Non-gay bro thread a.k.a. Random offtopic stuff.
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New Diablo single is out, and full album too in a few weeks. Really looking forward to this.
Also, new Arch Enemy single. It's gay as shit and I struggle to fathom what is happening to this band. AE now has clean vocals and is playing cheesy death'n'roll or whatever you would call it?
Also, new Arch Enemy single. It's gay as shit and I struggle to fathom what is happening to this band. AE now has clean vocals and is playing cheesy death'n'roll or whatever you would call it?
On the music side, it sounds good to me. I especially like the long solo part. To me it has good “golden era” late 90s melodic death metal vibes without any “grim” posturing. Just rocking out. The same vibes that got In Flames in trouble for selling out the first time around Whoracle-Colony-Clayman. Overall happy and uplifting but still aggressive.
For the vocals, Johan is the best but we lost him like 20-25 years ago. They should just bring him back but they won’t. All the ladies after him sound the same to me and kind of weak but the music is still good.
Overall I like it! I don’t follow AE that closely these days so a departure from their formula doesn’t bother me.
New AE single sounds solid to me. But I also really, really liked Will to Power, and this is following in the same vein as that album. Solo section especially reminds me a lot of Will to Power. Clean singing doesn't bother me. Not like IF, DT, Soilwork and most of the other MDM bands of the 90s haven't been doing that for literally decades now. At least Alissa has a decent, natural singing voice, unlike a certain Mr A. Friden.
I do like how classic Arch Enemy is held up as some kind of gold standard when, in reality, they were always a pretty fucking generic MDM band whose only defining feature after Johan left was having a female growler.
I do like how classic Arch Enemy is held up as some kind of gold standard when, in reality, they were always a pretty fucking generic MDM band whose only defining feature after Johan left was having a female growler.
The new Arch Enemy song is so bad. Cheesy cleans, badly written music, rehashing old riffs and melodies again and again and again... That part lifted straight from Fields of Desolation is just pathetic.
Basically, the whole point of the band now is how good the singer looks in tight pants and a revealing top while she walks in slow motion through the fire/rain/fog/smoke/dark...
Then again, they haven't released a good album for 15 or so years, so not surprising at all. 'Twas a good band once.
Basically, the whole point of the band now is how good the singer looks in tight pants and a revealing top while she walks in slow motion through the fire/rain/fog/smoke/dark...
Then again, they haven't released a good album for 15 or so years, so not surprising at all. 'Twas a good band once.
I liked Johan’s voice. Some people thought it was amateur. They said the same thing about Anders in In Flames, Lindberg in At the Gates, others. Doesn’t bother me. It’s metal and some dude is literally screaming into a mic. It’s supposed to sound harsh and distinctive. All the ladies in AE have been generic sounding as hell.
Johan had a very raw edge to his voice. Sounded like punk mixed with death metal. Never really appealed to me, but it didn't bother me either.
Gossow & Alissa are more traditional MDM growls/screams. Nothing especially distinctive about them (other than the fact they are women fronting an extreme metal band) but nothing particularly offensive either. To me, anyway.
Gossow & Alissa are more traditional MDM growls/screams. Nothing especially distinctive about them (other than the fact they are women fronting an extreme metal band) but nothing particularly offensive either. To me, anyway.
For sure. Take away Gossow and they're really just another Night In Gales, Skyfire, Nightrage, etc.
I think Gossow's vocal lines sounded that way because her vocals were extremely processed, so it comes off as almost robotic on record. I remember hearing 'Nemesis' from Doomsday Machine and thinking wow, that sounds pretty good. Then I actually listened to Doomsday Machine and it was the only good song on the record. Everything else was boring as fuck. Summed up how it was in general with Arch Enemy for me - I'd hear a song that sounded cool, check out the album and at best find one or two other decent tracks. The rest were painfully average.
Well, all I can say is whatever their style of MDM was it never really interested me that much. From their 'glory years' spanning 1996 to 2005 I only really like Bury Me an Angel, Burning Angel, Ravenous, We Will Rise, Dead Eyes See No Future and Nemesis. Now granted I like these songs a lot, but they are generally the more commercial AE tracks. More or less all of the singles released from those albums.
Awesome track. Maybe I need to go back and try to listen to Black Earth again.
Arch Enemy was so much heavier with Johan. It’s not just the vocals either. The guitars got cleaner/flatter, not in a good way. Probably from moving to digital techniques. But the older stuff is just so much thicker, stronger.
A lot of similarities between Arch Enemy 97-99 and In Flames Colony and Clayman. Dual harmonies, epic solos, upbeat vibes despite being metal.
With Angela they also got more serious with their subject matter, war this, battle that, adopted a darker tone. Probably to counteract the sex appeal criticism. Anyway, they sounded freer with Johan as well.
A lot of similarities between Arch Enemy 97-99 and In Flames Colony and Clayman. Dual harmonies, epic solos, upbeat vibes despite being metal.
With Angela they also got more serious with their subject matter, war this, battle that, adopted a darker tone. Probably to counteract the sex appeal criticism. Anyway, they sounded freer with Johan as well.
The moment they got famous in the US, they started dumbing down the music and focusing more on catchy stuff and the singer.
For me, the last truly good AE album was Wages of Sin. The next 2 or 3 albums were decent but with less exciting guitar stuff and more filler songs. Then they went downhill fast with Khaos Legions and later albums. Even more commercial sounding and looking singer, lyrics and themes were targeted more on angsty teens, zero creativity, basic riffing, recycled solos and melodies... At some point, even the basic songwriting wasn't there as different parts of the song just didn't fit together.
On top of all that, they finally properly replaced Chris Amott with Jeff Loomis, but then decided they'll just let him do the rhythm guitar and occasional short secondary solo. Just weird.
When there re-recorded the old songs in 2009 with The Root of All Evil it was funny to see that even with the same material, they just can't make something as good as their first few albums. Although that compilation wasn't as bad as IF attempt of Clayman 2020.
For me, the last truly good AE album was Wages of Sin. The next 2 or 3 albums were decent but with less exciting guitar stuff and more filler songs. Then they went downhill fast with Khaos Legions and later albums. Even more commercial sounding and looking singer, lyrics and themes were targeted more on angsty teens, zero creativity, basic riffing, recycled solos and melodies... At some point, even the basic songwriting wasn't there as different parts of the song just didn't fit together.
On top of all that, they finally properly replaced Chris Amott with Jeff Loomis, but then decided they'll just let him do the rhythm guitar and occasional short secondary solo. Just weird.
When there re-recorded the old songs in 2009 with The Root of All Evil it was funny to see that even with the same material, they just can't make something as good as their first few albums. Although that compilation wasn't as bad as IF attempt of Clayman 2020.
Had to listen to the old AE stuff today.
So many good songs. If you can find a lot of Iron Maiden stuff in early and mid In Flames, AE seems to be a death metal version of Judas Priest or something. A lot of Scorpions and Carcass influences as well.
While most of their best stuff is spread across the first 3 albums, Wages of Sins is just so tight in every aspect. Sounds perfect even after 20 years.
So that's Clayman, A Predator's Portrait, Blackwater Park, Wages of Sin and Haven, recorded and released in 2000/01. Studio Fredman had a great year.
So many good songs. If you can find a lot of Iron Maiden stuff in early and mid In Flames, AE seems to be a death metal version of Judas Priest or something. A lot of Scorpions and Carcass influences as well.
While most of their best stuff is spread across the first 3 albums, Wages of Sins is just so tight in every aspect. Sounds perfect even after 20 years.
So that's Clayman, A Predator's Portrait, Blackwater Park, Wages of Sin and Haven, recorded and released in 2000/01. Studio Fredman had a great year.
mindd
Faithless by Default
Shame about Fredrik Johansson, he seemed like such a nice dude. RIP.
Burning Bridges (the last one with Johan) is my favorite AE album. IMO on that one his vocals were the best out of all three and melodies are quite fun.
Fun Fact about classic AE! - those three albums with Johan were crazy popular in Japan for some reason and there are a lot of Liiva Arch Enemy fans still, so the full Burning Bridges era lineup have reunited as Black Earth in 2016 and were touring across Japan in 2016-2017 and 2019 playing songs from albums with Johan. They have even recorded three new songs (the last of them is actually Crucified by Army of Lovers in disguise):
Burning Bridges (the last one with Johan) is my favorite AE album. IMO on that one his vocals were the best out of all three and melodies are quite fun.
Fun Fact about classic AE! - those three albums with Johan were crazy popular in Japan for some reason and there are a lot of Liiva Arch Enemy fans still, so the full Burning Bridges era lineup have reunited as Black Earth in 2016 and were touring across Japan in 2016-2017 and 2019 playing songs from albums with Johan. They have even recorded three new songs (the last of them is actually Crucified by Army of Lovers in disguise):
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