Michael Amott Thinks Arch Enemy’s International Lineup “Is The Worst Idea Ever”
Michael Amott Thinks Arch Enemy’s International Lineup “Is The Worst Idea Ever”
Throughout the pandemic, we all got pretty good at working from home. Or, rather, most of us did. Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott recently shared his experiences with recording twelfth album Deceivers, which was recorded in both Sweden and the United States due to travel issues. According to Amott, Jeff Loomis (Arch Enemy’s second guitarist, for those who don’t know) attempted to board a plane…
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On July 29, extreme metal masters ARCH ENEMY will unleash their 11th studio album, “Deceivers”, via Century Media Records. For fans who can’t wait for the record’s release, the band is now offering a new seven-inch single, “Sunset Over The Empire”, with the title track also appearing on “Deceivers”. The official music video for “Sunset Over The Empire”, directed by Grupa13, will premiere today (Friday, May 20) at 9:00 a.m. PDT / 12:00 noon EDT.
ARCH ENEMY’s founder and chief songwriter Michael Amott comments: “Behold the ‘Sunset Over The Empire’, the fourth single from our upcoming 'Deceivers’ album! This is a faster song with some manic riffs and a relentless beat that I can envision becoming a 'hit in the pit’! Lyrically, it’s sadly one of those that seems to ring more true with each and every passing day nowadays… 'Words turned to war, brother fighting brother, another false truce, as the people die…’. The accompanying video was shot in Poland with the Grupa13 team and doesn’t follow the lyrics slavishly but has a great message and vibe in its own right. Oh, and I’m stoked that we’re releasing 'Sunset Over The Empire’ as a limited-edition physical single on 7” vinyl!“
"Sunset Over The Empire” seven-inch single is available in the following versions:
* white vinyl (limited to 1000 copies; available via CM Distro Europe) * transparent orange vinyl (limited to 500 copies; band exclusive)
“Sunset Over The Empire” track listing
01.Sunset Over The Empire 02.The Judging Eyes
In a recent interview with Tampa Bay Creative Loafing,ARCH ENEMYsingerAlissa White-Gluz stated about the band’s decision to release more singles than usual this time around.
“I think over the course of the last couple of years everyone has had to rethink how they release because of the way music is consumed now,” she said. “We put equal time into all the songs, but then, maybe only two or three of them get highlighted as singles. But that’s not to say that the rest of the songs didn’t take just as much time and energy and heart to create. We have fans who know every single song, but we wanted to give people an opportunity to discover a little bit more about our sound.”
ARCH ENEMY played the first show of “The North American Siege 2022” tour with BEHEMOTHandNAPALM DEATH on April 16 at The Marquee in Tempe, Arizona. ARCH ENEMY’s set included the three new songs the group released over the last few months: “Deceiver, Deceiver”,“House Of Mirrors”and“Handshake With Hell”.
Amott previously stated about “Deceivers”: “Having just celebrated our 25th anniversary as a group and now releasing our 11th studio album, one could easily assume that we would be cruising along and going through the motions at this point. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to ARCH ENEMY and our new album, 'Deceivers’.
"It is, without a doubt, always a challenge to raise the bar each time in both the songwriting and production side of things, and it can feel a bit daunting before we get into it. But once we do get started and fully immerse ourselves in the creative process, it’s really like there is nothing else in the world and we are very focused. And believe it or not, for the most part, we have a ton of fun making this music! Creating 'Deceivers’ was no different. Once again we shut out the outside world and went deep into the artistic zone. I believe we pulled out some really interesting musical and lyrical themes this time, a few things might even raise an eyebrow or two — while retaining all the signature elements of the band. In the end, it’s ARCH ENEMY at full speed and power.”
After“The North American Siege 2022”tour,ARCH ENEMY will appear at select summer festivals before embarking on the rescheduled “European Siege 2022” trek (with BEHEMOTH,CARCASS,UNTO OTHERS) in the fall.
On July 29th, extreme metal masters Arch Enemy will unleash their 11th studio album, Deceivers, via Century Media Records. For a preview of the record, the new single, “Sunset Over The Empire,” can be streamed worldwide now HERE. Directed by Grupa13, the video premiere for “Sunset Over The Empire” is set for 9AM PT//12PM ET//6PM CET today.
Arch Enemy’s founder and chief songwriter Michael Amott comments: “Behold the ‘Sunset Over The Empire’, the 4th single from our upcoming Deceivers album! This is a faster song with some manic riffs and a relentless beat that I can envision becoming a ‘hit in the pit’! Lyrically, it’s sadly one of those that seems to ring more true with each and every passing day nowadays…’Words turned to war, brother fighting brother, another false truce, as the people die…’. The accompanying video was shot in Poland with the Grupa13 team and doesn’t follow the lyrics slavishly but has a great message and vibe in its own right. Oh, and I’m stoked that we’re releasing ‘Sunset Over The Empire’ as a limited edition physical single on 7” vinyl!”
ARCH ENEMY Release New Single ‘Sunset Over The Empire’
ARCH ENEMY Release New Single ‘Sunset Over The Empire’
On July 29th, extreme metal masters ARCH ENEMY will unleash their 11th studio album, ‘Deceivers‘, via Century Media Records. For a preview of the record, the new single, “Sunset Over The Empire“, can be streamed worldwide now HERE. Directed by Grupa13, check out the video for “Sunset Over The Empire” at: https://youtu.be/E3mOvCMG24I or below:
Extreme metal masters ARCH ENEMY have pushed back the release date of their 11th studio album, “Deceivers”, to August 12 from the previously announced July 29.
Earlier today, ARCH ENEMY issued the following statement regarding the matter: “Dear ARCH ENEMY fans, due to unforeseen circumstances, the release of the new album ‘Deceivers’ has to be postponed two weeks. The new release date will be August 12th. This is later than expected, but we promise it will be worth the wait. We want to thank you for your great support and hope to meet as many of you as possible this summer!”
Last month, ARCH ENEMY released a new seven-inch single, “Sunset Over The Empire”, with the title track also appearing on “Deceivers”. The official music video for “Sunset Over The Empire”, directed by Grupa13, was made available the same day.
In a recent interview with Tampa Bay Creative Loafing,ARCH ENEMYsingerAlissa White-Gluz stated about the band’s decision to release more singles than usual this time around.
“I think over the course of the last couple of years everyone has had to rethink how they release because of the way music is consumed now,” she said. “We put equal time into all the songs, but then, maybe only two or three of them get highlighted as singles. But that’s not to say that the rest of the songs didn’t take just as much time and energy and heart to create. We have fans who know every single song, but we wanted to give people an opportunity to discover a little bit more about our sound.”
ARCH ENEMY played the first show of “The North American Siege 2022” tour with BEHEMOTHandNAPALM DEATH on April 16 at The Marquee in Tempe, Arizona. ARCH ENEMY’s set included the first three new songs the group released over the last few months: “Deceiver, Deceiver”,“House Of Mirrors”and“Handshake With Hell”.
ARCH ENEMYguitaristMichael Amott previously stated about “Deceivers”: “Having just celebrated our 25th anniversary as a group and now releasing our 11th studio album, one could easily assume that we would be cruising along and going through the motions at this point. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to ARCH ENEMY and our new album, 'Deceivers’.
"It is, without a doubt, always a challenge to raise the bar each time in both the songwriting and production side of things, and it can feel a bit daunting before we get into it. But once we do get started and fully immerse ourselves in the creative process, it’s really like there is nothing else in the world and we are very focused. And believe it or not, for the most part, we have a ton of fun making this music! Creating 'Deceivers’ was no different. Once again we shut out the outside world and went deep into the artistic zone. I believe we pulled out some really interesting musical and lyrical themes this time, a few things might even raise an eyebrow or two — while retaining all the signature elements of the band. In the end, it’s ARCH ENEMY at full speed and power.”
ARCH ENEMY will appear at select summer festivals before embarking on the rescheduled “European Siege 2022” trek (with BEHEMOTH,CARCASS,UNTO OTHERS) in the fall.
ARCH ENEMY SET NEW RELEASE DATE FOR UPCOMING NEW ALBUM ‘DECEIVERS’
ARCH ENEMY SET NEW RELEASE DATE FOR UPCOMING NEW ALBUM ‘DECEIVERS’
Today ARCH ENEMY announce that due to unforeseen circumstances, the release date for their huge upcoming new album ‘Deceivers‘ have been moved to August 12th 2022. The band comments below:
“Dear Arch Enemy fans,Due to unforeseen circumstances, the release of the new album ‘Deceivers‘ has to be postponed two weeks.The new release date will be August 12th. This is later than expected, but we…
Swedish metal icons Arch Enemy are back with their eleventh studio album Deceivers set to release July 29 on Century Media Records. The process was a bit different than usual and when trying to get to Europe to record, guitarist Jeff Loomis faced some trouble.
As the latest guest on Full Metal Jackie’s weekend radio program, guitarist Michael Amott discussed the work that went into creating the new album, as well as the troubles that the band endured while trying to create during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There were obviously those couple of years there during the pandemic it certainly proved the point that it is the worst idea ever to have an international lineup with everybody living in different corners of the world,” said Amott. “So that made a normal way of working almost impossible, but we actually got it done and Alissa [White-Gluz] could come to Europe and do her vocals there, but it was just a lot more complicated and expensive that we were quarantining. We were doing all these things, taking all these measures and it was just more complicated and a lot more paperwork involved and stuff like that, but we got it done.”
There are expectations for bands with established history, especially when there’s a sizable catalog. What was unnerving, maybe even intimidating when you began the creative process for Deceivers?
I never really approach it like that — I just have another mindset. In the phase of writing new music, creating the demos and getting everything together, it’s a really fun and exciting time because at that point we haven’t done it for a couple of years so we’re just excited to do it.
There’s no pressure or anxiety that comes into it. At the later stage you start thinking, “Does this live up to the expectations?” But by that time it’s already done. You’ve just got to express and be creative and have a good time doing what you love. If you think too much, it’s not going to be good.
Like almost every other band, the pandemic made remote working a necessity. How did that disconnect inadvertently affect the character of the album for the better?
It certainly proved the point that it is the worst idea ever to have an international lineup with everybody living in different corners of the world. That made a normal way of working almost impossible, but we actually got it done and Alissa [White-Gluz] came to Europe to do her vocals there, but it was just a lot more complicated and expensive.
We were quarantining. We were taking all these measures and it was just more complicated and a lot more paperwork and stuff like that, but we got it done. She was over in Europe, did her vocals there with our producer and the the only member who didn’t make it over was [guitarist] Jeff Loomis.
He was coming over, we had everything booked and he tried to board a flight, but it was denied. That was a bit of a nightmare and a headache. We ended up having him do his solos in the studio in Seattle and we were FaceTiming and stuff like that.
It was not without its challenges, but it was the stuff everybody lived through as a band during those years while trying to make a record. I don’t like to really complain about the pandemic because I think a lot of people had it a lot worse than I did or we did.
When it comes to band members, geography is no longer a contributing factor. How has a multinational perspective made Arch Enemy a better band?
That’s something I haven’t really thought about. There’s different perspectives. At the core of Arch Enemy, you have myself, Daniel (Erlandsson) on drums, Charlie (D'Angelo) on bass who have been with the band for a very, very long time.
Then, with the additions of Alissa and Jeff, who are our North Americans, they bring another approach and other few fresh ideas. It’s always fun. We have a great time and we share a common sense of humor and we just have a great time doing this. There are more things that unite us than separate us.
In the timeline of metal, Arch Enemy are pivotal to the evolution of the genre. What’s your duty in terms of continuing the pedigree of older artists while being role models for up and coming bands?
You’re putting a lot of pressure on the me! [laughs]
I do feel a responsibility. I’m a big fan of metal music and of heavy music. It’s been my whole life since I was a kid and I’ve been playing in bands since I was 14 years old. I’ve been touring since I was 20 years old and I’ve been putting out records since I was around that age.
I love hearing new bands and how they put a twist on it. I get inspired by that sometimes, but we have an established sound and style that is Arch Enemy.
After a few albums, we found our way of doing things and our way of expressing ourselves. We built upon that. We take in new influences or our old stuff that we did rediscover and put that into our sound.
It’s just a journey that we’re on — creating art, creating music, lyrics, putting it all together. There is a responsibility, but it’s not like I’m deadly serious about it. The fact that we are doing it and have been a band for 25-plus years and putting out records and each one seems to get more successful than the last one… that’s a nice position to be in. I think we’re doing something right.
The last two years will make even the most seasoned musicians second guess themselves. Why did such a prolonged break make you apprehensive about being back onstage?
It was a very unusual break for a heavy touring act such as Arch Enemy. We’re always out there doing something somewhere in some corner of the world, but this was definitely a big change of pace for us.
That first year was okay because 2020 was a planned year off for Arch Enemy. The idea was to go away and take some time off, write and maybe start recording a new album. By 2021, things were getting a little bit little bit boring and we’re sort of crawling on the walls, but we’ve been doing this for a long time.
I’ve certainly been doing this for a long time, so it felt like something was taken away from the lifestyle that I’ve grown up in and am very accustomed to.
It wasn’t all bad. There were also some positive things. There was a lot of time to work and on musical ideas and develop other things. At the end of the day, writing and recording is one thing and playing live shows is the other — it’s the yin to the yang in metal. You really need that to feed the other side of you, so we were all a little bit out of balance.
