sinergy, Death, Slayer, the Gathering and Evanscence together. Labels and genres don't do this album justice, if your a fan of any of the bands mentioned above or any similar to them you'll find something to like about this album. Transcends the boundaries of genres like only the best can.

Average customer rating:

An great 'light' metal release with integrity!

Pristine in Bondage
Amaran
Manufacturer: Avalon Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0000W3P6E
Release Date: 2003-12-29

Tracks:

Atropine
Revolution Without Arms
Coming Home
Inflict
Without Stains
Katharsis
24 Pills
Wraith
Crow Me
Primal Nature
As We Fly [*]
Seven Long Years
Nocturnal

Album Description

Japanese edition of the sophomore album from Swedish metal act featuring former members of Mourning Sign, features 13 tracks including 3 bonus tracks, 'As We Fly', 'Seven Long Years' & 'Nocturnal. Avalon. 2003.

Album Details

Japanese Version featuring Three Bonus Tracks: "as We Fly", "Seven Years Long", and "Nocturnal".

Customer Reviews:

An great 'light' metal release with integrity!.......2004-02-10

Some might say that Amaran is a commercial band, but on the contrary I find they really have potential and just because its melodic doesn't mean it isn't well-crafted. Because this album is very well- produced, some might say... well, just another Evanescance-clone here... boring! However, they ought to drop the clichéd comparisons to the mainstream genre. The pace and the furiousity of the strings and drums makes the overall sonic scenerio trashy and NOT nu-metal (God, I hate that word... but I have to use it to show what I mean).

The female (yeah... true) vocalist of Amaran has incredible potential and though she remains claer-voiced (no growl as e.g. 'banished from hell- female vocalist bands' like Arch Enemy) her potential and skill is evident. She is nevertheless accompanied by a skilled male growler in some of the tracks which adds a heavier death-like dimension to the band.

In many ways the composition of the numbers is classical and the instrumental sound of is partly remiscient of the eighties/nineties trash scene and the power metal scene especially in the first part of the record.

What possibly will be missing from this album in the long run is the epic feel of entering a whole other musical universe with a brooming dark atmosphere. A touch which bands like Opeth, In Flames (and other Swedish bands) are masters of creating by composing entriquing shifts between melodic passages and latent aggressiveness which makes the experience long lasting and the impact of the music more powerful... as such the technical complexity of the album doesn't exceed the basic fomula described here and though this evidently is skillful in terms of pace and tightness, it arguably makes the record rather straightforward and uniform which in worst case scenario might make it come forward as a bit tedious in the long run.

But hey... why fear the worst when the record/band in fact deserves a boost given the obvious talent they display. This is a highly resommendable power metal relase due to the unconventional female vocal alone, and one can only hope that the band eventually will transcend into darker realms with time 'cause after all it evident that the band sell out if becoming more 'accessible' than they presently are...

Give this a shot if you are open-minded and not too trapped within metal conventions of death, black trash music to appreciate a 'lighter' (but still powerful) release... or if you're trapped within mainstream narrow-mindedness this may be a good place to start expanding your horizons.

Pristine in Bondage
Average customer rating:
Pristine in Bondage
Amaran
Manufacturer: Avalon Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000BRAW5U
Release Date: 2004-01-13

Tracks:

Atropine
Revolution Without Arms
Coming Home
Inflict
Without Stains
Katharsis
24 Pills
Wraith
Crow Me
Primal Nature
As We Fly [*]
Seven Long Years
Nocturnal

Average customer rating:

It blew me away!

Pristine in Bondage
Amaran
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00018GJ7Y

Tracks:

Atropine
Revolution Without Arms
Coming Home
Inflict
Without Stains
Katharsis
24 Pills
Wraith
Crow Me
Primal Nature
As We Fly [*]

Album Description

Second album from Swedish, female fronted melodic death metal outfit. Arman deliver a crossover melodic death metal a la In Flames & Arch Enemy with lush yet punchy vocals. First pressing comes with a slipcase & features 11 tracks including one bonus track, 'As We Fly'. Listenable. 2004.

Customer Reviews:

It blew me away!.......2004-03-24

I've been stuck in the old-school method forever now, mostly because almost everything that's shown up since mid 90's were just awful. Metallica started sounding bad long ago, Iron Maiden hasn't changed a thing in their sound (like getting at least a bit heavier for example), just to name a few cases. The last "new" band I've really got into was Nevermore.

And now a new band has finally been able to get my attention again: Amaran! First time I heard some samples off of their web-site, I was completely blown away. They've got the "Nevermore"ish sounds (heavy guitars, great drumming), plus a nice female singer, who doesn't sing either like those opera singers that can get really boring after the third song, or like those growlers who are equally boring.

Out of these new bands who are female-fronted, I must say that I hate Evanescence (I hate new metal and the way that male singer sings), and I'm Ok with Lacuna Coil (even though I don't like their male singer either, and the music itself is not really appealing to me, but the female singer is good).

For my taste, there's no question that Amaran is way better than Evanescense and Lacuna Coil togheter.

If you're a fan of a real heavy metal, you should get any CD from this band.

Pristine in Bondage
Average customer rating:
Pristine in Bondage
Amaran
Manufacturer: Tokuma
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000CBC1T
Release Date: 2003-10-27