Arch Enemy - Anthems of Rebellion tour
Malmö, Sweden
October 22nd, 2003
Review, Interview, and Pictures By Anders Sandvall
Finally...Arch Enemy landed in Malmö! They have never played in the southern part of
Sweden, as far as I know. Their tour as support with label mates Nevermore
has just begun in Scandinavia. The tour started out in Gothenburg, Sweden then came Oslo,
Norway and Stockholm, Sweden and then it was time for Malmö. Arch Enemy has the very
fresh masterpiece ANTHEMS OF REBELLION which they are currently supporting. They
began touring earlier this year on different festivals around Europe, and they were also
support to the metal icons Iron Maiden in Scandinavia. The fans in the U.S. have already
taken part of the new album.
During the day I met up with both bands and I got to talk with all of the band members
except for the somewhat tired Angela. I also got a short
interview with Chris in Arch Enemy before the show (which you can read
below in this gig review).
Arch Enemy went on stage on time and played for about 50 minutes. They started off the
show with one of the brand new songs called “SILENT WARS”. The audience was a
bit laid back. They mostly stood there and didn’t support the band at all, but that
didn’t seem to concern the band too much. It was almost sold out this Monday evening.
My expectations on how Arch Enemy was able to recreate the studio sound and if Angela was
able to sound like she does on the albums were high. And I was not disappointed at all.
They managed to recreate the feelings of the albums death/thrash music live, even though I
think that they sounded more melodic live compared to the records. Angela sounds just as
angry live as on record. She doesn’t have a big vocal range but her voice fits the
music, and she also works really hard to get the audience going. Personally, I think that
Angela is just as good of a singer in this genre as any guy. The Amott brothers impress a
great deal on both solo/rhythm guitar. The band didn’t move around too much on stage
because Nevermore had too many things up there, but it was a lot of headbanging from
Sharlee and Angela. The Amott brothers stood on each side and didn’t move at all. It
also was too bad with lights on the band so the Amott brothers stood mostly in the dark,
the only one who had light on her was Angela.
Most of the short set list was concentrated on the new songs. Some of the songs they
played were “WE WILL RISE” and “DEAD EYES SEE NO FUTURE.” Some older
songs they did were “THE IMMORTAL”, “HEART OF DARKNESS”,
“RAVENOUS” and “DIVA SATANICA.” There wasn’t too much talking
between the songs - Angela just introduced the titles and then it was full speed ahead. As
a bonus this evening, the old singer Johan Liiva came up on stage and did a song with the
band. The song was a duet between the two singers and if I’m not completely wrong I
think it was “BURY ME AN ANGEL”.
Arch Enemy Are:
Sharlee D’Angelo - bass
Angela Gossow - lead vocals
Michael Amott - lead guitar
Daniel Erlandsson - drums
Christopher Amott - lead guitar
Arch Enemy was just as good live as they are on record. I hope that they will come back
to Malmö again, but as a headline act so they have more time to play, because this time
it was too short. This was their last gig in Scandinavia and then it is time for Germany
and the rest of Europe to take part in this massive tour package. After the gigs in Europe,
it’s time for Arch Enemy to hit the States with Slayer. I talked to Chris after the
show and he wasn’t happy at all with the gig. He thought that the crowd was too
tame
when they played, but when Nevermore got on stage they shaped up.
Thanks to Cindy Century media Sweden for the help at the show.
Set list:
Silent wars
The immortal
Heart of darkness
We will rise
Diva satanica
Bury me an angel
Dead eyes
Bridge of destiny
Dead bury their Dead
Ravenous
Here is a short interview with Chris from Arch
Enemy with some questions about what’s
going to happen when the new record is out.
Did you think that “Wages of Sin” was going to be such a success?
You have always hopes that an album should do well, and I also think that we have done
a real worked through album.
What do you think of it today? Which albums are you most satisfied with?
The new album is more mature than the last one, and we wrote most of it out on tour. We
are trying to create an atmosphere on “Anthems of Rebellion” and I think we have
done a good job. I’m more satisfied with this album than the previous one.
How long did it take to record the new album?
About one month total.
You have done a great amount of touring on the last album. How long was the tour?
It was about four months I think, I’m not sure. If you want the exact number you
can go to our website and look.
How have you gotten the time to write new material and record the new album when you
always were out on tour?
We started to write new songs and record the album pretty early. Mike and I did a lot
of jamming during the last tour, and the result of that were backbones to new songs.
Everyone in the band has been involved in the process. We are a great line-up today.
Why did you choose to put some ordinary vocals against Angela’s angry voice on
the new album?
It was Mike’s idea. We want to have a new challenge on every new record,
that’s why we did it.
Why have you put two instrumental tracks on the album?
It’s nice to have them on because it adds some dynamics to the music, both on
record and live.
How have the fans greeted Angela?
Very well. It works really great to have Angela in the band.
Did you try any new songs on the fans when you did festival gigs this summer, and
when you were supporting Iron Maiden?
We tried one new song called, “We Will Rise” which the fans embraced with
open arms.
How did the U.S. gigs go?
It went very well. We were out on tour with Evergrey and Hatebreed, and in Chicago we
did our best gig. The American crowds are a real good crowd to play for.
Your tour with Nevermore has just started. How did the first gigs in Scandinavia go?
Stockholm was the best gig so far, but Gothenburg weren’t too bad either. The gig
in Oslo sucked.
How long are you going to tour for this album?
For about 10 weeks, then we have some time off before it’s time to take on Asia
and probably the U.S. once again. We are probably going to headline in Europe next year.
Is there anything you would like to say to the readers of metal-rules.com?
Thanks for all the support. Thanks to all the ones who have bought our albums and who
came to our shows. I’ll really hope that you are going to like the new album.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
No problems Anders.
Band Website: www.archenemy.net
Label Website: www.centurymedia.com