Arch Enemy
Will to Power
Century Media Records
2017
One has to give it to Arch Enemy for sticking through thick and thin and actually becoming successful, by inventing the death metal with “Chick singer” genre and popularizing it through shitty magazines.
The band was a fairly valid death metal one with Liiva on vocals and became pretty inconsistent when Gossow entered its ranks, but also successful at the same time spearheaded by albums like her debut “Wages of Sin” and later “Rise of the Tyrant” the only two “decent” albums with her and obviously by the overexposure of the mainly male pubescent demographic to skimpy clad posters featuring over her and inclusions in “the chicks of metal articles”… in marieclare… sorry?! Decibel? Probably…
Substituting her with someone who can actually sing (Alissa-White-Gluz) and doesn’t rely on pedals and actually getting Jeff Loomis even as a decorative element, has bolstered the band making their last albums “listenable” by me. “War Eternal” was pretty good, after the extremely weak “Khaos Legions” and “Will to Power” actually further homogenizes the sound into a faceless, plastic sounding, yet high octane, mix of death and power metal, with quite impressive, aggressive yet melodic vocals.
It’s too bad they keep Gluz singing in this one-dimensional way, when she’s a proven vocalist in more melodic styles as well; she does break from “character” singing clean in “Reason to Believe” just for a brief moment… and the thing is meant to be a ballad, obviously not being one – since she growls on the rest of it, which is sad. The two singles, “The World is Yours” and “The Eagle Flies Alone”, are the better cuts, while “The Race” and “Murder Scene” are trying to be aggressive and fast. The last few songs the quirky “Dream of Retribution”, the more extreme “My Shadow and I” and the pretty epic and melodic “A Fight I Must Win”, allow for some guitar interplay and experiment largely with the form, trying potentially to find where to go with the band’s sound next…
If you liked “War Eternal”, you won’t be disappointed by this, but more aggression seeking fans of the band’s chaotic middle era are likely to be turned off. Since I liked the aforementioned “War Eternal”, I am looking for more releases of Arch Enemy with the Blue Power Ranger singing for them! Go, Go, Go!
The band was a fairly valid death metal one with Liiva on vocals and became pretty inconsistent when Gossow entered its ranks, but also successful at the same time spearheaded by albums like her debut “Wages of Sin” and later “Rise of the Tyrant” the only two “decent” albums with her and obviously by the overexposure of the mainly male pubescent demographic to skimpy clad posters featuring over her and inclusions in “the chicks of metal articles”… in marieclare… sorry?! Decibel? Probably…
Substituting her with someone who can actually sing (Alissa-White-Gluz) and doesn’t rely on pedals and actually getting Jeff Loomis even as a decorative element, has bolstered the band making their last albums “listenable” by me. “War Eternal” was pretty good, after the extremely weak “Khaos Legions” and “Will to Power” actually further homogenizes the sound into a faceless, plastic sounding, yet high octane, mix of death and power metal, with quite impressive, aggressive yet melodic vocals.
It’s too bad they keep Gluz singing in this one-dimensional way, when she’s a proven vocalist in more melodic styles as well; she does break from “character” singing clean in “Reason to Believe” just for a brief moment… and the thing is meant to be a ballad, obviously not being one – since she growls on the rest of it, which is sad. The two singles, “The World is Yours” and “The Eagle Flies Alone”, are the better cuts, while “The Race” and “Murder Scene” are trying to be aggressive and fast. The last few songs the quirky “Dream of Retribution”, the more extreme “My Shadow and I” and the pretty epic and melodic “A Fight I Must Win”, allow for some guitar interplay and experiment largely with the form, trying potentially to find where to go with the band’s sound next…
If you liked “War Eternal”, you won’t be disappointed by this, but more aggression seeking fans of the band’s chaotic middle era are likely to be turned off. Since I liked the aforementioned “War Eternal”, I am looking for more releases of Arch Enemy with the Blue Power Ranger singing for them! Go, Go, Go!