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Rating: I have read and am still reading a lot (elsewhere, not here, it's clear) about this latest effort from Arch Enemy. I've tried to form an opinion, more than on the album's contents—of which I am very protective because they are "mine" indissolubly—on the opinions it provokes. Not even for gratification, mind you. But simply because many people (even more specialized and professional than me) proclaim a total lack of ideas, a lack of originality, and declare that Arch Enemy, having reached the peak of their careers, have stopped producing a type of music that many thought should be the banner of future Metal, the monotony of the vocals (entrusted to Angela Gossow, a woman, indeed, with a vitriolic voice and a permanent anger) as if growls needed to be varied and changeable. Obviously, not all singers in Death Metal or similar genres can have the creativity of a Mikael Åkerfeldt or the raw passion of a Fernando Ribeiro. These, however, are not the rule but rather the exception for a certain setup that requires a lethal charge of anger and despair. Things that, it's clear, can perfectly marry with a sense of alienation, and therefore also with the "monotone" voice of Angela. As for the fact that she, as they say? Is a great beauty, well, for those who follow and maybe appreciate Arch Enemy, it matters very little.
If that weren't the case, hell, we would all be listening to Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera. Women who have made a point of lack of ideas in defiance of common sense. Women who, beyond the booty shaking and coquettish smiles, don't go far because it is their brains that prevent them.
But for Arch Enemy, the situation is different.
You can say whatever you want about them, but their past originality is undisputed. They, born from an important side of Carcass (guitarist Michael Amott was a member of these) continued the conversation cut off by the fathers of Death'n'Roll. They are the ones who injected new blood into Swedish Death Metal, which in 1995, the year of their birth, already counted bands of the caliber of In Flames and Dark Tranquillity and which, in the affirmation of a new, fast, angry, powerful, and well-balanced musical genre, inserted massive doses of melody and sampling.
A well-rounded band that made high-level technique and certain ties with musical classicism, combined with the power and causticity of Metal, a symbol. That today this symbol may have tired of lashing at all of our ears is permissible but not justifiable, according to those who criticize Arch Enemy. And I counter them by saying that, speaking of the present, this album sounds damn good and doesn't tire upon listening.
This is an album that won't make history, it won't remain in the annals of Metal, true. But it is also an example of how Metal isn't just blind violence for its own sake. Just listen to the first three songs at the top of the tracklist to realize it. "Blood On Your Hands", "The Last Enemy", "I Will Live Again". Songs that stick in your head and are a power enjoyment, with great execution and solos that are extremely compact, melodic, and in certain moments, fleeting moments, even poignant.
I'm not blaspheming. Say what you want, but the central solo of "The Last Enemy" makes me insanely want to headbang, and the whole song, sharp in its fast pace like a razor, is an example of how, in my opinion, even more-renowned bands should sound, but, whether due to inability or resting on laurels, do not. All the rest of the controversies following this album are just stories.
That Arch Enemy copy is true. But they copy from their own catalog, and being able to do so, they don't care, constructing a technically excellent album, tasteful in its content and polished in every part. Regarding the fact they may be becoming boring, there's much that could be said, even considering what I wrote earlier about the leading songs. But not only these add value to this work. The others are no less, and which in greater ways, which in lesser, all contribute to making you listen to 48 minutes of excellent music. A clear demonstration that, if you focus only on content and not comparisons to the band's past, here you find plenty of substance and power. "Vulture", for example. The last song on the tracklist. Isn't it a song that if played by some emerging band would have critics shouting a miracle? And instead? Instead, just because it is composed by Arch Enemy, it has to be something not worthy of them, something old and worn out to be discarded regardless and a priori.
So I vote for the album. Just for that. And not for Angela Gossow's legs, which, exciting as they might be, are just the superfluous cover for a band that still has something to say, hopefully.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Blood on Your Hands (04:41)
You were born
Your brother's keeper
Why can I see
Blood on your hands
You became
Your brother's slayer
Embrace again in death
At the end
Of all this hatred
Lies a deeper hate
Their darkness
Has defeated you
Your lifeline
Running backwards
Remember
Sins of our fathers
A requiem
For the countless dead
Blood is on your hands
The wages of sin
Future's eyes closing now
Soul eclipse taking place
Laments rise
Tears of the dead
From the other side of the grave
You were born
Your brother's keeper
Why can I see
Blood on your hands
Their darkness
Has defeated you
Your lifeline
Running backwards
Remember
Sins of our fathers
A requiem
For the countless dead
Blood is on your hands
The wages of sin
-Solos-
Future's eyes closing now
Soul eclipse taking place
Tears of the dead
From the other side of the grave
The other side of the grave
Blood is on your hands
The wages of ..SIN!
04 In This Shallow Grave (04:54)
Who is your god
Is he not mine?
Who is your devil
Are we the same?
What makes you worse?
What makes me better?
Never to trust again
How long have I got?
In this darkened maze
They keep me awake
They scream at night
Screams at night
Who is the master?
In this shallow grave
Born to die for a lie
I have no soul
I have no pride
Genocide
Where is justice, in this hell
Where is liberty, I paid the price
My life blood runs dry
Slowly drained from me
Never to trust again
How long have I got?
In this darkened maze
They keep me awake
They scream at night
Screams at night
Who is the master?
In this shallow grave
Born to die for a lie
I have no soul
I have no pride
Genocide
Genocide!
-Solos-
Screams at night
Who is the master?
In this shallow grave
Born to die for a lie
I have no soul
I have no pride
Genocide
Alone
In this shallow grave
I die
05 Revolution Begins (04:12)
Since the day that you were born
The wheels are in motion
Turning ever faster
Play your part in the big machine
The stage is set
The road is chosen
Your fate preordained
We are watching you
Every step of the way
Never too late
To stand your ground
Revolution begins
In you, in me
Revolution
Once lost, lost in the game
Mental chains, breaking now
Set yourself free
Who are they to tell you what to do?
This stage is not set
The road is not chosen
Your fate not preordained
They are losing control
Every step of your way
Never too late
To stand your ground
Revolution begins
In you, in me
Revolution
-Solos-
Never too late
Too stand your ground
Revolution begins
In you, in me
Revolution
Revolution
-Solo-
11 Vultures (06:35)
Breathing life into these mares
Where enemies turn into flesh
This is the abyss I fear the most
I feel their eyes staring at me
Waiting with
Carnivorous patience
The memory is timeless
For all they know
I must succumb sometime
A solemn cry
Rises to the sky
As heavy wings blacken out
The morning sun
With infinite darkness
Am I dreaming or am I dead
Waiting with
Carnivorous patience
The memory is timeless
For all they know
I must succumb sometime
In search for my heart
Lost in this hell
The vultures are soaring above
Tearing me apart
In search for my heart
Lost in this hell
The vultures are soaring above
Tearing me apart
Screaming voices in my head
A sudden pain in
The deadly silence
Devouring the remains
Of my heart
I can feel it dying
Waiting with carnivorous patience
The memory is timeless
For all they know
I must succumb sometime
In search for my heart
Lost in this hell
The vultures are soaring above
Tearing me apart
In search for my heart
Lost in this hell
The vultures are soaring above
Tearing me apart
Picking at the
Bones of my soul
Left me dead inside
The more I gave
The more they took
Left me dead inside
Left me..
In search for my heart
Forever lost in this hell
The vultures are soaring above
Tearing me apart
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Other reviews
By emanuele
This latest 'Rise Of The Tyrant' honestly marks the lowest point in the career of these five musicians.
The embarrassing lead single 'Revolution Begins' is more suitable for groups like Evanescence or Lacuna Coil rather than a death band.
