Metal Reviews

Arch Enemy are :
Mike Amott on Guitars
Christopher Amott on Guitars
Johan Liiva on Vocals
Danoel Erlandsson on Drums

The tracks are :
1. Beast Of Man
2. Stigmata
3. Sinister Mephisto
4. Dark Of the Sun
5. Let The Killing Begin
6. Black Earth
7. Tears of The Dead
8. Vox Stellarum
9. Bridge Of Destiny

OK, Some of you might say that with the talent on offer, Mike Amott ex-Carcass/Carnage, Johan Liiva also formely of Carnage, Mike's younger brother Christopher formely of Armegeddon and former Eucharist drummer Danoel Erlandsson that this album should be good, but how many times has that simply not been the case.

Well thankfully not in this case.What we have here is a combination of classic metal and traditional thrash, but instead of sounding, well, rather 80's, because of the care and attention put into the songs the sound that Arch Enemy has produced has a very 90's feel to it.

The opening two tracks 'Beast Of Man' and 'Stigmata' are two of the finest example of what dual-guitaring is all about.

The third and probably my favourite one on the album 'Sinister Mephisto' show the band in full flight, hard and heavy with wonderful cord and rhythm changes. The vocals on the whole album are mean, moody and aggressive, but never at any time over shadow the music (a mistake a vast number of bands make).

Other tracks that stand out for me are 'Dark Of The Sun', 'Let The Killing Begin' and the totally brilliant, but slightly over the top 'Black Earth' and a special mention must be given to the instrumental track 'Vox Stellarum', classical piano meets metal full on with outstanding results.

Quite simply Stigmata contains everything a great metal album should have and one that every metal fan should have in his/her collection.

This CD is released by Century Media Records.
USA
1453-a 14th Street #324
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Phone : 310 574 7400.
Tel : 310 574 7414
mail@centurymedia.com
GERMANY
Schaeferstrasse 33a
44147 Dortmund
Tel : +49 231 8297 0
Fax : +49 231 8297 101
Email : dortmund@centurymedia.com
Website : http://www.centurymedia.com

Now some of you, may well be saying to yourself, well its been three years since their last album, Burning Bridges, so it should be good. Well fair enough but how many times in the past have we waited for follow ups only to be disappointing big time.

'Wages Of Sin' is without doubt Arch Enemy's most aggressive work to date, the guitar work is simply outstanding and the drumming is as good as you'll hear on any album you care to mention (including anything by Metallica).

The understanding between the band is quite incredible which gives real feel and texture to the music, making 'Wages Of Sin' one of the most melodically powerful albums of all times.

Oh yeah, there is one more thing to mention before I state the bloody obvious, if you buy 'Wages...' early you will also get a bonus disc of covers and tracks that have only been available on japanese imports, the highlight of which has to be a cover of you know whos, 'Aces High'.

Oh yes and the bloody obvious highly recommended of course.

This CD is released by Century Media Records.
USA
1453-a 14th Street #324
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Phone : 310 574 7400.
Tel : 310 574 7414
mail@centurymedia.com
GERMANY
Schaeferstrasse 33a
44147 Dortmund
Tel : +49 231 8297 0
Fax : +49 231 8297 101
Email : dortmund@centurymedia.com
Website : http://www.centurymedia.com

Review by Andy Wagstaff