Arch Enemy
Rise of the Tyrant

THE REVIEW

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.