FORMED in 1995 by ex-Carnage members – Michael Amott and Johan Liiva – Arch Enemy gained prominence for skillfully blending crushing heavy riffs with plenty of melodic moments.
However, Arch Enemy truly started to gain attention when the band installed female lead vocalist Angela Gossow in 2000. Having a sculpted Amazonian blonde fronting the band certainly help set Arch Enemy apart from the sea of identikit death metal bands.
Arch Enemy’s popularity soared and this was backed up by some seriously solid albums, cementing its place as genuine player in the death metal scene. Then Gossow decided to take a step back in 2014 and the band not wanting to cede ground, Arch Enemy sticked to its tried and trusted formula of having a female lead singer.
In stepped Alicia White-Gluz, while possessing the requisite deathly growl, is also significantly enough eye candy to keep legions of male metalheads very interested.
So here is album number 12 in Arch Enemy’s storied career. Released on March 28, the latest opus is produced by Jens Brogen and has all the hallmarks of a great Arch Enemy album. Soaring guitar licks, super memorable riffs and roaring vocals, the album is quality melodic death from start to finish.
White Gluz’s death growls are terrific but it is when she lets her clean vocals fly on tracks like Illuminate the Path and Vivre Libre that truly mark her out as a death metal singer with a difference.
However, the real stars of the show remain Amott and Joey Conception on guitars who take their Iron maiden-tinged solos to new heights on tracks like Paper Tiger and Pendulum.
Never slowing down, Arch Enemy take the fast and melodic route to get those craniums shaking with 11 quality tracks that are sure to have extended stays on fan playlists.
Not ground breaking but a very solid album from one of the scene’s veteran bands. If in any doubt as to the band’s international repute, just check out the numerous videos on social media of the two sold out shows in Kuala Lumpur, one featuring Gossow and the other just last year with White-Gluz, which attest to Arch Enemy’s huge popularity.
Blood Dynasty pales in comparison to The Halo Effect’s March of the Unheard for melodic death metal chutzpah but Arch Enemy’s does hold an ace up its sleeve in the form of the striking White-Gluz.
In a scene populated by bearded, middle aged growlers, a splash of electric blue (White-Gluz’s favoured shade) is a welcome respite from all the blackness that surrounds death metal.
