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ARCH ENEMY: ‘No More Regrets’ Video Premiere

Manos Spanos
"No More Regrets", the new video from Swedish / American / Canadian metallers ARCH ENEMY, can be seen below. The song is taken from the band's new album, "War Eternal", which is being released today (June 10) in North America via Century Media Records. The cover artwork was created by Costin Chioreanu. ARCH ENEMY played its first show with new singer Alissa White-Gluz, former vocalist of THE AGONIST, on May 23 at Turbohalle in Bucharest, Romania. Angela Gossow, who joined ARCH ENEMY in 2000 and made her debut on the now-classic "Wages Of Sin" (2001), has stepped down as frontwoman and will focus on management, while Alissa takes her place. In a recent interview with Turk Gitar, ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott stated about Angela's exit from ARCH ENEMY: "It was a sudden change for the fans; we know that. But, of course, these kind of big steps in life don't come easily, and I believe this was a gradual thing that kept growing in Angela's mind for some time. "We had decided to take 2013 off from the road and any sort of band activity. The only thing we were doing was writing music and also there always the plan to go into the studio and record at the end of 2013. As the scheduled recording time got closer, Angela informed us last year that she would definitely be stepping down from her position in the band. "To be honest, it was not such a huge surprise to the rest of us, as there were a lot of conversations of that nature leading up to that point. I made the changes in the band that were necessary for ARCH ENEMY to continue and keep the music alive." Regarding Alissa's more versatile vocal approach compared to that of Gossow, Amott said: "Alissa has many different vocal styles that she can do very well… She is much more versatile in that aspect than Angela. But for ARCH ENEMY, we are sticking with the aggressive vocal style that we are known for. "When I started the band in 1995, I had the idea to make the most heavy melodic band of all time, combining elements of extreme death metal heaviness and thrash speed alongside traditional heavy metal and hard rock influences with the harmonies, melodies and solos. We are very much staying true to these roots of the band on 'War Eternal'." Speaking to Metal Underground, Alissa had the following to say about "War Eternal": "The circumstances surrounding the creation of this album, writing the lyrics and recording it, I'm just happy to have it finally come out. I think people are going to like it. The production quality is amazing! I always wanted an album that would sound this full. I'm a really big fan of this album, myself. Even if I weren't in the band and ARCH ENEMY put out this album, I would pick it up and say it's great. I'm really excited." On the topic of the new album title, Alissa said: "This album ended up being a lot more personal than maybe some of my previous or Michael's previous lyrics. In the past, a topic like war or a political or global issue was what we normally wrote about. We were writing in two different bands, but we happen to have similar topics in our writing. Then when we were writing for this album, we had a collection of lyrics for this album, but we found that we were actually writing on similar things. Fighting the ongoing war in your day-to-day life, everybody has their battle going on that nobody else knows about. And then there are song titles like 'Never Forgive, Never Forget' and on and on, I think it ties in very nicely. It wasn't something we planned out, but that is the way it turned out, so it worked out really nicely. I think we really saw eye to eye and were experiencing similar things in our lives, so we ended up writing about the same topics even though we have different styles of writing lyrics."
04 min read

New ARCH ENEMY Singer ALISSA WHITE-GLUZ: ‘I’m Just Going To Do My Absolute Best’

Manos Spanos
Metal Blast recently conducted an interview with new ARCH ENEMY singer Alissa White-Gluz. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Metal Blast: When you were first offered the position as Angela's [Gossow] replacement, how much of a challenge did you feel you were going to face filling her shoes? Alissa: Angela is very iconic and broke down a lot of barriers not just for women in music, but in music in general. It's not a simple task to step in after her, but I feel confident in the album we wrote, and I know I have her support in this, since we're all a team working towards a common goal. I'm just going to do my absolute best, and hope everyone enjoys it as much as we do. Metal Blast: Angela is still involved with ARCH ENEMY, working in management. How much influence did she have on you being picked for the band, and what sort of influence does she still have in you and in your performance for ARCH ENEMY? Alissa: It was actually Angela's idea for me to be her successor, so to speak, so she definitely had a big role in that choice. For now she doesn't really have any influence in terms of the performance of the music, but she works very hard as the manager, so I speak to her every day about the business side of things. Metal Blast: Did she give you any advice that you felt was important in terms of your performance in ARCH ENEMY? Alissa: Yeah, I guess so; everyone in the band has kind of offered advice, because they all know what it's about. She hasn't really given anything specific, but she's always been good at giving me advice. For years and years she's been sort of a mentor to me, so if she offers it, I always listen. I mean, who better to learn from, right? Metal Blast: It's interesting because metalheads are quite an interesting breed, so to speak. Once fans develop some sort of sense of possession in regards to your band, they get very protective of the sound or what they want the band to be. For instance, when you think of Blaze Bayley replacing Bruce Dickinson in IRON MAIDEN, or Anette Olzon replacing Tarja Turunen in NIGHTWISH, there was a backlash where people said "That's not what we want." Was there some fear of facing the ARCH ENEMY's fans who associate the band mostly with Angela? Alissa: Yeah, but we've been pretty fortunate in this case. I've seen a couple of singer switches happen right before my eyes, one being Roy Khan to Tommy Karevik in KAMELOT, and the other was Anette Olzon to Floor Jansen in NIGHTWISH. Those happened with me present, and I saw how well the fans took to these singers because they were presented in the proper way. That's why we wanted to be careful with how we presented these news, and make sure that people knew that this is what the band wants. This is what Angela wants, this is what Michael [Amott, ARCH ENEMY guitarist] wants, this is what everybody in the band wants. We wanted to have new music right away, so fans wouldn't have to wait and wonder what it was going to sound like; we showed them [the title track of the new ARCH ENEMY album] "War Eternal" right away, so that they could put their fears to rest. I obviously understand what it's like. Even when Angela told me she was stepping down, I was, like, "Hey, wait, but I wanted you to keep singing!" [laughs] But people change, priorities shift, and this is what Angela wanted, so in the end it all worked out well for us, and we're very happy with the music. We just hope that the fans will also understand that we're still the same band, we're still making the same music, and that it's just a new era for us. So far, they have been very receptive to the music. Read the entire interview at Metal Blast.
05 min read

ARCH ENEMY’s MICHAEL AMOTT On Singer Switch: ‘Metal Fans Don’t Really Take To Change That Well’

Manos Spanos
Guitarist Michael Amott of Swedish / American / Canadian metallers ARCH ENEMY spoke to GuitarWorld.com about the departure of the band's lead singer Angela Gossow and addition of Alissa White-Gluz, formerly of THE AGONIST. "It was a very tough and emotional experience," Michael said. "It took a while to decide if we were just going to stop the band. But we realized that we still love playing and have a lot of music in us. But where would we go singer-wise?" Amott admitted that he was concerned about how the ARCH ENEMY fans would react to such a significant lineup change, explaining: "I was worried more last year. Back when we were putting [the new ARCH ENEMY album 'War Eternal'] together, and I was sort of like, 'Okay, it's not going to be Angela singing. It's going to be this new girl.' Alissa's really great, but still, it's somebody different. Metal fans don't really take to change that well… I knew it had to be really good. We had to step it up and deliver something really special this time. So I put a lot of work into the album and the writing process. It was very very rigorous and went on for much longer than what we usually do. We did a lot of pre-production and demos. So I think at some point last year, I was thinking more like, 'Hmm, I wonder how people are going to react to this.' But once we'd done it and we'd completed the album and filmed the video and we did all the stuff, I was just ready to get the news out there. I was kind of over it. When it's done it's done...and I'm really proud of it. And the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive so far. I was expecting it to be more like 50/50, but it's been a lot more positive. [laughs]" Asked what led Angela to leave her role as singer and focus on the band's management, Amott said: "Well, she's been managing the band since 2008. It's worked out very, very well for us. It's been a lot more successful than when we were with a professional, sort of big management company. Suddenly we were making money and everything was working out for us. She's definitely really good at that and it's something she really enjoys doing as well. As far as the actual singing part, I don't think it was an easy decision for her." He continued: "It wasn't such a big surprise, really, when she said she finally wanted to bow out as a front person for the band and singer, because the writing has been on the wall within in our camp. But, you know, the fans really idolize her and she was a very iconic front figure and she was like the first woman in a successful metal band doing it at the level that we've done it. But it took a while for us to get our heads around what we were going to do, like, were we going to stop the band? But then we realized we actually love playing and we've still got a lot of music in us. But where would we go singer-wise? All these songs are written for a woman to sing. And are there any other woman out there who are really strong, and Alissa was the first one we thought of. But I didn't know if she'd be up for it or that she'd be interested, but when we found out that she was, that all sort of happened as well. She came over here and we did some demos with her as well and stuff like that. I have to say the first rehearsal with Alissa was really strange… She sounded so awesome, but I was thinking, like, you know, I wrote this song for Angela and now somebody else is singing it, and it just felt weird. But she sounded great. But it felt, I don't know, weird. And then I called the other guys later that evening, the other guys, original guys, Sharlee, the bass player, and Daniel, the drummer. They brought it up as well that it felt so weird. It took some getting used to. So I can understand for fans it's gonna take time for some people to get into this. The bottom line is that I think the album is fantastic, and she is… It was either continue with a new singer — and luckily we found someone totally awesome — or stop the band. And I guess we just wanted to keep playing, really." ARCH ENEMY played its first show with Alissa White-Gluz on May 23 at Turbohalle in Bucharest, Romania. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.
05 min read

ARCH ENEMY: ‘You Will Know My Name’ Video To Premiere Tomorrow

Manos Spanos
The official video for the song "You Will Know My Name" from Swedish / American / Canadian metallers ARCH ENEMY will make its online debut tomorrow (Tuesday, May 27). The clip was once again directed by Patric Ullaeus of Revolver Film Company, who has previously worked with DIMMU BORGIR, LACUNA COIL, IN FLAMES, SONIC SYNDICATE and KAMELOT, among others. "You Will Know My Name" is taken from ARCH ENEMY's new album, "War Eternal", which will be released in North America on June 10 via Century Media Records. The cover artwork was created by Costin Chioreanu. ARCH ENEMY played its first show with new singer Alissa White-Gluz, former vocalist of THE AGONIST, on May 23 at Turbohalle in Bucharest, Romania. Angela Gossow, who joined ARCH ENEMY in 2000 and made her debut on the now-classic "Wages Of Sin" (2001), has stepped down as frontwoman and will focus on management, while Alissa takes her place. Fan-filmed video footage of the Bucharest concert can be seen below. Check out photos of the concert at Metalhead.ro. In a recent interview with Turk Gitar, ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott stated about Angela's exit from ARCH ENEMY: "It was a sudden change for the fans; we know that. But, of course, these kind of big steps in life don't come easily, and I believe this was a gradual thing that kept growing in Angela's mind for some time. "We had decided to take 2013 off from the road and any sort of band activity. The only thing we were doing was writing music and also there always the plan to go into the studio and record at the end of 2013. As the scheduled recording time got closer, Angela informed us last year that she would definitely be stepping down from her position in the band. "To be honest, it was not such a huge surprise to the rest of us, as there were a lot of conversations of that nature leading up to that point. I made the changes in the band that were necessary for ARCH ENEMY to continue and keep the music alive." Regarding Alissa's more versatile vocal approach compared to that of Gossow, Amott said: "Alissa has many different vocal styles that she can do very well… She is much more versatile in that aspect than Angela. But for ARCH ENEMY, we are sticking with the aggressive vocal style that we are known for. "When I started the band in 1995, I had the idea to make the most heavy melodic band of all time, combining elements of extreme death metal heaviness and thrash speed alongside traditional heavy metal and hard rock influences with the harmonies, melodies and solos. We are very much staying true to these roots of the band on 'War Eternal'." Speaking to Metal Underground, Alissa had the following to say about "War Eternal": "The circumstances surrounding the creation of this album, writing the lyrics and recording it, I'm just happy to have it finally come out. I think people are going to like it. The production quality is amazing! I always wanted an album that would sound this full. I'm a really big fan of this album, myself. Even if I weren't in the band and ARCH ENEMY put out this album, I would pick it up and say it's great. I'm really excited." On the topic of the new album title, Alissa said: "This album ended up being a lot more personal than maybe some of my previous or Michael's previous lyrics. In the past, a topic like war or a political or global issue was what we normally wrote about. We were writing in two different bands, but we happen to have similar topics in our writing. Then when we were writing for this album, we had a collection of lyrics for this album, but we found that we were actually writing on similar things. Fighting the ongoing war in your day-to-day life, everybody has their battle going on that nobody else knows about. And then there are song titles like 'Never Forgive, Never Forget' and on and on, I think it ties in very nicely. It wasn't something we planned out, but that is the way it turned out, so it worked out really nicely. I think we really saw eye to eye and were experiencing similar things in our lives, so we ended up writing about the same topics even though we have different styles of writing lyrics."
05 min read

ARCH ENEMY Plays First Show With New Singer ALISSA WHITE-GLUZ; Video Available

Manos Spanos
Swedish / American / Canadian metallers ARCH ENEMY played their first show with new singer Alissa White-Gluz, former vocalist of THE AGONIST, last night (Friday, May 23) at Turbohalle in Bucharest, Romania. Angela Gossow, who joined ARCH ENEMY in 2000 and made her debut on the now-classic "Wages Of Sin" (2001), has stepped down as frontwoman and will focus on management, while Alissa takes her place. Fan-filmed video footage of the Bucharest concert can be seen below. Check out photos of the concert at Metalhead.ro. ARCH ENEMY, new album, "War Eternal" will be released in North America on June 10 via Century Media Records. The cover artwork was created by Costin Chioreanu. The "War Eternal" video was directed by Patric Ullaeus of Revolver Film Company, who has previously worked with DIMMU BORGIR, LACUNA COIL, IN FLAMES, SONIC SYNDICATE and KAMELOT, among others. In a recent interview with Turk Gitar, ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott stated about Angela's exit from ARCH ENEMY: "It was a sudden change for the fans; we know that. But, of course, these kind of big steps in life don't come easily, and I believe this was a gradual thing that kept growing in Angela's mind for some time. "We had decided to take 2013 off from the road and any sort of band activity. The only thing we were doing was writing music and also there always the plan to go into the studio and record at the end of 2013. As the scheduled recording time got closer, Angela informed us last year that she would definitely be stepping down from her position in the band. "To be honest, it was not such a huge surprise to the rest of us, as there were a lot of conversations of that nature leading up to that point. I made the changes in the band that were necessary for ARCH ENEMY to continue and keep the music alive." Regarding Alissa's more versatile vocal approach compared to that of Gossow, Amott said: "Alissa has many different vocal styles that she can do very well… She is much more versatile in that aspect than Angela. But for ARCH ENEMY, we are sticking with the aggressive vocal style that we are known for. "When I started the band in 1995, I had the idea to make the most heavy melodic band of all time, combining elements of extreme death metal heaviness and thrash speed alongside traditional heavy metal and hard rock influences with the harmonies, melodies and solos. We are very much staying true to these roots of the band on 'War Eternal'." Speaking to Metal Underground, Alissa had the following to say about "War Eternal": "The circumstances surrounding the creation of this album, writing the lyrics and recording it, I'm just happy to have it finally come out. I think people are going to like it. The production quality is amazing! I always wanted an album that would sound this full. I'm a really big fan of this album, myself. Even if I weren't in the band and ARCH ENEMY put out this album, I would pick it up and say it's great. I'm really excited." On the topic of the new album title, Alissa said: "This album ended up being a lot more personal than maybe some of my previous or Michael's previous lyrics. In the past, a topic like war or a political or global issue was what we normally wrote about. We were writing in two different bands, but we happen to have similar topics in our writing. Then when we were writing for this album, we had a collection of lyrics for this album, but we found that we were actually writing on similar things. Fighting the ongoing war in your day-to-day life, everybody has their battle going on that nobody else knows about. And then there are song titles like 'Never Forgive, Never Forget' and on and on, I think it ties in very nicely. It wasn't something we planned out, but that is the way it turned out, so it worked out really nicely. I think we really saw eye to eye and were experiencing similar things in our lives, so we ended up writing about the same topics even though we have different styles of writing lyrics."
05 min read

ARCH ENEMY: ‘War Eternal’ Cover Artwork, Track Listing

Manos Spanos
"War Eternal", the ninth studio album from Swedish / American / Canadian metallers ARCH ENEMY, will be released in North America on June 10 via Century Media Records. "War Eternal" track listing: 01. Tempore Nihil Sanat (Prelude In F Minor) 02. Never Forgive, Never Forget 03. War Eternal 04. As The Pages Burn 05. No More Regrets 06. You Will Know My Name 07. Graveyard Of Dreams 08. Stolen Life 09. Time Is Black 10. On And On 11. Avalanche 12. Down To Nothing 13. Not Long For This World The cover artwork was created by Costin Chioreanu and can be seen below. The "War Eternal" video was directed by Patric Ullaeus of Revolver Film Company, who has previously worked with DIMMU BORGIR, LACUNA COIL, IN FLAMES, SONIC SYNDICATE and KAMELOT, among others. "War Eternal" will introduce a new member to ARCH ENEMY's ranks: Alissa White-Gluz, former vocalist of Canadian extreme metallers THE AGONIST. Angela Gossow, who joined ARCH ENEMY in 2000 and made her debut on the now classic "Wages Of Sin" (2001), has stepped down as frontwoman and will focus on management, while Alissa takes her place. Alissa White-Gluz previously stated about her addition to the ARCH ENEMY lineup: "I am very honored and happy to announce a new chapter in my life and musical career beginning now; I have joined forces with one of my all-time favourite and globally respected bands, ARCH ENEMY. 'Wages Of Sin' was the first metal album I ever bought, and it was love at first listen. "It is not often that you get a phone call from your favorite band asking you to join! I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with such amazingly talented musicians whom I also consider great friends. I look forward to being able to write and perform at a whole new level now with ARCH ENEMY! Music is forever, metal is limitless and this is only the beginning!" "War Eternal" was mixed by Jens Bogren (OPETH, PARADISE LOST, KREATOR) at Fascination Street in Örebro, Sweden. ARCH ENEMY will debut new material on a short eastern European tour before the album is released; this trek will then be followed by an extensive run of European summer festivals, including Sweden Rock Festival, Wacken Open Air and many more. A full headlining tour in North America and Europe will take place in fall/winter 2014. ARCH ENEMY in 2012 amicably parted ways with guitarist Christopher Amott and replaced him with American musician Nick Cordle (ARSIS). archenemywareternalcd
03 min read

ARCH ENEMY To Release ‘War Eternal’ In June

Manos Spanos
Swedish/German/American extreme metallers ARCH ENEMY have started mixing their ninth studio album, "War Eternal", with Jens Bogren (OPETH, PARADISE LOST, KREATOR) at Fascination Street in Örebro, Sweden for a June release via Century Media REcords. Comments ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott: "We've been producing ourselves, as we did on [2011's] 'Khaos Legions'. "We have a clear vision of what we want ARCH ENEMY to sound like, and we can actually achieve it without the help of outside producers. We also have the advantage of having two talented sound engineers among our ranks in Daniel Erlandsson (drums) and Nick Cordle (guitar). "We've been tracking at a few different studios here in Sweden — the drums at Fascination Street Studio and guitars and bass in another room. We just finished vocals in a third studio with engineer Staffan Karlsson ('Khaos Legions') and the mix and mastering will done by Jens Bogren at his Fascination Street mixing facility. "Musically, this album is going a few places we haven't visited before. As our fans have come expect, our albums have all had their own vibe and 'War Eternal' will leave its own mark. Lyrically, it's a much more personal record, and I feel the songs have more dynamics and depth than ever before. The songs are loaded with strong and vicious metal, drenched in tons of melody and emotion. All the trademarks of ARCH ENEMY are present, just more in your face and turned up to 11.". Regarding the new CD title, Michael says: "A lot of times life is a struggle, a war against what I like to call 'mental chains' in society that try to prevent you from living life the way you want, that try to stop you from making your dreams come true. I have always resented that and I always will. The title sums up our collective attitude a band as well; stages will be destroyed, eardrums will bleed. There will be no choice. This, ladies and gentlemen, is 'War Eternal'..." ARCH ENEMY will debut new material on a short eastern European tour before the album is released; this trek will then be followed by an extensive run of European summer festivals, including Sweden Rock Festival, Wacken Open Air and many more. A full headlining tour in North America and Europe will take place in fall/winter 2014. "Khaos Legions" sold around 6,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 78. The band in 2012 amicably parted ways with guitarist Christopher Amott and replaced him with American musician Nick Cordle (ARSIS). archenemywareternal
02 min read