Interview by Brian McLean
ARCH ENEMY - Waging A Metal Rebellion
Ten weeks is a long time to be away from family and friends, especially if you’re from Sweden and your destination is another European country or even North America. But that’s just normal if you’re a member of Arch Enemy, last year’s surprise metal band that came out swinging with the release of Wages of Sin and backed up every lick.
Just ask founder and guitarist Michael Amott.
Amott is wrapping up the loose ends before beginning the tour that will support the latest Arch Enemy release, Anthems of Rebellion.
Some critics hailed last year’s Wages of Sin release as the metal album of the year but it all depended what publication you were reading.
Either way, Amott said for the first time in Arch Enemy’s career there was some anticipation for the Anthems of Rebellion album. They just wanted to make another great record and didn’t want to disappoint the fan base.
“We really built something with the Wages of Sin album. Our fan base expanded, we did a lot of touring, and made a lot of new friends and fans. When all the touring was done, we just jumped back into the little rehearsal studio and started jamming. We spent a lot of time and hard work on it but it flowed naturally. There wasn’t any pressure from anyone else but ourselves.”
With the early showing on the charts, Arch Enemy definitely didn’t disappoint the fan base. From the release date, Anthems of Rebellion charted with impressive numbers. It entered Billboard’s Heatseekers Chart at number 26 as well as other respectable positions in Germany, Sweden, Greece, the Netherlands, and Finland.
And readers of the publication Metal Maniacs voted Anthems of Rebellion as Best Album. The numbers for album sales are sure to grow.
Amott and company didn’t anticipate the chart positions and the new army of Arch Enemy fans. It was something new.
“It’s the first time we’ve had those chart positions. I guess it shows that the people were ready for this album. They went out and bought it straight out of the box because they were into the band and knew the band. Before with the older albums, we didn’t have that big of a core fan base that had the buying power.”
Amott says things are really exciting at their label, Century Media Records. “It’s exciting for us to know people out there like us. It keeps everyone working harder.”
Upon the release of Anthems of Rebellion, Arch Enemy was already in the States for a short 12 city mini tour that concluded on September 8, 2003. The tour included ten dates in America and two in Canada.
The band was on the road with fellow countrymen Evergrey as well as other acts. The tour was considered a warm up for things to come but it also gave Arch Enemy a chance to try out the new material live.
“We just wanted to be in America because we saw signs the album would do well initially. Our management booked a tour in America right on top of the album release and we thought it would have the most effect in America to do that.”
He added, “Everyone says if you want to be anywhere right when the album comes out, you want to be in The States because that is where it will actually make a difference. So we did.”
Upon release of Anthems of Rebellion, Arch Enemy toured Europe with label mates Nevermore. The tour ran through early October where it concluded in Pratteln, Switzerland. Three days later with just enough time to get rid of jetlag, Arch Enemy embarked on their most important American career endeavor to date. Arch Enemy supported Slayer as the third band on the Jagermeister Fall Music Tour.
As a third band, there would not be much of a show element for Arch Enemy. There were no were no backdrops or a light show because it was Slayer’s show. The Arch Enemy set was based around the songs, a high energy set consisting of material mainly from Anthems of Rebellion and Wages of Sin with the possibility of a surprise or two.
In addition to the tour line up, there was fourth band that preceded Arch Enemy. Sometimes it was Skinlab and other times it was be Otep. Thus Arch Enemy was the second band out with roughly a 35 minute set to impress.
Amott had a simple philosophy in regards to their time on Slayer’s stage. Regardless of how much time Arch Enemy had, they felt that it was a good opportunity to establish new friendships and overall it would be a good experience for the band.
But the touring didn’t stop there. Upon the conclusion of the dates, Arch Enemy traveled back home to Sweden for what Amott called a brief reprisal in December and then over to the UK and Scotland area for four headlining shows in mid December but unfortunately several of those shows had to be canceled but were rescheduled.
Like most, Arch Enemy took a break for the holiday season, New Year and most of January as well. According to Amott, if management had their way Arch Enemy would be on the road at all times.
But Arch Enemy was blessed with some post holiday cheer when they were teamed as support for Iron Maiden on several New York dates at the Hammerstein Ballroom as well as two dates in Los Angeles.
Immediately following the West coast shows, Arch Enemy flew to Japan for two huge arena shows in Tokyo and Osaka an area where Arch Enemy has earned a lot of respect. The band has become the biggest and most successful extreme metal band ever in Japan. Walking away with five awards from Terrorizer magazine last year helped to solidify them as the giant metal monster in Japan.
The awards ranged from Best Band, Best Album for Wages of Sin, Best Singer, Best Drummer and the Shining Star Award, which is given to a person that has made big impact on the metal scene. That person would be the Arch Enemy vocalist, Angela Gossow.
“We can’t top that. It was pretty crazy having Angela on the cover of the magazine with all the awards and everything. It was really neat and actually came right on top when we were actually there on tour. A triumphant moment in Arch Enemy’s little history.”
Arch Enemy will return to Japan in June for four headlining dates following a package tour that begins in April and will be called The Weapons of Mass Destruction Tour with Machine Head and God Forbid. Arch Enemy will be billed as the second act.
Brothers not Enemies
Arch Enemy plays a tight style of metal and the musicians compliment each other whether on disc or live. That compliment can be easily seen or heard between Amott and the other guitarist, brother Christopher Amott.
Although Michael has been playing guitar several years longer that Christopher, the younger Amott poses skill and technique that enables the two brothers to feed off of each other. It’s a brotherly thing.
One would think having an older brother in the touring band Carcass in the early 90’s would give Christopher an advantage when it came to learning the guitar but that’s not so.
Amott explains how his brother came about in guitar playing.
“I gave him his first guitar; it was one I had been using in Carcass. I stopped using it so I gave it to him because it’s nice to have a quality guitar to get started on. I showed him the basics but I really didn’t live close to him at the time. He was into the Black album by Metallica, Iron Maiden as well as the Carcass stuff I would bring home. He just practiced all the time. He was more of a bedroom type of guitar player, just sitting in his room all day playing along with all these records.
The next time when I visited him six months later he was shredding to Uli Jon Roth albums and stuff. I don’t know what the hell happened. He was getting so good. I thought it was sort of a waste. I always thought how I could help him get out of the bedroom and do something. He was growing his hair long so I thought maybe I could put him into a band situation and he could do something.”
Amott says it took another few years before the two starting playing together seriously. Amott and his brother threw around some ideas and when the concept of Arch Enemy came up the older Amott knew right away that his younger brother should do leads on the first album.
“He came in and did that. He didn’t do any rhythm guitar for that record and not much writing. He just came in and did his leads. It worked out great. Then when we started doing some shows. He was doing his first shows with Arch Enemy. It was intense for him I guess, he was 18 or 19 when we went to Japan for the first time. He got a guitar endorsement the first night, after his first sound check ever. All those hours of practicing paid off.”
The future for Arch Enemy looks stellar and the journey in support of Anthems of Rebellion is only just beginning. For the next year and possibly beyond, all involved with Arch Enemy will have a full plate in front of them.
The members of Arch Enemy are perfectionists and don’t want to disappoint. Arch Enemy will be arriving soon in their return to American soil. Metal fans that are unaware of “this little band from Sweden,” as Amott refers to Arch Enemy need to take notice.
Rise and acknowledge the Anthems of Rebellion.