Social media can be awesome. For example, there’s this cool website called Strumm (it’s all about guitars) that I initially came across on Twitter. I discovered this epic winning guy called Dan there. He plays guitar in a band called Amaryllis. As you can see, before I knew it I had gone from Twitter, to Strumm, back to Twitter and eventually on to the BandCamp site for Amaryllis. It was there that I discovered some truly amazing music.
Social media for the win!
When I first discovered Amaryllis they were working on a new EP titled Revolt. They had already released a debut self-titled EP which was free. It is awesome. As awesome as it is, Revolt is better. It’s some of the best money I’ve spent on music recently. It honestly feels like I’d purchased half an album of incredibly well produced and written material by a much larger and more recognised band.
Speaking of recognised bands, I have to do some comparison as much as I don’t really want to. A local band (for me) I’ve always admired is The Butterfly Effect. There are elements on Revolt that remind me of my favourite tracks from The Butterfly Effect. Elements only though. That’s one of the things I’m loving about Amaryllis and in particular the Revolt EP. For me there are many more elements I listen to that I love and I can’t place what they remind me of. I believe this is because they don’t remind me of anything in particular. Why? Because it just sounds like Amaryllis. And that’s an awesome trick for a new band to pull off.
There are three standout tracks in this EP. That’s a majority of standout tracks when you consider the total number of tracks on the EP.
The first standout track is Kings. If your body isn’t moving along with the music during the chorus, please check your pulse. You may be dead. Seriously, the chorus in this track is brilliant. The entire band is playing at a level that seems like pure bliss in unison. Prophecies is another track of epic proportions that contains a chorus that dares your body to not move with the music.
Perhaps my favourite track (which surprises me every time I think of it) however is Strangers in August. This track starts soft and acoustic with truly beautiful vocals and builds into a perfectly built rock song (while maintaining the beauty and feel the song begins with). As this song continued to impress me, I thought I’d run it through perhaps the most grueling of real-world music tests. I asked my late-teen daughter for her opinion. She really seemed to like it as well.
If you’ve ever tried to impress a teenager these days, you’ll recognise how impressive that feat is. Revolt … Music for the generations!
So far Amaryllis has released two EPs that you honestly need to check out. Remember, you can’t spell EPIC without EP.
