HARD NOISE: ARCH ENEMY // Power To The Metal

Mainstays of the metal scene, Arch Enemy, have continued to evolve over the years. Their current incarnation involves powerhouse vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, who has been praised for incorporating sustained cleans throughout the band’s new music. Arch Enemy’s latest album, Will to Power, debuted at the pointy end of charts all over the world and now the band have set their sights on Australia, heading down under to partake in the inaugural Downward Festival in March along with some headline dates. 

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When Arch Enemy dropped Will To Power, they had no idea just how well it would do in the charts, pulling numbers that are usually reserved for the Ed Sheeran’s of the world, but the success of the album has pushed the band into the stratosphere of the metal universe, cementing their place at the top. And it’s not just in Australia that the album did insanely well, it was worldwide.

“It’s funny because the band when we’re making the album we don’t really think about where it’s going to place in the charts, but of course it’s always encouraging. You know, it takes a long time to write the songs and record the songs. It’s not just the band involved, there’s managers and agents, and engineers, and mastering, and mixing, and artwork, and the record label. There’s like dozens and dozens or maybe hundreds of people who spend a year or more just to create an album, and then nobody buys it, everyone downloads it, which I understand is just the nature of the beast nowadays, but it is nice to get that recognition,” White-Gluz says.

“For me I actually would rather have things like album charts and awards and things like that that we’ve won, more than getting paid more or something like that,” she continues.

It’s clear that Will To Power has had a huge impact on Arch Enemy fans, from the differences in the writing from previous releases, to the incorporation of more clean singing from White-Gluz and while not all were happy with the experimentation and progression from the band, most were and they gained a lot of new fans as well and White-Gluz believes that the fans understood what the band was trying to do with the record.

“Yeah, I think the fans got it. Arch Enemy is a band that just basically is always on tour. So for us, chances are we’re going to be on tour leading up to the album release, during the album release, and after the album release as well. It’s interesting to see at the beginning, right when the album came out and I was really curious to see what everybody’s favourite song was, as we have played quite a few new songs in the set list, so it’s always cool to see how those go over,” White-Gluz explains.

It’s tricky when you’re an artist with deadlines, because art isn’t something you can force, of course, and if you do force it it usually sucks.
[ Alissa White-Gluz ]

“You know, for me, since I’m a relative newcomer to the band, I’m just happy people like the songs! But for Michael (Amott) who’s been there since the beginning, it’s really interesting and actually shocking to him to see that the War Eternal and Will To Power songs are being received better than any of the previous songs from previous albums. Which we also play because we all love them, and they still are well-received, but we get a lot more chanting and singing along with the newer stuff. That’s a really good sign, and it’s encouraging to all of us to see that,” she continues.

Will To Power certainly has that effect on people, where the tracks just sort of make you want to sing or shout along with the anthemic-like choruses and verses, and White-Gluz, while loving this, isn’t promising the same for the next release.

“We sort of just write based on inspiration. All of the writing starts with ideas in Michael’s head. It’s really up to him, if he’s feeling inspired I’m sure we’re going to get a lot of good stuff really quickly. Maybe he’s going to need more time. It’s tricky when you’re an artist with deadlines, because art isn’t something you can force, of course, and if you do force it it usually sucks. That’s why it takes a while between albums because we wait, we wait until we have the good stuff, and so who knows? I personally like the sort of more anthemic empowering songs, like the Eagle Flies Alone, but I also like the kind of just badass fast thrashy songs like The Race. I’m happy performing both styles, and I think they all sound like Arch Enemy when it comes down to it!” she says.

They certainly do and it will be fantastic to have the band back on Australian soil in 2018 for the inaugural Download Festival and with a run of headline shows to boot and the band are super keen to get back here.

“Yeah it’s really, really cool. We’re very happy that we’re booked on it (Download) because we’ve been trying to get back to Australia for a long time and having a festival of this calibre to bring us there makes it a lot easier for us to get there and then book shows around the festival, which we’ve done. It’s really giving us a good platform to book another small tour out of it,” White-Gluz says.

So make sure you learn the words to your favourite songs and get your tickets now so you can scream along with White-Gluz in March.

ARCH ENEMY TOUR DATES:

Friday 23rd March – Sydney – Manning Bar (tickets)
Saturday 24th March – Melbourne – Download Festival (tickets)
Sunday 25th March – Brisbane – The Zoo (tickets)
Tuesday 27th March – Adelaide – Fowlers Live (tickets)
Wednesday 28th March – Perth – Rosemount Hotel (tickets)