All Interviews
Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy
Posted on Jul 20, 2005
by Anders
The first listen I had to this Swedish band's new album "Doomsday Machine" was rather dissapointing. I have enjoyed the most of the previous material that the band have released, espeically their last 2 catchy albums hit the nail at the first listen. Though I looked back in time and remembered that the band's first couple albums didn't catch on at first. After some more listens the dark atmosphere and cpmplex song writing started to open itself, and revealed a hell of an album. All the classic Arch Enemy trademarks, spiced up with darkness, a bit more complexity and some new ideas. The vocals delivered by Angela Gossow do also sound a lot better and more brutal, she must have been working hard on her vocals since the last album. Angela Gossow, Micheal Amott, Christoffer Amott, Sharlee D'Angelo and Daniel Erlandsson have once again made a great album. A late afternoon I was suposed to have Angela call me to talk about the new album, though when the phone rang, it was Daniel in the other end, and that didn't turn out as bad, after I got the questions tweaked a bit a long the way. We went through all from the new album and the inspiration for it, what Arch Enemy aims at, a lot about Daniel's drumming and much much more.
Right now you are in the middle of building up a lot of attention towards the release of your coming album "Doomsday Machine"… how excited are you to see it released and out among your real fans?
We are very excited; we have spent 7 months making the album in total. So we have been building up the momentum for a long time now, it'll be great to see it released and see how people will react to it.
What do you expect from the new album?
Ohh man, I expect people to like it and that it sells well of course. It will hopefully also open up some doors, so we can go on some more tours and conquer some new audiences. It will be great to tour with some bands bigger than the ones we already have toured with, so there can be attracted some bigger crowds.
When you started out with the writing "Doomsday Machine", what did you in the back of your heads want to accomplish with the writing?
Hmm, the original idea was to expand our music and to take it all up a step. I think every new album is a reaction to the previous album you have made. That is why we ended up with a darker, more complex and more atmospheric album I think. There are of course a lot of guitar solos and so on, on the album as well, but it is not as catchy and easy going as on the last couple of albums, we wanted to make an album that was a bit deeper this time.
Did you end up with the album you wanted to have?
Absolutely, though it takes some time for the album really to settle. Though is is hard for me to comment on now, especially when I'm not more away from the process, than I am right now, I have a hard time being objective towards it as we speak.
If you should describe "Doomsday Machine" with 3 words, which words would you choose?
Pure. Fucking. Metal. haha
How did you end up with the album title “"Doomsday Machine"?
It is a vocal line from 'Dead Eyes See No Future' from our last album "Anthems Of Rebellion". It is a cool sounding name and it fits the overall atmosphere on the new album very well. "Doomsday Machine" is not a concept album, even though there is a thread connecting the songs, illustrated by the machine-like sounds.
Musically is the new material a tad heavier and not as easy to catch onto as your 2 previous albums "Wages Of Sin" and "Anthems Of Rebellion", was that intended from the start?
The new album is definitely darker, and that opened up for the complexity. We have still kept all the Arch Enemy trademarks present in the music though. It is the most complete album we so far has made, it feels great. It was not intended that the music should turn out darker and heavier, but I think that is the reaction to our last album, as I talked about earlier. One thing is sure though, "Doomsday Machine" takes more than one listen, before it settles in. Kind of the opposite of "Anthems Of Rebellion" which was really catchy and easy to get into.
How do you think your fans will receive the new album, thinking of it being more complex and darker than your last 2 very successful albums?
Not much different than always, I think. There will of course be a bunch, who will become disappointed, due to us evolving, but there are always such a small bunch of fans who only likes the early material. I think our fans will receive the album well, even though it is more dark and complex than the last couple of albums, which gained us a lot of fans. I am not that worried about this matter.
Which criterias do you in the band want to reach, before you consider an album to be successful?
When we are making music, it come straight from our hearts, we know what we want to hear and how we should work to accomplish it. If we aren't 100% sure about a track or some material, we won't release it, so when we release something, we know it is worked through and what we want, and that is the criteria we want to fulfil.
What do you want to accomplish with your music?
We want to be the biggest extreme metal bands, it's as simple as that. We love to play music and want to take it as far as we can!
How do you work when you have to make drum patterns?
It is different from time to time. Sometimes I come up with some when I hear a riff. Other times it's just a spontaneous reaction. I get a got to do this feeling and moves from there, and add touches as I move along. It is very spontaneous and not that thought through, when I come up with my stuff.
How do you get inspired to play your drums?
It is very inspiring to hear a good riff, it can trigger a lot of ideas. I am very inspired by music, I listen to a lot of music and lot of different bands. I get a lot from hearing other people play. I've always been into drumming, so my inspiration for drumming is huge and a lot of it is build up over a lot of years.
How much time did you spent on recording the drums this time?
About 10 days, and that's quite a lot of time compared to the past, haha. The first 3-4 days goes with setting up and tuning the drums and getting the right sound from the kit. This time we really wanted to have the drums to sound professionally, so we had to use the time it took. Our deadline in the studio was actually in March, haha, but we didn't keep the deadline that well, we broke it by a month.
Which 3 drummers have inspired you the most?
The one who has inspired me the most is my big brother, Adrian Erlandsson, which you might know from At The Gates, The Haunted and Cradle Of Filth nowadays. He is 6 years older than me, and when he started to play drums, I saw him playing, and wanted to do the same, hehe. Pete Sandoval from Morbid Angel meant a lot to my style in the early days as well, hell of a drummer. That goes for Dave Lombardo too, what an amazing drummer. Though I do also have a lot of influences besides metal. I like almost every musical style apart from hip hop, haha. The one with the most extreme music taste in Arch Enemy, is actually Angela, she's very much into death metal and all the other extreme stuff.
Can you tell a bit about the lyrics and which themes you have touched this time?
It is Angela who writes most of the lyrics, and Mike writes a few. On this record the lyrics are very personal for Angela. It's not a concept as on "Anthems On Reality". The lyrics are very dark and talks about stuff that she has been dealing with and such.
Is there a connection between 'Instinct' from "Anthems Of Rebellion" and 'My Apocalypse' on the new album?
Hmm, I haven't actually thought about that, and to be honest I don't know, but now when you say it, there are some resemblances.
How far do you think you can take Arch Enemy?
I think we can become the biggest extreme metal band in the world. You have to believe in yourself to reach anything, and you can't let a single bad result put you down, you have to keep it up and fight for your goals.
How much do you miss to become the biggest extreme metal band?
Oh, I don't know. It's not obvious what one has to do. There are some who plays on their image, like Slipknot and System Of A Down, and get a lot of sales and attention on that account. If that is what it takes, then we don't want it, we want to make it due to the music and not anything else.
When will Century Media become to small for the band, aren't you about ready to enter the major label world?
We had many offers on the new album, not any major labels though, but the big metal labels. But in the end of the day Century Media gave us the best offer. I don't think a major label is the right place for a metal band, just look at the bands that have been through that mill, it hasn't really worked out for any metal band. Just take Carcass and Entombed as an example! The people on the major labels, doesn't understand the metal scene, so nothing good can come off such cooperation.
You are soon heading for the states for the Ozzfest… how much will that mean to you?
It means the world, we will get the chance to introduce our material to a whole new audience that doesn't know of us. We are really looking forward to it. We only have 20 minutes on the 2nd stage and a rotating slot, so we'll end playing as the first band, 11 in the morning sometimes. But it is still quite a break for us, to get our music out to some new people over there. Even though we are very known over here in Europe, and even though we do pretty well in the states, then it's a lot different over there. You can sell 500.000 albums, and still be unknown, we are only really known and rather big, in the big cities in USA, hopefully we'll change that now.
Are you looking forward to it?
Oh yeah, I am really looking forward to be a part of it. It'll be cool to see Black Sabbath play! And in between the Ozzfest shows, we have around 25 gigs, where we will be headlining 5 of them, I think, I am pretty psyched about that as well.
Will you share your 3 all time favourite albums with us?
Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Slayer – Show No Mercy
Morbid Angel – Altars Of Madness
Thanks a lot for doing this interview, its been great talking to you, do you have anything to add!
I hope to see you all on tour and hopefully we'll play in Denmark really soon!!!
We are very excited; we have spent 7 months making the album in total. So we have been building up the momentum for a long time now, it'll be great to see it released and see how people will react to it.
What do you expect from the new album?
Ohh man, I expect people to like it and that it sells well of course. It will hopefully also open up some doors, so we can go on some more tours and conquer some new audiences. It will be great to tour with some bands bigger than the ones we already have toured with, so there can be attracted some bigger crowds.
When you started out with the writing "Doomsday Machine", what did you in the back of your heads want to accomplish with the writing?
Hmm, the original idea was to expand our music and to take it all up a step. I think every new album is a reaction to the previous album you have made. That is why we ended up with a darker, more complex and more atmospheric album I think. There are of course a lot of guitar solos and so on, on the album as well, but it is not as catchy and easy going as on the last couple of albums, we wanted to make an album that was a bit deeper this time.
Did you end up with the album you wanted to have?
Absolutely, though it takes some time for the album really to settle. Though is is hard for me to comment on now, especially when I'm not more away from the process, than I am right now, I have a hard time being objective towards it as we speak.
If you should describe "Doomsday Machine" with 3 words, which words would you choose?
Pure. Fucking. Metal. haha
How did you end up with the album title “"Doomsday Machine"?
It is a vocal line from 'Dead Eyes See No Future' from our last album "Anthems Of Rebellion". It is a cool sounding name and it fits the overall atmosphere on the new album very well. "Doomsday Machine" is not a concept album, even though there is a thread connecting the songs, illustrated by the machine-like sounds.
Musically is the new material a tad heavier and not as easy to catch onto as your 2 previous albums "Wages Of Sin" and "Anthems Of Rebellion", was that intended from the start?
The new album is definitely darker, and that opened up for the complexity. We have still kept all the Arch Enemy trademarks present in the music though. It is the most complete album we so far has made, it feels great. It was not intended that the music should turn out darker and heavier, but I think that is the reaction to our last album, as I talked about earlier. One thing is sure though, "Doomsday Machine" takes more than one listen, before it settles in. Kind of the opposite of "Anthems Of Rebellion" which was really catchy and easy to get into.
How do you think your fans will receive the new album, thinking of it being more complex and darker than your last 2 very successful albums?
Not much different than always, I think. There will of course be a bunch, who will become disappointed, due to us evolving, but there are always such a small bunch of fans who only likes the early material. I think our fans will receive the album well, even though it is more dark and complex than the last couple of albums, which gained us a lot of fans. I am not that worried about this matter.
Which criterias do you in the band want to reach, before you consider an album to be successful?
When we are making music, it come straight from our hearts, we know what we want to hear and how we should work to accomplish it. If we aren't 100% sure about a track or some material, we won't release it, so when we release something, we know it is worked through and what we want, and that is the criteria we want to fulfil.
What do you want to accomplish with your music?
We want to be the biggest extreme metal bands, it's as simple as that. We love to play music and want to take it as far as we can!
How do you work when you have to make drum patterns?
It is different from time to time. Sometimes I come up with some when I hear a riff. Other times it's just a spontaneous reaction. I get a got to do this feeling and moves from there, and add touches as I move along. It is very spontaneous and not that thought through, when I come up with my stuff.
How do you get inspired to play your drums?
It is very inspiring to hear a good riff, it can trigger a lot of ideas. I am very inspired by music, I listen to a lot of music and lot of different bands. I get a lot from hearing other people play. I've always been into drumming, so my inspiration for drumming is huge and a lot of it is build up over a lot of years.
How much time did you spent on recording the drums this time?
About 10 days, and that's quite a lot of time compared to the past, haha. The first 3-4 days goes with setting up and tuning the drums and getting the right sound from the kit. This time we really wanted to have the drums to sound professionally, so we had to use the time it took. Our deadline in the studio was actually in March, haha, but we didn't keep the deadline that well, we broke it by a month.
Which 3 drummers have inspired you the most?
The one who has inspired me the most is my big brother, Adrian Erlandsson, which you might know from At The Gates, The Haunted and Cradle Of Filth nowadays. He is 6 years older than me, and when he started to play drums, I saw him playing, and wanted to do the same, hehe. Pete Sandoval from Morbid Angel meant a lot to my style in the early days as well, hell of a drummer. That goes for Dave Lombardo too, what an amazing drummer. Though I do also have a lot of influences besides metal. I like almost every musical style apart from hip hop, haha. The one with the most extreme music taste in Arch Enemy, is actually Angela, she's very much into death metal and all the other extreme stuff.
Can you tell a bit about the lyrics and which themes you have touched this time?
It is Angela who writes most of the lyrics, and Mike writes a few. On this record the lyrics are very personal for Angela. It's not a concept as on "Anthems On Reality". The lyrics are very dark and talks about stuff that she has been dealing with and such.
Is there a connection between 'Instinct' from "Anthems Of Rebellion" and 'My Apocalypse' on the new album?
Hmm, I haven't actually thought about that, and to be honest I don't know, but now when you say it, there are some resemblances.
How far do you think you can take Arch Enemy?
I think we can become the biggest extreme metal band in the world. You have to believe in yourself to reach anything, and you can't let a single bad result put you down, you have to keep it up and fight for your goals.
How much do you miss to become the biggest extreme metal band?
Oh, I don't know. It's not obvious what one has to do. There are some who plays on their image, like Slipknot and System Of A Down, and get a lot of sales and attention on that account. If that is what it takes, then we don't want it, we want to make it due to the music and not anything else.
When will Century Media become to small for the band, aren't you about ready to enter the major label world?
We had many offers on the new album, not any major labels though, but the big metal labels. But in the end of the day Century Media gave us the best offer. I don't think a major label is the right place for a metal band, just look at the bands that have been through that mill, it hasn't really worked out for any metal band. Just take Carcass and Entombed as an example! The people on the major labels, doesn't understand the metal scene, so nothing good can come off such cooperation.
You are soon heading for the states for the Ozzfest… how much will that mean to you?
It means the world, we will get the chance to introduce our material to a whole new audience that doesn't know of us. We are really looking forward to it. We only have 20 minutes on the 2nd stage and a rotating slot, so we'll end playing as the first band, 11 in the morning sometimes. But it is still quite a break for us, to get our music out to some new people over there. Even though we are very known over here in Europe, and even though we do pretty well in the states, then it's a lot different over there. You can sell 500.000 albums, and still be unknown, we are only really known and rather big, in the big cities in USA, hopefully we'll change that now.
Are you looking forward to it?
Oh yeah, I am really looking forward to be a part of it. It'll be cool to see Black Sabbath play! And in between the Ozzfest shows, we have around 25 gigs, where we will be headlining 5 of them, I think, I am pretty psyched about that as well.
Will you share your 3 all time favourite albums with us?
Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Slayer – Show No Mercy
Morbid Angel – Altars Of Madness
Thanks a lot for doing this interview, its been great talking to you, do you have anything to add!
I hope to see you all on tour and hopefully we'll play in Denmark really soon!!!
Arch Enemy website
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