Shinedown - Amaryllis. Album Review

From the ferocious opening of “Adrenaline” to the concluding ballad “Through the ghost”, Shinedown’s fourth album, “Amaryllis” is an empowering, vigorous and quite brilliant record that grabs your attention instantly and wont let go. Four years on since their last album, “The sound of madness”, the band have moved a step closer to rock legacy with this 12 track masterpiece, with their characteristic aggressive but melodic sounds, held together by singer Brent Smith’s thick, soul-soaked vocals, perfectly showcased in this album. 

Released via Roadrunner Records and produced by Rob Cavallo, the album’s lead single “Bully”, begins with a funky guitar riff before progressing into a euphonic and catchy chorus. “Amaryllis”, the title track of the album is another top quality track from the Jacksonville – based band, again a very harmonious song, full of the brilliant traits of this rock quartet, demonstrating exactly why they have become so popular amongst rock listeners in the last decade. 

“Amaryllis” features some of the most compact production seen on any Shinedown album to date and is diverse enough to entertain a wide variety of music listeners. The heavy hitting, hard rock songs are all there including, “Enemies”, “My Name (Wearing me out)” and “Adrenaline”, with the emotional and smoothing ballads reminiscent of “The sound of madness” era with songs such as “I’ll follow you”, “Unity” and “Miracle”.  

Just as apparent in previous albums, Brent Smith’s vocals are phenomenal, proving yet again that he is among the elite frontman in the rock world and his pensive and thoughtful lyrics are on another level in this release. Zach Myers really steps up a gear aswell on guitar brandishing some tasteful solos along with fist pumping, down tuned riffs. Barry Kerch on drums and Eric Bass on bass and piano form the solidity in the rhythm section, holding the album’s groove extremely well together.  

“Amaryllis” is a fantastic record and a clear illustration of a band on top form. With every album release, Shinedown manage to create a unique and distinguishing sound for themselves and “Amaryllis” is no different. At times there is some similarities to “The sound of madness” and some familiar tones to their older style, however this record has an identity of its own and is a sure contender for album of the year.