Music / Arch Enemy (Band)

The current lineup. L-R: Jeff, Daniel, Alissa, Michael, Sharlee

Tear down the walls,
Wake up the world,
Ignorance is not bliss,
So fed up with second best,
Our time is here and now.

"We Will Rise"

Arch Enemy are a Swedish band whose primary genre is melodic death metal. Originally founded in 1996 as a supergroup by guitarist Michael Amott and vocalist Johan Liiva, the band released three albums; Black Earth, Stigmata and Burning Bridges.

In 2000, Liiva was asked to leave the band. His replacement turned out to be Angela Gossow, a German singer with a major case of Singing Voice Dissonance. Her first album with the band, 2001's Wages of Sin, was the band's breakthrough album. Chris Amott left again in 2012 and was replaced by Nick Cordle; additionally, in March 2014, Angela Gossow announced her departure and welcomed Alissa White-Gluz of The Agonist as her replacement. Around the end of 2014, Nick Cordle was fired for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Jeff Loomis. In late 2023 Loomis parted ways with Arch Enemy and was replaced by Joey Concepcion.

Discography and videography

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)
• The Root of All Evil (2009)
• Khaos Legions (2011)
• War Eternal (2014)
• Will to Power (2017)
• Deceivers (2022)

Music Videos:

• Bury Me an Angel (1996)
• The Immortal (1999)
• Ravenous (2002)
• We Will Rise (2003)
• Dead Eyes See No Future (2003)
• Nemesis (2005)
• My Apocalypse (2005)
• Revolution Begins (2007)
• I Will Live Again (2007)
• Beast of Man (2008)
• Dark Insanity (2009)
• Yesterday is Dead and Gone (2011)
• Bloodstained Cross (2011)
• Under Black Flags We March (2012)
• Cruelty Without Beauty (2012)
• War Eternal (2014)
• You Will Know My Name (2014)
• No More Regrets (2014)
• Stolen Life (2015)

Members

Current Lineup:

• Michael Amott − rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1996-present), keyboards (2005, 2007), bass (1996)
• Daniel Erlandsson − drums (1996, 1998-present)
• Sharlee D'Angelo − bass, backing vocals (1999-present)
• Alissa White-Gluz: lead vocals (2014-present)
• Joey Concepcion - lead guitar (2023-present)

Former band members:

• Peter Wildoer − drums (1997)
• Martin Bengtsson − bass (1997−1998)
• Johan Liiva − lead vocals (1996-2000), bass (1996)
• Fredrik Åkesson − lead guitar, backing vocals (2005-2007)
• Christopher Amott − lead guitar, backing vocals (1996-2005, 2007-2012, 2014 {live only})
• Angela Gossow − lead vocals (2000-2014)
• Nick Cordle − lead guitar, backing vocals (2012-2014)
• Jeff Loomis: lead guitar, backing vocals (2014-2023)

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Under black flags we trope!

• Album Intro Track: A staple since Anthems of Rebellion.
• Anarchy Is Khaos: See Khaos Is Evil. Khaos is not bad, so anarchy isn't either. Also see the album Khaos Legions. (We didn't spell Chaos wrong).
• Animal Testing: What "Cruelty Without Beauty" and "Through the Eyes of a Raven" are about.
• Band of Relatives: Subverted twice with Michael's brother, Christopher.
• Belief Makes You Stupid: The idea of "Bloodstained Cross" from Khaos Legions.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Seriously, Angela and Alissa can beat you up.
• Cool People Rebel Against Authority: The message of most of their rebellion songs.
• Cool Shades: Johan is often seen wearing sunglasses in promo pics and public appearances, even following his departure.
• Cover Version: In 2019 the band decided to compile various covers they've done over the years (of Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, among others) and release the compilation Covered in Blood.
• Crapsack World: "City of the Dead" and "Night Falls Fast" have shades of this. "The Day You Died", too.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Arch Enemy's color scheme is mostly black, perhaps due to its association with anarchism. (Alissa tends to wear white onstage though.)
• Dark Messiah: Jesus in "Ravenous". More carnivorous than dark though.
• Death Metal: Melodic Death Metal to be more exact.
• Democracy Is Bad: One of their main messages. Anarchy is better than democracy.
• Designated Bullet: "Avalanche" is for The Agonist.
• Despair Event Horizon: "My Apocalypse", "Skeleton Dance", and "The Day You Died".
• Devil in Disguise: Jesus in "Bloodstained Cross".
• The Dog Bites Back: What most of their songs apply.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The Johan Liiva albums are rawer and more death metal leaning than anything that came afterwards, making them stick out a bit.
• Epic Rocking: Quite a few.
  • "Dark of the Sun" and "Bridge of Destiny" off "Stigmata" are around the 7 minute area.
  • "Fields of Desolation '99" is 6 minutes long, off of Wages of Sin.
  • From Doomsday Machine, "Mechanic God Creation", also 6 minutes long.
  • As is "Vultures" from Rise of the Tyrants.
  • "Time Is Black" lasts over 5 minutes. "A Fight I Must Win" and "Dreams of Retribution", over 6 and a half.
• Final Solution: After attacking the concept with The Agonist in "Born Dead Buried Alive", Alissa touches upon this trope again in "First Day in Hell" based on her grandparents' experiences of The Holocaust.
• Genki Girl: Angela was pretty hyper on stage and even in interviews.
• Harsh Vocals: Johan, Angela and Alissa utilized this while singing. The band is probably a Trope Codifier for melodic death metal with a female growler.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: Their logo is striking and often front and center, but occaisonally they'll do a better job of hiding it, like on the cover of ''War Eternal''◊ or ''Dead Eyes See No Future''◊.
• I Am the Band: Michael Amott is the main songwriter and only constant member.
• Instrumentals: Most albums have at least one instrumental. The instrumentals are usually short interludes, though some fuller instrumentals exist as well, most notably "Hybrids of Steel" from Doomsday Machine.
• Khaos Is Evil: Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha, no.
• La Résistance: The central theme of their lyrics post-Wages of Sin.
• Male Band, Female Singer: First with Angela and later with Alissa.
• Metal Scream: They are a Death Metal band, so this is gonna happen.
• Ms. Fanservice: It was usually Subverted with Angela as she likes to dress in pants and long-sleeve shirts, but every so often she would wear something revealing. Despite her choice of clothes, though, some people still find her very attractive.
• Multinational Team: Michael, Sharlee and Daniel from Sweden, Alissa from Canada and Joey from USA.
• My Death Is Just the Beginning: "I Will Live Again".
• Nightmare Face: The Face on the Cover of Stigmata.
  • The cover for Anthems of Rebellion has one amidst a sea of faceless mannequins.
• Precision F-Strike: THIS IS FUCKING WAAAAAAAAAR!!!
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Quite a few.
  • Notably "Avalanche" to The Agonist. This may or may not be justified depending on whose side you believe.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized: On their more sinister tracks. Much of the Khaos Legions album deals with this in some way.
• Screw Destiny: "Thorns in My Flesh".
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: What most of their songs on rebellion are about.
• Sibling Team: The Amott bros before Chris left.
• Singing Voice Dissonance: You can be forgiven for thinking Angela's singing voice is male in nature. Her speaking, although deep, is not male in any form.
  • Also applies to Alissa, thought it is a tad more obvious this time around.
• Sliding Scale of Libertarianism and Authoritarianism: Angela is more of a libertarian.
• Start My Own: Johan founded Hearse a year after he left, and also became the singer for Nonexist. Meanwhile, Michael Amott founded Arch Enemy a year after leaving Carcass and also founded Spiritual Beggars as a side project.
• Surprisingly Gentle Song: Subverted by "Reason to Believe", which starts off with Alissa singing cleanly but then escalating back to their usual heavy sound.
• Symphonic Metal: "Time Is Black", natch.
  • AE's material in general has incorporated orchestral elements since Alissa came to the band.
• Technical Pacifist: While everyone in Arch Enemy is against violence, they can still beat your ass.
• This Means War!: What most of the subjects on War Eternal are about.
• Title Drop:
  • "Tear Down the Walls" not only opens Anthems of Rebellion but also "We Will Rise".
  • "Tempore Nihil Sanat"^note "Time Heals Nothing" is mentioned in English in "Never Forgive, Never Forget".
  • "Set Flame to the Night" has one in "The World Is Yours".
• Tranquil Fury: Alissa seems to be good at this. Notable to contrast it with her Agonist anger, which is less tranquil and even has a sardonic streak.
• Vocal Evolution: Angela used to scream her throat off in her earlier work with AE. After some lessons with screaming zen master Melissa Cross, she refined her Metal Scream into a deep roar coming up from the lungs. Alissa, having found her signature growl back in The Agonist, seems to follow suit, though she is significantly less guttural than she was in The Agonist and almost exclusively sticks to her lower-mid range.
• White-and-Grey Morality: Interestingly for a Melodic Death Metal band, the conflict between KHAOS and the government CAN be this Trope, as KHAOS is portrayed as heroic, while the government's morality depends on the listener's view.
• Xtreme Kool Letterz: Khaos with a K, the ancient spelling. Sadly reverted to its modern form come "Cult of Chaos".
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: A surprising amount of their songs are this, typically to inspire listeners to not back down to authority.

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