Arch Enemy’s Michael Amott on the new album: “All killer, no filler!”
Michael Amott, founder, leader, guitarist and songwriter of melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, met up with Roppongi Rocks’ Stefan Nilsson in Tokyo to talk about “Blood Dynasty”, Arch Enemy’s new studio album.
Michael Amott co-founded death metal band Carnage in Sweden in 1988, a band featuring several future members of Dismember and Arch Enemy. He then spent a few years as guitarist for British extreme metal band Carcass before he founded Spiritual Beggars in 1993 and Arch Enemy in 1995. Arch Enemy is about to release its twelfth full-length studio album and continues to relentlessly tour globally.
The new Arch Enemy album “Blood Dynasty” will be out via Century Media Records on 28th March. Four killer singles have already been released. Can we expect the whole album to be at the same level? “Oh, yeah! Absolutely. All killer, no filler!”
What can you tell us about the album? “I think it is a logical, or illogical, progression from where we were on ‘Deceivers’. It’s another batch of songs. I am very happy with the outcome.”
The new guitarist Joey Concepcion has been in the band since late 2023, but this is the first album featuring him. What can you tell us about the dynamics of having a new member in the band? “Having a new person there is a new experience for all of us. For him, it’s cool to come into something like this. For us, it’s nice to have some fresh blood. You start seeing things through their eyes, a little bit.”
Before Arch Enemy, Carcass and Spiritual Beggars, in the late 1980s, you played in the Swedish death metal band Carnage. Its various line-ups included people such as Johan Liiva (later in Arch Enemy), Fred Estby (Dismember) and Matti Kärki (Dismember, Therion). The band released two legendary demos, “The Day Man Lost” and “Infestation of Evil”, and one album, “Dark Recollections”, in 1990. Would it be foolish to hope for a one-off Carnage reunion at some stage? “We have never discussed that possibility. We did release the demos last year on vinyl via an Italian label called F.O.A.D. Records. They released an album featuring both demos, which was fun. It’s cool, a bit of nostalgia. It’s nice to dip our toes into it, but I don’t think we should jump in and swim in it! Then perhaps we would drown!”
In addition to touring Japan with Arch Enemy and Spiritual Beggars, you have had success with a nostalgic tip of the hat to your past. Black Earth, a reunion and celebration of the early days of Arch Enemy, has exclusively been doing gigs here in Japan. “I think we were here in 2016, ’18 and ’19. We did ten gigs the last time we toured in Japan.”
Do you have any plans for more Black Earth shows? “It’s not just up to me. It sort of depends on whether there is interest from those who play and those who organise it. We do have a fantastic history here in Japan with Arch Enemy and my music. It is very special. We were the first band in our musical style that came to Japan to perform.”
You did the fantastic live album “Burning Japan Live 1999”. “Yes, we did. That was 1999. We were here the first time in 1997.”
How do you manage to keep the band together all these years? “I don’t! Haha!”
Well, on the one hand, yes, but on the other hand, you always manage to bring in new people or bring old people back to soldier on with the band. You seem to be great at finding replacements. “Yes, one has to be. One has to think about what’s needed to make it work, to move forward in a good way. I mean, we have brought in people who haven’t worked out too. You can’t force people to be in the band either. Sometimes someone has been in the band for nine years and then they want to do something different with their lives. We are not forcing anyone. One doesn’t have to be part of it if one doesn’t want to. Haha! But it is a fantastic thing to be part of. We perform all over the world. We are constantly touring, writing and releasing new music. At least I am very satisfied with what we have created.”
I believe you found Joey Concepcion via your brother Chris. “Yes, he played with my brother in a different project. That was how I heard about him.”
Your appreciation for your loyal Japanese fans means that they do get some special releases and events once in a while. “I am doing an event here tonight. A meet and greet. It’s sold out. It will be my life chart with a PowerPoint and a lot of pictures. I will tell stories about my life. It’s fun. They like to dig deep here, which is something I have always appreciated. The first time I came here, I understood they listen to music the way that I listen to music. They go into a lot of detail. How the music is put together and how it all fits together and influences and such. That is cool.”
Arch Enemy’s “Blood Dynasty” is being released via Century Media internationally and Trooper Entertainment in Japan.
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