Arch Enemy: The wind billowing their sails and an ever-expanding audience of diehard fans!

For some unknown reason I never listen carefully to Arch Enemy until now, and their music actually blow my mind when I spent time listening!

If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that we need regular, jolting doses of heavy fucking metal to keep us on the right track. Over the last quarter of a century, no band has flown the flag for balls-out, melody-stuffed heaviness with more vigor or dedication than Arch Enemy. In 2022, the band’s brand new album, Deceivers, is destined to be this year’s most lethally effective cure for all ills. Increasingly unstoppable, not least since the recruitment of vocalist Alissa White-Gluz in 2014, Arch Enemy are about to remind the world what the real thing sounds like, with their 11th and most explosive album yet. The track In The Eye Of A Storm,

Band founder and guitarist Michael Amott notes. «We achieved so much with those first two albums with Alissa, Both Will To Power and War Eternal did so well for us. We just kept building and building and we didn’t expect that. When Angela [Gossow, Arch Enemy’s iconic former vocalist] left the band initially, I thought the band would go down to some extent and we could slowly build it back up to where we were when she left. But instead, with Alissa, it just took off and became a whole new thing». The track Sunset Over The Empire,

 The wind billowing their sails and an ever-expanding audience of diehard fans, Arch Enemy arrive in 2022 in the finest of form. Written during 2020, Deceivers is another self-evident labor of heavy metal love, from a band with confidence coursing through every vein. As Michael observes, Arch Enemy have successfully negotiated the ups and downs of the Covid era and come out the other side armed with their most destructive piece of work yet. The track Handshake With Hell,

«COur last concert was December 15, 2019, so then we took a year off, because we’d been in everyone’s faces for a while, and we thought we’d start writing a new album and start recording it at the end of 2020… and that’s what we did! In January 2020, me and Daniel [Erlandsson, drums], went over to Mexico and rented a place for a couple of weeks. It was on the beach, which was great, but we turned the living room into a little makeshift demo studio, with a couple of guitars and programmed drums. It was just nice to take time out and get away from everything. We did quite a lot of demoing there, but then the pandemic hit. I was stuck in Sweden, as was Daniel, so we continued writing. There weren’t really many restrictions in Sweden, we didn’t have lockdowns like most of the world, so it was kind of easy to meet up and keep working on the music».

 Despite not being denied the chance to write new music, Arch Enemy would soon face some significant obstacles when it came to getting the whole band together in the same room. With Alissa and guitarist Jeff Loomis both residing on the other side of the Atlantic, the creation of a new album became rather more challenging than expected.

«It did turn out to be the worst time ever to have an international line-up!” laughs Michael “That part of it sucked. It was like, ‘Now we want Alissa to come in and do the vocals, and Jeff to come in and do his solos, both from North America…’ Well, that wasn’t going to happen, but in the end we made it work. It was just more complicated, the logistics were shit and everything was a lot more expensive! [Laughs] But we got it done in the end. I think we really wanted to get it done».

 From the belligerent fury of recent single Deceiver, Deceiver and the dramatic, viciously melodic House Of Mirrors to epic and brutal deep cuts like In The Eye Of The Storm and Spreading Black Wings, the new Arch Enemy album feels like a celebratory encapsulation of everything that has made the band such a vital force. All of their cherished trademarks are present and correct, from majestic, heart-rending guitar hooks and harmonies through to an unremitting barrage of catchy but crushing riffs, but this is a sharper and more ferocious Arch Enemy than we have heard before. Deceivers could not have been created by any other band, but somehow this one feels like a bold reaffirming of musical values.

 «I feel a responsibility there, to carry that heavy metal tradition to our best ability,” says Michael. Some people might say it’s a formula, but I just think it’s songwriting! I’ve been at it for a long time now, I’ve seen so many things come and go. People have said that guitar solos are out, or it’s all about industrial metal or rap-metal or it’s deathcore… there have been so many trends, but my focus has always been on the roots of heavy metal and hard rock songwriting, with quality guitar parts and stuff like that! [Laughs] You’ve just got to tweak it and find little things that you haven’t done before, and we always find something new to do».

 One of the new album’s most startling moments arrives during opening track and ready-made crowdpleaser Handshake With Hell. A classic, exhilarating slab of prime Arch Enemy perfection, it boasts a jaw-dropping vocal performance from the ever-versatile Alissa White-Gluz, with both clean and harsh vocals woven through the pristine riff-powered assault. As an album opener, it’s an audacious one.

 «Yeah, it was just to shove it in people’s faces, really! [Laughs] Make people talk, you know? We need that, 25 years into our history. We’ve been treading that line carefully, because when we brought Alissa into the fold we knew that, okay, she can do this and this, she can do what Angela did and she can do what Johan [Liiva, original AE vocalist] did, but she can also do this other thing. We have our sound and all the melody has really come from the guitars up to that point, but Alissa is amazing and it really works. Anyway, after 25 years and when it’s your 11th studio album, are you not allowed one song that’s a bit different? [Laughs]».

 Arch Enemy fans have learned to expect their favorite band to sound immaculate. Deceivers once again belongs firmly at metal’s cutting edge, but a change of environment and a change of collaborator has brought new depth and texture to the band’s sound, while helping to hammer home those metal hooks with more intensity than ever.

 «We did the drums with Jacob and then we went back to Sweden and did the guitars ourselves,” Michael explains. “It takes so long to do that, so we thought it made sense to come home. Then Daniel engineered that as well. We did the bass and the solos in Sweden, and then we went back and did the vocals with Jacob in Denmark. He put it all together and mixed and mastered it. We were going to fly Jeff in to do his solos, but then he couldn’t come, so he ended up doing his solos in a studio in Seattle. Working with Jacob was great. With the vocals, he was amazing. He gets such a

great sound and performance out of the people he works with. He’s a super nice guy and we really enjoyed it».

 The greatest bands always rise to the occasion. Arch Enemy are back, with one of their most defiant and uplifting records to date: a magnificent eruption of pure fucking metal, Deceivers is an invigorating, world-class shot in the arm. Meanwhile, Arch Enemy are primed and ready to return to their natural habitat, well-equipped with new anthems and still enjoying every last second of their steel-plated mission. 

 «C»

We can’t wait to get back out there», Michael Amott concludes. «I’ve always said that I’m ready to come back and play when it’s safe for everybody. The last few years have been incredible for us. It’s bizarre, because our new material is the most popular material that we have in the live show. Hopefully we can add a few more audience favorites from the new one, too! ».

Line-Up:

Michael Amott – Guitars 

Alissa White-Gluz – Vocals 

Sharlee D’Angelo – Bass 

Daniel Erlandsson – Drums 

Jeff Loomis – Guitars 

Deceivers (45:11)

01.          Handshake With Hell (05:38)

02.          Deceiver, Deceiver (03:51)

03.          In The Eye Of The Storm (04:09)

04.          The Watcher (04:58)

05.          Poisoned Arrow (03:51)

06.          Sunset Over The Empire (04:03)

07.          House Of Mirrors (03:40)

08.          Spreading Black Wings (04:46)

09.          Mourning Star (01:36)

10.          One Last Time (03:49)

11.          Exiled From Earth (04:44)              

Discography:

Black Earth (1996)

Stigmata (1998)

Burning Bridges (1999)

Wages Of Sin (2001)

Anthems Of Rebellion (2003)

Doomsday Machine (2005)

Rise Of The Tyrant (2007)

Khaos Legions (2011)

War Eternal (2014)

Will To Power (2017)

Deceivers (2021)

                                 Handshake With Hell

Collective consciousness

Synapses between us

We pierce the sky with fists

We shroud the Earth in dust

Bow, sit down, take a knee Before powers that be We’re here to spread the flame

Welcome to the game

And after all is said and done

Since the moon eclipsed the sun Can you feel the wrath of truth?

Does it burn you like abuse?

Come along to the killing grounds

It’s execution day

The grip of a thousand hands

Squeezes the life from supremacy

And after all is said and done

When the dark delays the dawn

Walk your path towards the reaper Learn that hell is other people!

Obey

As we

Decay

Buy me a lobotomy 

Fools never cease to amaze 

Keep digging your grave

A lobotomy

Down here for eternity

Where fire and ice meet

You burnt the world above

We rule the world beneath

And after all is said and done

Before a new day has begun Bid your worries all goodbye Flee the pan into the fire!

Obey

As we

Decay

Buy me a lobotomy

Fools never cease to amaze 

Keep digging your grave

A lobotomy

Fool me once and I’m numb

Twice and I’m dumb

Thrice, I won’t be fooled again

Fool me once and I’m done

Twice I succumb

To a handshake with hell

In the end, we only reap what we have sown

Can’t leave well enough alone

The world’s at stake

Under an oath that cannot break

Obey

As we

Decay

Buy me a lobotomy 

Fools never cease to complain

Keep digging your grave

A lobotomy

Deceiver, Deceiver 

Secrets whispered through a veil of lies When did I become this person you despise?

Open my eyes

You’ve been in disguise

                                 The door is closing                           

You’re on the outside now

It’s curtain call

After everything I did for you  This is what you choose to put me through?

What happened to the concept of loyalty?

I guess there really is no more honesty!

Open my eyes

You’ve been in disguise

                                 The door is closing                           

You’re on the outside now

It’s curtain call

Deceiver, Deceiver

My head still spinning from your Judas kiss 

Deceiver, Deceiver

Not one thing about you I will miss

You put on a great act, I’ll give you that 

Go on and take a bow you despicable rat  Accept the applause, you king of whores This is your grand finale. 

Deceiver, Deceiver

My head still spinning from your Judas kiss 

Imposter, I see you

Thou beest slain, tyrant, show thy face!

Open my eyes

You’ve been in disguise

                                 The door is closing                           

You’re on the outside now It’s curtain call

Deceiver, deceiver… I see…you! 

In The Eye Of The Storm

The chase is on, the traps are set Won’t let them drag me back there again 

The ball on that chain, it bears my name 

To tame the beast in me 

I still believe in life before death 

It fuels the fire in me 

I will run ’til I die 

Under these black skies 

Tyrannic law, a razor claw

In the eye of the storm

As darkness falls the hunt goes on 

The hounds of the hell have picked up my scent 

The rain pours down, I’m still running 

My breath freezing the air

We may be born to astride the grave  But I will not die a slave!

I will run ’til I die 

Under these black skies 

Tyrannic law, a razor claw

In the eye of the storm

Under these black skies 

In the eye of the storm

I will run ’til I die 

Under these black skies 

Tyrannic law, a razor claw

In the eye of the storm

I will run ’til I die 

Under these black skies 

Tyrannic law, a razor claw

In the eye of the storm

The Watcher

Born to a flock of animosity

To be judged, to be shamed, no rights and no dignity

Beneath the eye of disdain

Where The Watcher sees the wicked, we compel

Offspring of divine regret

Condemn thy Daughters of Death

Gripping the face of the Earth

Return to dirt

Under the Eye…

Don’t fear The Watcher – sentinel from the skies above

The rebel angel sees through all of us

Beware The Watcher – the Earth is erased in Flood

The rebel angel laughs and falls at last

Does the Observer make reality?

Does the gaze activate quantum complicity? Beneath the pyre and pain

Where we jettison body and brain!

Offspring of divine regret

Condemn thy Daughters of Death

Gripping the face of the Earth

Return to dirt

Under the eye

Don’t fear The Watcher – sentinel from the skies above

The rebel angel sees through all of us

Beware The Watcher – the Earth is erased in Flood

The rebel angel laughs and falls at last

Writhing with the Nephilim Behold fire and flood!

Offspring of divine regret

Condemn thy Daughters of Death

Gripping the face of the Earth

Return to dirt

Under the Eye…

Don’t fear The Watcher – sentinel from the skies above

The rebel angel sees through all of us

Beware The Watcher – the Earth is erased in Flood

The rebel angel laughs and falls at last

At last

Poisoned Arrow 

Silent shadows, a broken frame  

The empty picture that we became 

No words needed, the stories in our eyes 

A crack in the mirror, too many lies  

Deep footsteps mark the snow 

Traces of yesterday, where and when to go 

We never meant to cause pain nor sorrow  

Now every word a poisoned arrow 

Is it worth fighting for?

                                 Or even dying for?           

Broken, yet unspoken 

The feeling is gone

Hostile words and heavy hearts 

This is where our paths drift apart

No more anger, no more sadness 

Turn the page, another poisoned arrow

Is it worth fighting for?

                                 Or even dying for?           

Broken, yet unspoken 

The feeling is gone

Is it worth fighting for?

Is it worth fighting for?

The feeling is gone

Is it worth fighting for?

                                 Or even dying for?           

Broken, yet unspoken 

The feeling is gone

Is it worth fighting for?

Is it worth fighting for?

The feeling is gone

 Sunset Over The Empire 

Welcome to the apocalypse, the end of days 

Rulers of the wasteland, rejoice in the flames  Futures tumble, legacies crumble 

Thousands of years and what have we learned? 

They heard the warnings, ignored the signs 

Wheels of injustice kept on turning  

Unaccountable for their crimes 

On the streets anger burning   

Black clouds rumble, dark days ahead 

As the chorus chants for a holy war  

It’s the end of an era, a new dawn will rise

Words turned to war, brother fighting brother 

Another false truce, as the people die  

The fate of the nation forever changed  

Behold – the fiery end is nigh 

Behind closed doors, corruption wins 

The power echelon prepares their task 

One step forward, two stabs in the back   Revolution is a mere change of masks?

Black clouds rumble, dark days ahead 

As the chorus chants for a holy war  

It’s the end of an era, a new dawn will rise

We rise again from the stench and the pain 

We pass through fire, darkness erase the stain   

Black clouds rumble, dark days ahead 

As the chorus chants for a holy war  

It’s the end of an era, a new dawn will rise

As the sun sets on the empire  Is there a future to be found?    Hopes and dreams…now ashes on the ground House Of Mirrors

See the choice, it lies before you

A simple flick of the wrist Blank doors keep the world at bay Or do they keep the outside in? What geometry lies beyond?

A familiar façade, keys in locks

Unhinge the future

Shut out the past

Winners and losers

Fiction and fact

Renegade are reflections made across a sharpened blade

In a house of mirrors you’re never alone Welcome home!

To open is to invite the unknown

In to flood your once square home The walls silently watch you Are you watching them back?

Windows to the souls surround you What escapes when those panes crack?

Unhinge the future

Shut out the past

Winners and losers

Fiction and fact

Renegade are reflections made across a sharpened blade

In a house of mirrors you’re never alone Welcome home!

Suspicious simulacra distort your flesh and bone

In a house of mirrors you’re never alone

You’ll run

You’ll hide

Or try to

But we all

Reside

Inside you

Renegade are reflections made across a sharpened blade

In a house of mirrors you’re never alone Welcome home!

Suspicious simulacra distort your flesh and bone

In a house of mirrors you’re never alone Welcome home!

Spreading Black Wings 

Cast from heaven, now to rule in hell

A cry for freedom in a long lost tale  Darkness is all around me

Or is it all…within me? 

Tired of living on my knees Can I be set free, be the real me?

I can’t breathe, I can’t see, I can’t touch, I can’t feel 

Morning star

Son of the dawn

Fallen from grace

Do not fear to tread

The left hand path

I am here 

Spreading black wings 

Opened my eyes, saw the divine lies

The power lies within me

Not in worship of idols 

I am my own authority

Break the chains of past, sweet freedom at last I can breathe, I can see, I can touch, I can feel!

Morning star

Son of the dawn

Fallen from grace

Do not fear to tread

The left hand path

I am here 

Spreading black wings 

 Mourning Star

(Instrumental) One Last Time

Life’s been a losing game, every day the same  An impossible dream, a cog in the machine 

If I don’t make it now, don’t think I ever will So, what now?

Frustration  Stagnation

“Don’t dream too big, you might hurt yourself…just stay in line”

Determination Confrontation

I’m on my way, heading into the unknown

Patience is running out 

It’s wearing thin

Feels like I’m slipping, losing ground 

I’m gonna break free 

Get out of these chains

I’ve got nothing to lose 

And everything to gain The future is calling 

It’s calling out my name 

One last time

Running out of breath – on this spinning wheel

Make it real – all will be revealed

Too many missing pieces to this puzzle

I’ve played their game, but it’s not who I am

Frustration  Stagnation

Don’t dream too big, you might hurt yourself…just stay in line”

Determination Confrontation

I’m on my way,

Link:
Facebook