Elize Ryd was born on October 15, 1984, in Värnamo, Sweden. As a vocalist and songwriter in Amaranthe, she helped develop a band in which three contrasting singers shared the lead. “Hunger,” from the group’s 2011 self-titled debut, introduced that combination of clean vocals, screams, electronic arrangements and heavy guitars.
Those different musical interests had been part of Ryd’s life long before Amaranthe. Her father played bass and listened to hard rock, while her mother was a singer and songwriter with a taste for punk. Pop and Eurodance reached her through the radio. Her older brother introduced her to heavier music, buying her Metallica’s self-titled album on cassette and encouraging an interest in bands including Queen, Kiss and Iron Maiden. In a 2020 Metal Hammer interview, Ryd recalled attending his shows as a child, watching from her mother’s shoulders.
Her route into the Gothenburg metal scene developed through friendships and guest recordings. In an interview with Femme Metal Webzine, she recalled meeting singer Jake E in a Gothenburg bar in 2004. He needed a female vocalist for Dreamland’s “Fade Away,” and the introduction led to further work. Through Jake, she became friends with guitarist Olof Mörck and subsequently sang on Dragonland’s 2006 album Astronomy. She was also studying at Gothenburg’s Performing Arts School, training in singing and dance. By 2007, she was working in cabaret while writing songs with Jake and Mörck in her free time.
What became Amaranthe initially allowed for guest singers. Ryd’s contributions to the early demos helped change that plan, and she became a permanent member alongside fellow vocalists Jake E and Andreas Solveström.
Ryd told Myglobalmind in 2013 that the contrast between her voice and Solveström’s growls had helped the musicians recognize what they could do together. She did not consider herself a conventional metal singer, but the melodies and rhythms gave her room to participate without changing that identity. Becoming part of the band also meant leaving her professional stage job. The attraction, she explained to Femme Metal, was the opportunity to travel and perform material she had helped create.
The self-titled debut arrived through Spinefarm in April 2011, produced by Jacob Hansen. Much of its construction had already happened before the studio sessions. Ryd recalled that the demos contained detailed keyboard arrangements and vocal harmonies, leaving the band to preserve the character of recordings made in Mörck’s and Jake’s living rooms. Her role extended into the writing itself. Discussing the band during the The Nexus period in 2013, she told Myglobalmind that ideas were shared among herself, Jake and Mörck, with their contributions varying from song to song. ABBA remained an influence on how she wrote vocal lines.
That interest in different approaches continued into Maximalism, Amaranthe’s fourth album, released in October 2016. Ryd told Cryptic Rock that the musicians had taken time to explore keyboards and influences they had not used on earlier records. Writing for three singers let her express emotions through another vocalist’s delivery when her own voice was not suited to the part.
The closing song, “Endlessly,” developed differently. Although it had not begun with a decision to feature Ryd alone, the finished arrangement used only her vocals. “It is the only song I sing by myself, and it is very personal,” she said. The recording also created an opening for Mattias Bylund, whose string work Ryd had wanted to include in the band’s music. She had known him for a decade, and “Endlessly” finally gave them a song in which that collaboration fit.
