Arch Enemy "Wages Of Sin"

Wages of Sin is the fourth studio album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. It is the first Arch Enemy album to feature the vocals of Angela Gossow. It is also the first album they use Standard-C tuning, which they still use today. It was released on 25 April 2001 in Japan, but the European and American releases were delayed to 18 March 2002.

Wages of Sin was well received by most critics, who praised the new singer Angela Gossow. Blake Jessop of Blistering said that she handles the vocals on the album expertly. But he wrote that "while less diverse than Liiva, the diminutive German's more traditional death metal style gives Wages an uncommonly brutal, if slightly less creative air." Jessop also states the album "musically, it is predictably brilliant". Dennis of Lords of Metal said that "the female vocals by Angela Gossow are a remarkable performance" and that it was a big improvement compared to the former singer Johan Liiva. Jeff of Metal Storm stated that "with Wages of Sin, Arch Enemy delivers to us one of the best albums of the year 2002 and proves us by the same opportunity that girls are not relegated to only sing in atmospheric and gothic metal." Ty Brookman and Jon Eardley of Metal Review was surprised with the Gossow vocals. Brookman commented that when he heard that Arch Enemy would a female singer, his first reaction was "career suicide", but after to listen to the album, he changed his mind stating that "Gossow delivers a vocal tirade that rivals any male vocalist." Brookman praised the band, however, he said about the album that there are elements that seem lacking in a few places. Eardley said that this album has "one of the best vocal performances of 2001" and that it "is a true masterpiece." Chris Flaaten of Chronicles of Chaos wrote that "the album has their best production to date and variety is abundant" and that the band found what they needed in Gossow. Despite Serge Regoor of Archaic Magazine states that her voice sounds great, he comments that "actually the vocals are much better too, but they are still not as good compared to the guitarwork." Haavard Holm of Tartarean Desire praised the band writing that it "has capacities beyond the normal" and stated that "Wages of Sin is simply so well done in all ways, that it will be hard for any band to overcome this album in this genre." Another critic of Tartarean Desire, Vincent Eldefors praised the singer Angela Gossow stating that she is one of the best lead vocalists in extreme metal along ex-Opera IX Cadaveria. Adam Bregman of Allmusic wrote that Gossow "is just the right touch to add to a band who ranks among metal's most progressive and unique outfits."

Blabbermouth.net's Borivoj Krgin praised the production of the album calling it "most impressive production job out of all the Arch Enemy albums." El Cid of Metal Rules praised the band stating that "this is arpeggio heaven amongst other things, the drumming is tight, the bass is excellent and the guitars are simply magnificent." Jeff of Metal Storm liked of quality of the production and praised the songs and the musicians calling it of "simply excellent" and "simply brilliant", respectively. He said that "the Amott brothers are certainly among the best guitarists of today's metal scene."

Much like 1999's Burning Bridges, Wages of Sin is a powerful barrage of complex riffing that alternates between the blindingly brutal and the stunningly melodic, all the while maintaining a level of intensity that is rarely heard on present-day metal recordings. The musicianship, as usual, is impeccable, with the Amott brothers proving once again that they are the masters of their craft, with the bulk of their guitar work owing as much death metal overtones as they appear to be derived from a more traditional hard rock approach, particularly in the song arrangements, which rarely deviate from the conventional.– Borivoj Krgin, Blabbermouth.net

Wages of Sin won a Burrn! magazine award in the category Best Album.

Track listing

Writing credits adapted from album booklet

1. "Enemy Within" Angela Gossow Christopher Amott, Michael Amott 4:21
2. "Burning Angel" M. Amott M. Amott, C. Amott 4:17
3. "Heart of Darkness" M. Amott M. Amott, C. Amott 4:52
4. "Ravenous" Gossow, M. Amott M. Amott, C. Amott 4:06
5. "Savage Messiah" M. Amott M. Amott, Sharlee D'Angelo, C. Amott 5:18
6. "Dead Bury Their Dead" M. Amott M. Amott 3:55
7. "Web of Lies" M. Amott M. Amott, C. Amott 3:56
8. "The First Deadly Sin" Gossow, M. Amott M. Amott, C. Amott 4:20
9. "Behind the Smile" M. Amott M. Amott, C. Amott 3:28
10. "Snow Bound" (Instrumental)   M. Amott, C. Amott 1:34
11. "Shadows and Dust" Daniel Erlandsson, M. Amott C. Amott, M. Amott 4:28
12. "Lament of a Mortal Soul" (Bonus Track) Gossow M. Amott, C. Amott 4:04

The first pressing of this album contained a bonus CD, titled A Collection of Rare & Unreleased Songs from the Arch Enemy Vault. These songs feature the band's previous vocalist, Johan Liiva.

A Collection of Rare & Unreleased Songs from the Arch Enemy Vault

1. "Starbreaker" (Judas Priest cover) Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing 3:25
2. "Aces High" (Iron Maiden cover) Steve Harris 4:24
3. "Scream of Anger" (Europe cover) Joey Tempest Marcel Jacob, 3:46
4. "Diva Satanica" M. Amott C. Amott 3:43
5. "Fields of Desolation '99" Johan Liiva C. Amott, M. Amott 6:02
6. "Damnation's Way" Liiva, M. Amott Liiva, 3:47
7. "Hydra" Instrumental C. Amott, Fredrik Nordström 0:57
8. "The Immortal" (music video) 3:57

Includes a second booklet in Japanese.

First release with Angela Gossow on vocal duties.

Recording information:

Recorded in December, 2000 at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Mixed and mastered in January, 2001 at Backstage Studios in Ripley, England, United Kingdom.

Arch Enemy "Burning Bridges"

Burning Bridges is the third studio album by the Swedish band Arch Enemy. This is the first Arch Enemy album to feature Sharlee D'Angelo on bass and the last studio recording to feature vocalist Johan Liiva. The music here showcases the band's wide interpretation of the death metal genre to include portions of melodic death metal, progressive metal and grindcore. A music video was released for the song "The Immortal."

The album was reissued on 25 May 2009. Featuring original vocalist Johan Liiva, the reissue has a new layout, remastered sound, packaging & bonus tracks. Contains original artwork, liner notes by Johan Liiva and a track by track commentary by guitarist Michael Amott.

Burning Bridges was well received by critics. Steve Huey of Allmusic praised the album, writing:

"... having honed a potent blend of classic-style death metal, melodic twin-guitar leads à la the new wave of British heavy metal, touches of prog metal and of grindcore courtesy of later Carcass or Napalm Death, and just plain solid riff writing. Burning Bridges, their third effort, consolidates the gains made on its predecessor Stigmata, establishing Arch Enemy as a dependable force and one of the better bands working death metal territory as the '90s drew to a close."

Nathan Robinson of Metal Rules was surprised at the amount of fast material, although there are no blast beats, and praised the singer Johan Liiva stating that he "offers more variety this time, moving between his classic guttural belches to higher, blackened screeches. He truly delivers an impressive vocal performance!" He later highlights the songs "Silverwing", "The Immortal" and "Seed of Hate". Archaic Magazine's Ron Salden also praised Liiva's vocals and the production. Salden states that "they took the best of their first 2 albums and Burning Bridges is the amazing result!"

Sean Palmerston of Exclaim! writes that "the eight tracks contained within stand-up quite nicely with recent releases from The Haunted and Witchery as some of the best Swedish metal in recent times." Paul Schwarz of Chronicles of Chaos praised the songs highlighting "Pilgrim". He wrote: "What I love most, though, is the way Arch Enemy slip between the two different feels. "Pilgrim" begins with a hugely melodic, very heavy metal, lead/harmony part, but when Johan Liiva's crushing vocals enter, so does a heavy, percussive, death metal sounding verse riff, then, when the chorus comes in, the two opposites are expertly combined together." Critics Ron Salden and Paul Schwarz stated that "this album will surely be one of the best releases in this year if not the best!" and that Arch Enemy "managed to pool their considerable talents and emerge with one of the year's best albums", respectively.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Michael Amott, except where noted; all music is composed by Michael Amott and Christopher Amott.

1. "The Immortal" Johan Liiva, M. Amott 3:43
2. "Dead Inside" 4:13
3. "Pilgrim" 4:33
4. "Silverwing" 4:08
5. "Demonic Science" 5:23
6. "Seed of Hate" Christopher Amott 4:09
7. "Angelclaw" 4:06
8. "Burning Bridges" Michael Amott 5:31

Recording information:

Phonographic Copyright (p) – Century Media Records

Copyright (c) – Magic Arts Publishing

Recorded and mixed in December, 1998 and January, 1999 at Studio Fredman.

Mastered at The Mastering Room.

Arch Enemy "Black Earth (2007 Reissue, Enhanced CD, Sweden, Regain Records, REG-1001)"

Black Earth is the debut studio album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. The album was reissued on 24 April 2007 on Regain Records, featuring "Losing Faith", two Iron Maiden covers and the video for "Bury Me an Angel".

Track listing

1. Bury Me an Angel 03:39
2. Dark Insanity 03:17
3. Eureka 04:44   
4. Idolatress 04:56  
5. Cosmic Retribution 04:00  
6. Demoniality 01:20
7. Transmigration Macabre 04:10  
8. Time Capsule 01:09
9. Fields of Desolation 05:31
10. Losing Faith 03:16
11. The Ides of March (Iron Maiden cover) 01:46
12. Aces High (Iron Maiden cover) 04:24

Time:  42:12

Enhanced multimedia section includes a video for the song "Bury Me an Angel"

A music video was made for "Bury Me an Angel"

Recording information:

Recorded from February to March, 1996 at Studio Fredman.

Mixed in April, 1996.

Pre-mastered at the Mastering Room in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Apocalypse "Faithless"

Apocalypse was a Swiss Thrash/Speed Metal band formed in 1984 in Geneva.

The band toured a lot with Metallica in Switzerland in the early 90's after the release of their self titled debut. The band had a long 6-year break before releasing Faithless which almost completely dissolved their fan-base, and the band broke shortly there after.

28.01.2017 - Cult Swiss band reunite after 25 years of not playing together for a special event to play three songs. Celebrating Zuzu's birthday, one of the guitar players

Compilation Appearances

- "Cemetary" on Speed Kills...But Who's Dying? (Under One Flag, 1989)

- "Digital Life" on Metal Thunder (Rumble Records, 1991)

- "Back to the Fire", "Don't Tell You Lies" on Alliance Rock I (Alliance Rock Productions, June 1985)

Faithless is their second and last album to date, released in 1993.

Track list:

1. House of Confusion 06:26  
2. Slay for Play 03:20  
3. Division 03:28  
4. Unwanted 04:51  
5. Extreme Sensation 04:51  
6. Faithless 05:15  
7. Reason to Live 03:19  
8. Shoot You Down 07:11  
9. Bad Breath 04:06  

Total Time:  42:47

Painting and Design by B. Haldimann, Geneva.

Photography by H. Nassenstein.