"ARCH ENEMY welcomes Jeff Loomis as their new guitarist"

[NK]

These 3 and "No More Will" (speaking of evolution, this one is very high on my list). And "Deconstruction". And "The Fault of the Flesh". This album is so awesome, I'll never understand why it is so underrated.

:Spin:

 

[Traxan]

To be honest, the only thing I specifically remember (off the top of my head) is that that lovely vibey intro to BW was put together one very late night by my two assistants, Justin and Bobby. Killer job.

Well it was just an EKG monitor, wasn't it?

These 3 and "No More Will" (speaking of evolution, this one is very high on my list). And "Deconstruction". And "The Fault of the Flesh". This album is so awesome, I'll never understand why it is so underrated.

1) It came out on a small, indie label.
2) It came out at the height of nu metal and the nadir of traditional metal
3) MTV was blackballing anything with a guitar that wasn't that musical shitstain, nu metal
4) I don't think it had an official video anyway.
5) The band wasn't sucking up to Sharon Osborne like Disturbed and Slipknot. They were rewarded very nicely for their subservience, weren't they?

 

[lorinc]

1) It came out on a small, indie label.
2) It came out at the height of nu metal and the nadir of traditional metal
3) MTV was blackballing anything with a guitar that wasn't that musical shitstain, nu metal
4) I don't think it had an official video anyway.
5) The band wasn't sucking up to Sharon Osborne like Disturbed and Slipknot. They were rewarded very nicely for their subservience, weren't they?

Either that, or the vast majority of this planet's bipedal mammals have really shitty taste in music.

The label is a huge thing, I think. Remember that at the same time, Megadave's Risk sold half a million copies and he said it was a commercial failure. Seriously, "something is rotten in the state of Denmark", and there sure is no heaven to direct it...

Or maybe we are the ones with shitty taste in music. I'm totally OK with that too, as long as it allows bands like Nevermore to work with people like Neil and make things like DNB happen.

On a side note, I would love if someone had a way to convince Tim Calvert to write music again...

 

[NK]

There was a blending of a number of elements, one of which was an EKG at the end, right before the song BW kicks in.

Actually, I don't have a copy of the album, so I can't double-check exactly how many elements were in it, but there were certainly a few.

It's been years at this point, but I remember that they had to go out and sit / lie under the train tracks in order to record the sound of passing freight trains, which formed the core of the intro, and that all had to be done by night or they would have been spotted doing it.

Anyway I remember that they spent all night working on that section. If it had been just an EKG monitor that wouldn't have taken more than a couple of minutes.

 

[Traxan]

Jeff just tweeted this pic out. I'll leave it to you guys to have fun with captioning.

 

[lorinc]

I'll leave it to you guys to have fun with captioning.

This is indeed very tempting, but I guess Det Som will take the pleasure to do it

 

[Traxan]

There was a blending of a number of elements, one of which was an EKG at the end, right before the song BW kicks in.

Actually, I don't have a copy of the album, so I can't double-check exactly how many elements were in it, but there were certainly a few.

It's been years at this point, but I remember that they had to go out and sit / lie under the train tracks in order to record the sound of passing freight trains, which formed the core of the intro, and that all had to be done by night or they would have been spotted doing it.

Anyway I remember that they spent all night working on that section. If it had been just an EKG monitor that wouldn't have taken more than a couple of minutes.

Well my apologies, I was going off the live version of BW which just uses the heart monitor flatline. I didn't realize you were referring to "Ophidian" which runs 47 seconds as an intro to BW. Yes, there is clearly a lot more going on there than just a heart monitor.

 

[Traxan]

TJ of the "Do You Know Jack?" radio show conducted an interview with ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott at this year's edition of the Heavy Montreal festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. You can now listen to the chat using the Spreaker widget below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On ARCH ENEMY's plans to write and record the follow-up to 2014's "War Eternal":

"I think we're probably gonna write and record something next year, so it'll probably be 2017 when we put out a new record, realistically. We're a very fortunate band. We have a worldwide fanbase where we can go out and tour for two years, pretty much, all around the world successfully when we put out a new album. So it's a big job. It takes us a while to get around the world and play to everybody that wants to see us. So it takes time between albums."

On whether new ARCH ENEMY guitairst guitarist Jeff Loomis (ex-NEVERMORE) will appear on the band's next studio album:

"I hope so. That's what we're talking about. That's what we both want. So let's see. That's what we want. But, you know, it's still a ways away. We're gonna do that next year. But hopefully that's what's gonna happen. That's what we want."

 

[NK]

That's what we're talking about. But, you know, it's still a ways away. So, that's what we want. So it takes time between albums. So it's a big job.

 

[craptastic]

I didn't know Dreaming Neon Black was under rated.

I swore it was universally acknowledged as fucking amazing.


Everything about that album kicks you square in the teeth and doesn't stop from start to finish.

 

[craptastic]

I'm available

Well hang on, let me try to arrange this with Warrel & Jim. Haha

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

I really wouldn't mind hearing Mike and Jeff together on the next album. In the meantime, JL and WD can talk things through and make up. Give Van a call and square shit away. Everything's cool again. Far too talented a band to just stop making music because of alcohol or personal shit or whatever.

 

[Dead Winter]

Nevermore should get Christopher Amott and be done with it. They could tour with AE like they used to, and both guitarists could guest on some songs by each band on different dates. Jeff could come play a NM song and Chris could play old AE stuff from back in the day before they started using tits to sell records. Jeff is probably a better fit with AE and Chris Amott would be a great fit with NM, in theory at least. He could be a raging asshole for all I know; I just love his playing and his songwriting.

 

[neal]

interesting idea. the first Armageddon album is way better than any AE past the first 3. i do remember reading rumors that mike helped with a lot of riffs on that album, but who knows if it's true.

 

[Dead Winter]

Seriously. Christopher Amott's playing is so dynamic and varied that he can do anything; I think he'd be a perfect fit for Nevermore. He loves heavy, aggressive stuff but he also understands the less-is-more concept, something that was lacking in the last few years of Nevermore. He can play right alongside Loomis without ever missing a beat, but I think he'd bring something extra to the table that has been missing since the old days of NM.

This is just my opinion, but I prefer Chris' legato to Loomis' and I always have. Chris' playing is like a massage, whereas Loomis' style always felt more jarring, rawer.

Could you describe playing as creamy? That's Chris' playing to me. Loomis is like eating grana, whereas Chris' playing is like eating gelato. I love both of them, but Nevermore needs more gelato and less Grana Padano.

 

[Traxan]

Does Chris play a 7 string? That will be a requirement for touring and playing old material.

 

[Dead Winter]

Old Arch Enemy was played with 6-strings downtuned to B...it's not like you need any sort of special training to play a 7-string if you're already as good as Christopher Amott.

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

i like chris too but no way could he keep up with Jeff. Mike will have a hard time keeping up with Jeff if they record together. Guys like Jeff and Christian Muenzer are on another level totally.

 

[Traxan]

Cross your fingers this becomes permanent. I mean, flying Johan and Chris around the world for one show? That's a big deal.

----------

ARCH ENEMY will be rejoined by the band's original members Johan Liiva (vocals) and Christopher Amott (guitar) for their appearance at this year's edition of the Loud Park festival, set to take place October 10-11 at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan.

Liiva was replaced by German singer Angela Gossow as ARCH ENEMY's lead vocalist in 2000. Gossow exited the band in 2013 and was succeeded by former THE AGONIST frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz, while remaining as the group's manager.

Christopher Amott first left ARCH ENEMY in 2005, only to return to the group two years later. His second, and apparently final, departure came in March 2012.

ARCH ENEMY in November 2014 parted ways with guitarist Nick Cordle and replaced him with former NEVERMORE axeman Jeff Loomis. Loomis made his live debut with ARCH ENEMY on the band's fall 2014 European tour.

ARCH ENEMY headlined the 2015 installment of "Summer Slaughter". This tour marked the band's second North American run on this album cycle — but the first stateside trek to feature Loomis.

ARCH ENEMY's latest album, "War Eternal", sold around 8,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 44. The CD was released on June 10, 2014 in North America via Century Media Records. The cover artwork was created by Costin Chioreanu.

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

yea that's cool but sort of weird. no way is it permanent though.