Arch Enemy “Blood Dynasty”
Michael Amott and his colleagues in Arch Enemy are not playing it safe with the new album. They take it to another level and throw in some twists along the way.
Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy celebrates turning 30 this year. “Blood Dynasty” is the band’s twelfth studio album and the follow-up to 2022’s “Deceivers”. It is a bold step forward for the band. Sure, there are trademark Arch Enemy melodic death metal tunes such as “Dream Stealer”, “Paper Tiger”, “Illuminate the Path” (with some nice clean vocals thrown into the mix), “Blood Dynasty” and “A Million Suns” which combine catchy melodies with excellent guitar work, thunderous drums and Alissa’s powerful vocals. The music is fierce and overflowing with energy.
The band also shows us different sides to their musicality on this album. “Don’t Look Down” is ferocious heavy metal with attitude. “March of the Miscreants” is excellent brutality where the guitars mostly take a back seat and let the vocals and drums shine. It is the album’s best track. The fantastic song “Vivre Libre” (a cover of a song by the French band Blaspheme) sounds very different from what we are used to hearing from Arch Enemy. While playing the album in the background at Roppongi Rocks HQ, I wondered what this was before I realised I was still listening to Arch Enemy’s forthcoming album. It is a great version of a terrific French song. It is a surprising but very welcome move by the band. Will I be yelled at if I call it “Arch Enemy goes power ballad”?! “Presage” is an instrumental breather, an interlude performed with acoustic guitars and a cello and “The Pendulum” is another track with a difference. It has a subtle and clever keyboard soundscape layered into the usual guitars and drums attack.
The band’s current line-up includes Michael Amott and Joey Concepcion on guitars, Alissa White-Gluz on vocals, Sharlee D’Angelo on bass and Daniel Erlandsson handling drums and keyboards. Since the last album, guitarist Jeff Loomis has moved on and been replaced by Joey Concepcion. Joey has in recent years been playing with another Swedish melodic death metal band, Dark Tranquillity. He has also played with Mike Vescera, Sanctuary and Armageddon (with former Arch Enemy guitarist Christopher Amott). Joey is a great fit for the band and while this is his first record with them, he is no stranger. He first stepped in as a fil-in guitarist with Arch Enemy in 2018 and became a band member in 2023.
I love it but whenever a popular band pushes the boundaries, makes tweaks and introduces something new, some old fans will be up in arms and scream “It’s not the way it used to be!” For those of us who are not exclusively stuck in the past (only part of the time!), “Blood Dynasty” is an excellent album. I love what they have done with both keeping their well-established sound while at the same time making some bold new moves. Well done, Arch Enemy! The excellent eleven-track album is rounded off with the fierce “Liars & Thieves”.
Arch Enemy’s new album “Blood Dynasty” will be released on 28th March via Century Media Records internationally and Trooper Entertainment in Japan.
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