Alright resident Metalheads. If you've heard of melodic death metal, then you should have heard of Arch Enemy, one of the most diverse and rapidly rising metal bands today. I would give a good biography, but this is a review of the newest album so i'm just going to be breif.
Arch Enemy is a Melodic Death Metal band from Europe. Formed by ex-Carcass member Michael Amott and his brother Christopher Amott. Soon, they, with a new-found drummer, bassist and ex-vocalist Johan Liiva, released Arch Enemy's debut album, Black Earth(1996). Arch Enemy combines melodic riffs with semi-brutal death metal style rhythms, a common style among 'melodic death metal'. Johan Liiva left the band after Burning Bridges, apparently kicked out. And newcommer Angela Gossow, a blonde growling-powerhouse from Germany joined up with her deep, glutteral growling that most metalheads would (upon hearing for the first time) assume was a male. She has shown that she can do it better than alot of male vocalists.
Discography: only full studio albums
Black Earth (1996)
Stigmata (1998)
Burning Bridges (1999)
Wages of Sin (2001) personal favorite
Anthems of Rebellion (2004)
Doomsday Machine (2005)
Current Lineup:
Angela Gossow - Vocals
Michael Amott - Guitar
Chris Amott - Guitar (its hard to say which is lead, both do an amazing job)
Sharlee D'Angelo - Bass
Daniel Erlandson - Drums
Doomsday Machine, their newest release, is a non-disapointing album as Anthems was. Their Single, 'Nemesis' shows some of the same styles present in 'Heart of Darkness' of Wages of Sin. Where they have a heavy, fast verse, but a more mellow, melodic chorus, which in any other band, would break the mood of the song. Arch Enemy does this well. In many of the solos, Chris' shredding solos are noticeably better, and Michael's melodic solos are longer and much more interesting. Throughout each song, both brothers do an amazing job and switching lead and rhythm with each other.
Sharlee does a good job as bass, however is, as most metal bassists are, hard to hear and almost always follows the guitars.
Daniel, drummer, does an excellent job, his double-bass ability is impecable and Arch Enemy wouldn't be the same without his drumming.
Most of the songs are enjoyable, especially the first track, an intro with the melodies of Michael Amott introducing you into a great album. However, a couple of songs can get repetitive and/or boring at times, depending on your mood and taste.
Angela's vocals are remisicent of WoS days, where her growling was hard to discern and sounded masculine, during Anthems however, her voice was less glutteral and more discernable (in the single from that album 'We Will Rise', the lyrics are actualy easy to hear even with her growling). This time, it's both. At times, its understandable, and at others, its back to WoS style. Either way, its good.
I only have one complaint, however. Angela and Micael somtimes co-write the lyrics, but about half the songs are Angela's alone. Her lyrics are not that great. They're boring, not interesting, and most of all, not thought-provoking like Michaels. Whereas Angela's lyrics mostly deal in Anarchy and internal conflict, Michaels deal in religion (slightly, its usually euphemisms) Society, and social relationships.
In this album however, the lyrics are nowhere near as good as older ones, but that really doesn't matter when the vocals and music shouldn't get more attention than the music..
overall, i'd give this album a 3.8/5.
I would recommend Wages of Sin over this album, but if you have it, or heard it already, Doomsday Machine will not dissapoint hardcore Arch Enemy fans and is a good album to buy even if you're not too into them.
a group picture. I would add individual pics (or a better one altogether, but its late and i'm lazy)
Look out for my review for Children of Bodom's new album. When it comes out.
Rock on metalheads \m/
B
Arch Enemy is a Melodic Death Metal band from Europe. Formed by ex-Carcass member Michael Amott and his brother Christopher Amott. Soon, they, with a new-found drummer, bassist and ex-vocalist Johan Liiva, released Arch Enemy's debut album, Black Earth(1996). Arch Enemy combines melodic riffs with semi-brutal death metal style rhythms, a common style among 'melodic death metal'. Johan Liiva left the band after Burning Bridges, apparently kicked out. And newcommer Angela Gossow, a blonde growling-powerhouse from Germany joined up with her deep, glutteral growling that most metalheads would (upon hearing for the first time) assume was a male. She has shown that she can do it better than alot of male vocalists.
Discography: only full studio albums
Black Earth (1996)
Stigmata (1998)
Burning Bridges (1999)
Wages of Sin (2001) personal favorite
Anthems of Rebellion (2004)
Doomsday Machine (2005)
Current Lineup:
Angela Gossow - Vocals
Michael Amott - Guitar
Chris Amott - Guitar (its hard to say which is lead, both do an amazing job)
Sharlee D'Angelo - Bass
Daniel Erlandson - Drums
Doomsday Machine, their newest release, is a non-disapointing album as Anthems was. Their Single, 'Nemesis' shows some of the same styles present in 'Heart of Darkness' of Wages of Sin. Where they have a heavy, fast verse, but a more mellow, melodic chorus, which in any other band, would break the mood of the song. Arch Enemy does this well. In many of the solos, Chris' shredding solos are noticeably better, and Michael's melodic solos are longer and much more interesting. Throughout each song, both brothers do an amazing job and switching lead and rhythm with each other.
Sharlee does a good job as bass, however is, as most metal bassists are, hard to hear and almost always follows the guitars.
Daniel, drummer, does an excellent job, his double-bass ability is impecable and Arch Enemy wouldn't be the same without his drumming.
Most of the songs are enjoyable, especially the first track, an intro with the melodies of Michael Amott introducing you into a great album. However, a couple of songs can get repetitive and/or boring at times, depending on your mood and taste.
Angela's vocals are remisicent of WoS days, where her growling was hard to discern and sounded masculine, during Anthems however, her voice was less glutteral and more discernable (in the single from that album 'We Will Rise', the lyrics are actualy easy to hear even with her growling). This time, it's both. At times, its understandable, and at others, its back to WoS style. Either way, its good.
I only have one complaint, however. Angela and Micael somtimes co-write the lyrics, but about half the songs are Angela's alone. Her lyrics are not that great. They're boring, not interesting, and most of all, not thought-provoking like Michaels. Whereas Angela's lyrics mostly deal in Anarchy and internal conflict, Michaels deal in religion (slightly, its usually euphemisms) Society, and social relationships.
In this album however, the lyrics are nowhere near as good as older ones, but that really doesn't matter when the vocals and music shouldn't get more attention than the music..
overall, i'd give this album a 3.8/5.
I would recommend Wages of Sin over this album, but if you have it, or heard it already, Doomsday Machine will not dissapoint hardcore Arch Enemy fans and is a good album to buy even if you're not too into them.
a group picture. I would add individual pics (or a better one altogether, but its late and i'm lazy)
Look out for my review for Children of Bodom's new album. When it comes out.
Rock on metalheads \m/
B
