Back in 2014, the world of metal underwent a bit of an unexpected change…Swedish melodic death metal troop ARCH ENEMY had made a name for themselves not only with their quality, technical playing but also because of Angela Gossow…the German vocalist wasn’t like most female rock and metal singers…with the likes of Tarja Turunen and Sharon Den Adel opting for a more operatic, theatrical style, Gossow could tear it up with the very best of them, with her distinctively demonic drawl (Honestly the majority who listened to Arch Enemy without having any prior knowledge assumed she was a bloke given her set of pipes) however…in March of 2014, she stepped-down from her position as vocalist to work behind the scenes as the bands manager…who the hell was going to replace her? Cue Alissa White-Gluz…formerly of THE AGONIST, the young Canadian had had some daunting shoes to fill; would the bands trademark sound and dynamic be lost now with the new vocalist? Would it fuck…the album “War Eternal” proved she could more than handle herself and the band’s sound…so in 2017, we find them releasing their much anticipated follow up, “Will To Power”…will it be worth the wait? Let’s find out…
The album gets underway with “Set Flame To The Night” and essentially it’s just an intro track here…at little over a minute, we’re given some very smooth, melodic guitar and it’s almost enticing…with the police sirens and radio coms providing background noise, the whole thing has a feel of drama and suspense…before we’re pummelled by “The Race” and here we get our first taste of Alissa’s visceral growl…all fired up, she roars her way through a very poignant track, hitting home a very topical issue surrounding equal rights, privileges…the mistreatment of minorities, cultural segregation from the people who are meant to be leading us in office…it’s a powerful opener…”Blood In The Water” follows on and here we have classic Arch Enemy…Michael Amott shreds his way through some classic melodic metal riffs, playing with a passion that you can not only hear but feel, distinctive in style, several notes here take you back to their earlier work, showing their transition has been more than smooth…
It isn’t a 100% brutal metal onslaught however, no not at all, as the band do dabble here and there…for example “The Eagle Flies Alone” closes with some delicate piano, adding a feeling of sadness to the otherwise heavy track, whereas “A Fight I Must Win” includes subtle string sections for a similar effect…adding an extra sense of depth and class to proceedings too. That isn’t all though…”Reason To Believe” features clean vocals for the first time in the bands history and it has to be said, Alissa has a wonderfully smooth singing voice, it’s a shame Arch Enemy don’t utilise more of it, It opens up so many more avenues musically and provides a real album highlight, before we close things on a cover; “City Baby Attacked By Rats” by British punk rockers GBH…the shift in style musically is unexpected but they pull off hardcore post-punk very well…the 1982 chart success given a new lease of life here and it’s a pleasant addition. If anything, this album proves to be a frustration as too much of a tease, they’ve shown they can incorporate more melodic, softer qualities into their sound allowing for a more diverse listen, I mean Alissa can clearly sing, and I think going forward they should explore these avenues more instead of the rinse/repeat heavy hitters…like Australian comedian Steve Hughes says…you can listen to metal all day, but you need a little bit of ENYA to relax in the afternoon. [6]
The album gets underway with “Set Flame To The Night” and essentially it’s just an intro track here…at little over a minute, we’re given some very smooth, melodic guitar and it’s almost enticing…with the police sirens and radio coms providing background noise, the whole thing has a feel of drama and suspense…before we’re pummelled by “The Race” and here we get our first taste of Alissa’s visceral growl…all fired up, she roars her way through a very poignant track, hitting home a very topical issue surrounding equal rights, privileges…the mistreatment of minorities, cultural segregation from the people who are meant to be leading us in office…it’s a powerful opener…”Blood In The Water” follows on and here we have classic Arch Enemy…Michael Amott shreds his way through some classic melodic metal riffs, playing with a passion that you can not only hear but feel, distinctive in style, several notes here take you back to their earlier work, showing their transition has been more than smooth…
It isn’t a 100% brutal metal onslaught however, no not at all, as the band do dabble here and there…for example “The Eagle Flies Alone” closes with some delicate piano, adding a feeling of sadness to the otherwise heavy track, whereas “A Fight I Must Win” includes subtle string sections for a similar effect…adding an extra sense of depth and class to proceedings too. That isn’t all though…”Reason To Believe” features clean vocals for the first time in the bands history and it has to be said, Alissa has a wonderfully smooth singing voice, it’s a shame Arch Enemy don’t utilise more of it, It opens up so many more avenues musically and provides a real album highlight, before we close things on a cover; “City Baby Attacked By Rats” by British punk rockers GBH…the shift in style musically is unexpected but they pull off hardcore post-punk very well…the 1982 chart success given a new lease of life here and it’s a pleasant addition. If anything, this album proves to be a frustration as too much of a tease, they’ve shown they can incorporate more melodic, softer qualities into their sound allowing for a more diverse listen, I mean Alissa can clearly sing, and I think going forward they should explore these avenues more instead of the rinse/repeat heavy hitters…like Australian comedian Steve Hughes says…you can listen to metal all day, but you need a little bit of ENYA to relax in the afternoon. [6]
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