Metal Reviews

Switch out Nevermore for Slipknot and the comparison might work.

Although I tend to be predisposed to like anything melodeath, I have to say that Doomsday Machine is quite good. Certainly worlds better than Anthems. I don't care for Gossow's vocals at the beginning of "Taking Back My Soul." She sounds much more feminine (in a bad way) than she usually does.

I was very very close to picking this up even after the disaster known as Anthems and the very sub-par tracks I heard off of this one.Spidey senses kicked in just in the knick of time and I instead opted for Dew Scented-Issue IV. Where those senses where when I orderd that Burden of Grief CD(As long as we are touching on stale generic melo-death bands) I will never know.

I have always been a devout Arch Enemy fan since shortly after the release of Stigmata, an album I owe much too as it introduced me to a whole new world of good metal. To this very day that album is in my top 10 fav albums. But this....this....well now I know for sure that the band will only go further down the road of simpler everything. I dont blame it on Angela. but I do think she had alot to do with it indirectly, atracting 14 year old mallcore puberty ridden boys who support the music and go to the shows only so they can touch themselves inapropriatly to her pinup in Hit Parader and Circus. I like to call it the Kittie effect. Although Kittie is 10x shittier than AE will ever be. Still the formula is simple: 14 year old Mallcore + Atractive Female = Bigger fanbase= bigger sales. Somewhere along this change the band got the idea that is what all of thier fans wanted as stated earlier. Whew sorry for the long rant :cry:

I tend to agree with you about the boring part. There wasn't much that caught my attention on this album.

No offense -- I assume from your name (Clayman!) you are a big In Flames fan. They just don't do much for me, since I feel they have gone too melodic and too poppy, not heavy enough for me. On the other hand, I can also see how many people would like both bands. They really are not worlds apart. Arch Enemy just sounds heavier and more aggressive to me, which is why I like the new album. Well, maybe except for the Joe Satriani instrumental they snuck on there...

I agree that Angela's vocals are good. It's hard for me to see why people give her crap over her vocals because I think they absolutely slay most of the other lame melodeath vocals out there. I agree with that one other poster who said that essentially they are not as "emo" (my words) as Tomas from AtG, but that's not a bad thing, in my opinion!

I love in flames yes, but only up to Clayman, which was IMO their best, and their last good album. Anyway I think Melo-death needs a savior, every good melo-death band seems to be taking the 'In Flames' road. Dark Tranquility & Kalmah are the only 2 bands out there at the moment, as far as i can see, that can save the sub-genre i love! i just hope that AE does not continue down the same road

You may like Arsis- A celebration of guilt. I would at least recomend you go to the site and listen to the track samples if you have not already(Was posted in a diff thread).
Also for more melody try Immortal Souls- Ice Upon The Night, not the heaviest but really catchy.

Arch Enemy continues to suck in order to sell more albums. Bring back Liiva!

i dont think the reason they are going down the path that people claim they are (i cant judge for myself due to the fact that my copy of doomsday machine wont arrive until monday) is angela, as someone said earlier, it may be indirectly, but i think its got more to do with the fact that AE just decided to follow the same path as alot of other melo-death bands out there so they could sell more records, and i spose angela would have helped that with her being a chick and all. so, in conclusion , i dont think bringing Liiva back would do anything other than make them sell less records

Well you got that right. Of course I'd like them more.

Hehe - Agreed.

That is one thing that always cracks me up on these forums. Accessible is a very relative term. If you mean accessible to those who already like metal - then maybe.. but lets not kid ourselves and think that White Stripes fans are going to cross over because of the "accessibility" of Arch Enemy.

Thats my two cents. I havent even picked this one up yet. I thought Anthems of Rebellion was decent, so if its more of the same - Im guessing I can live with that.

Arch Enemy are on Ozzfest this summer, that alone proves their popularity in the mainstream.

I'm not sure that means much. I can't remember what band it was that I read an interview with, but supposedly some bands on Ozzfest have to pay to play -- I assume usually their record company advances them the money to get on the ticket and they'd recoup versus merchandise sales. Getting on Ozzfest is probably very similar to getting on a movie soundtrack where you have to have some accessibility, but also your record company has to want to put up some cash to get you on it as well. If an industry type can shed more light on this, that would be interesting to hear about...

Being popular in semi-underground metal circles is way different from being in the mainstream of pop music. Metallica = mainstream, Arch Enemy = lower to approaching mid-tier popular metal band... Lacuna Coil has probably way outsold Arch Enemy, but LC is not even on the same planet or even galaxy as far as a mainstream band like Metallica sells.

There's no way you can compare Arch Enemy to Metallica since they are probably the most popular rock band on the planet. You could compare Incubus or Foo Fighters to Metallica also and you'll get the same results: neither comes close to achieving the popularity that Metallica receives, yet both acts are definitely mainstream, top 40 bands.

You can be mainstream without being in the top 40. When you can ask an average high schooler who is just getting into aggressive music via Slipknot or Soulfly, they will most likely have heard of Arch Enemy. Another good example is Nightwish who are not in the top 40, but they are making some huge headway in the non-metal U.S. market.

I might be misunderstanding you here, but are you saying that because some of the small percentage of people who are into aggressive music are likely to have heard of a band, then that band are mainstream?



I couldnt say it better. This is exactly the point!

The circles you run in might know all these bands and have known about them for years. However sad this may be, the rest of the world does not feel the same way. They love Gwen Stephani, 50 Cent and think Hard Core stuff is Metallica, POD, and Linkin Park.

I hope Nightwish makes tons of headway and sells tons of records.. but whatever they have made to this point, they are still outside the mainstream. Thats the facts.

There's a difference between being popular in the mainstream and being popular in the metal world. Right now we have to put up with metalcore, and from what I've heard of this new album AE seem to be heading in that direction. This is in order for them to sell more records, so yes, they have sold out in a way. And they do get played here in England on the only 'metal' radio show that I know of, which unfortuanately for every Napalm Death session plays a thousand Slipknot specials.

I really don't feel this album veers anywhere near metalcore. When I think of metalcore, shit like Hatebreed, As I Lay Dying, and Bury Your Dead comes to mind. This sounds nothing like that. In fact, I really liked this album. Sure its a different style of release for them, but they pull it off very well. I am curious how other site reviewers would rate this CD, since right now it has only one score.

It's diferent and not a bad album. Anthems was better. Wages is evem better.
85 and growing after two spins.

Ok I stated earlier I would reserve judjement untill I heard the album in full. Now I have and to quote the movie Network "I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

Seriuosly, I was charged 18 fuckin dollars for this piece of moose excrement! I am usually very patient and understanding when it comes to band evolution but this, this is fuckin atrocious.

Simple melody, half assed shitty riffs, even Daniel Erlandsons drumming bores me on this poor excuse for a record. And vocals.......
What happend? Although I prefer Johan, Angela is usually a competent vocalist IMO but not this time around. These songs are lyrically dumbed down to the point where I have muttered more interesting shit in my sleep.

I REFUSE to not only never pay for anything this band does again but to even aknowlege that this or Anthems was ever made. Ignorance is bliss.

This band is(Or was at least) capable of so much better than this aborted fetus of a record. Now if you will excuse me *Plays Burning Bridges and weeps bitterly*

It seems like you're holding back, you should probably just tell everyone what you really think of this record.
:twisted: