Non-gay bro thread a.k.a. Random offtopic stuff.

[Cronopio]

This sucks, obviously. Blasting some The Crown with Tomas on vox as we speak. He had so much good stuff. Yeah At the Gates, sure, but also Lock Up just to name one.

 

[DE4life]

Probably my favourite track from anything Lindberg did.

 

[ThePhobiac]

Very sad news. I was a bit late to the At the Gates party (introduced in 2009 with the debut album) but they are one of my favorite bands for sure. Lindberg seemed like a great person and I always liked his lyrics.

For the Sacrilege GBG fans among us, he was their live vocalist for at least one show back in the day. Great performance of one of my favorite songs:

 

[The Grayfox]

This one hurts. He was a pioneer. I saw somebody say earlier today that Tomas was to Gothenburg what Ozzy was to Birmingham.

So sad to see him go. What a fucking legend.

 

[Xpyro125]

Cemetery Skyline put out a new song sometime ago. You guys might’ve posted it and had that conversation already, maybe not, I don’t know since I’ve been really busy for a while now. It’s good, but I wish it had a nice rhythm section. Otherwise, there’s not really much I’d change.

Weirdly enough, the only link I could find for it is of the regular version, and the only version I can find on music services is the radio version. Really weird way to drop the song, but what do I know.

 

[The Grayfox]

I really, really like Cemetery Skyline. I knew I would, because I like so many gothic metal bands, doom bands, stuff in that vein. I know there is a new album coming next year, but I have no idea if this is a single from it or not. I listened to it when it first dropped and thought it was good. Still do. The debut album took a few listens to get adjusted to, but it became one of my favorite releases of 2024. Songs like The Darkest Lie and Never Look Back really went under the radar, which is a shame.

 

[DE4life]

Alissa has left Arch Enemy. The statements from both don't sound especially friendly. AE's is professional enough with a brief thanks. Alissa didn't give thanks to the band, just the fans.

 

[The Grayfox]

I think I lost interest in Arch Enemy long enough ago that I wasn't phased by her leaving. I also don't think she's all that great, to be honest. She's fine. When Angela was in the band, there was a certain rawness. And that was certainly lacking in the Alissa era imo. Maybe this will be the push that Michael needs to get inspired again. Such a ridiculously talented guy who has been phoning it in for a long time.

 

[Xpyro125]

I’m hoping that it’ll allow both parties to be better musicians— I enjoyed Alissa’s contributions to AE, but she felt so incredibly constrained in what she could do compared to just how varied and fantastic her vocals were in The Agonist. She already put out a new song on her own channel, but I haven’t listened to it yet. I should be more interested in it than I am, but I feel like it’d be the same sort of deal as how Tarja’s solo stuff ended up after she was out of Nightwish. As for Amott… I genuinely just do not care for his compositions anymore. Haven’t for years. He made some absolutely incredible stuff in the past, but we’re so far beyond that I’d genuinely rather hear what Björn’s got going on for IF’s next album’s guitarwork.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Angela’s coming out of retirement for real now. She already did vocals for the first time in over a decade and a half or so for an unfortunately shitty Amaranthe song where she and Elize somehow got outshined by Nils and Henrik on the album version, and apparently she’s been doing more vocals on her social media pages if I remember what I’ve heard correctly. The idea of her returning to AE probably sounds exciting, and I do love her as a vocalist, but the issues AE’s had for the past decade and a half to two decades has not been with the vocals. It wouldn’t be the shot in the arm the fans think the band needs, but they sure will think it is.

 

[The Grayfox]

Wasn't the Amaranthe thing like 5 or 6 years ago at this point? I dunno man, Angela is 51 years old and the last few Arch Enemy albums have started adding clean vocals. It's certainly possible, but if so, I'm not sure how that's going to work. Honestly I'd love to see her come back and would be quite excited for it, but I have my doubts.

 

[Xpyro125]

Sure, AE’s added cleans here and there, but it was barely ever despite Alissa’s talents. And Angela only growled on the one song, which I’m sure is still the case for her vocals, but eh. I don’t know if I’m coherent right now, I’m just waking up, so I’ll keep my message short.

 

[DE4life]

AE wasted the opportunity to use Alissa's clean vocals. She's not some special talent in this regard, but she's good, and I don't understand why you wouldn't make use of that more often. It's not like Arch Enemy are some bastions of Melodic Death Metal integrity, protecting the fans from the indignity of hearing clean vocals on MDM tracks. Maybe it was Alissa's preference to only do cleans very sparingly, I don't know, but it's a shame.

I never really cared for Angela Gossow's vocals, if I'm honest. She has little to no range, her vocals always sound the same and struggle to convey anything beyond anger. I say that based on her work before she left - but I doubt she's suddenly improved since then. She did some good stuff with AE early on, but listening to her on albums became monotonous to me and was part of the reason I stopped listening to AE in the end. She is, or was, a competent melodic death metal vocalist, but I wouldn't class her as anything other than that. I'm not sure at 51 and having not done anything substancial musically for a decade plus she'd be able or willing to come back to Arch Enemy full-time as their vocalist.

AE should be able to find a more sensible replacement without too much effort. Considering how limited Alissa was in terms of anything vocally challenging, they just need a competent MDM-style vocalist who can tour. Since their image is built on having an attractive female vocalist one assumes that will be the criteria this time around as well, but who knows.

 

[The Grayfox]

It would probably be beneficial for them to not get another female vocalist to be honest. Granted, Angela handpicked Alissa, so things may change this time around. I think it would actually be interesting if they got a male vocalist. They haven't had one since Johan (who in the last couple of days has confirmed he won't be returning.) If this were a band like, say, Unleash the Archers, where it doesn't feel like a gimmick, then sure. But its not like they're utilizing female operatic vocals or anything. I actually don't care for Arch Enemy songs with cleans in them, but that's just personal preference. I would be more than ok with Arch Enemy returning to a sound similar to Stigmata, when they WERE a really good MDM band.

 

[Xpyro125]

Honestly, I don’t think any vocalist could get them back to even their early-2000s output in terms of quality, much less Stigmata. Amott’s been an even less interesting guitarist than Björn at his worst this past decade, and I’ll stand by that opinion. Even more ‘recent’ songs I enjoyed like As the Pages Burn and Reason to Believe don’t even come close in that regard. Pages does have a nice groove to it and some great ending soloing, but most of the song’s guitarwork doesn’t try to do anything interesting until that ending, and the bridge is weak. My enjoyment of Reason to Believe, meanwhile, is absolutely not because of the guitars, though I can’t even say I fully appreciate it. The clean verse / harsh chorus structure is interesting and unconventional, but it does not work for the song at all. I like Alissa as a vocalist, both clean and harsh, but I wish the song only had her singing. Nothing since has interested me, and I genuinely forgot that Deceivers and Blood Dynasty were two separate albums until Alissa’s split from the band. That’s on Michael for me, his compositions for a good while now have done nothing for me.

I can understand people saying Alissa’s not the best vocalist, but for me it’s more that she didn’t fit what the band became and got wasted in it. If you listen to Void of Sympathy and Forget Tomorrow, you can see how she should’ve been able to shine with the old AE style and more recent (generic) AE style as well. For whatever reason, her talent was wasted. Same deal with Jeff Loomis, but even worse for him. I’m not the biggest Nevermore fan, but he is a fantastic guitarist when he’s good. He was wasted just the same.

Editing this to say yeah, pretty clear what my feelings on current AE are, lol lmao

 

[DE4life]

Unlike most people, I actually thought Will to Power was a solid album. The second half wasn't as good at the first, and it was derivative at points, but I liked the upbeat energy it had. The Race and Blood in the Water are very nice MDM tracks. The World Is Yours is good if you can get past the lyrics which are kind of silly. I remember a lot of people blaming Alissa for those lyrics, but it was Amott who wrote them, lol. Dreams of Retribution is a really weird song in many respects, but I like that it tries something different.

Their last two albums felt much less interesting, just the usual MDM fare that any band could put out. Some decent stuff on there, but nothing I haven't heard before from them and nothing that stood out to me as being different in a good way.

 

[The Grayfox]

The thing is, Michael Amott is a super talented guitarist and songwriter. I think he's just gotten complacent or he's stuck in an uninspired loop. They absolutely won't return to anything even close to the Stigmata/Burning Bridges days. First of all, that was a mix of Michael and Chris. Even though Michael, as I said, is tremendously talented, I think the brothers writing together is what made Stigmata and those early albums special. I really don't like their newest album at all. To me, it is their laziest effort to date. That isn't on Alissa either. I think War Eternal is her best album with them and that's possibly because Michael was fired up and wanted to make sure her first album with the band was a good one. The same thing could happen again this time. Will to Power had some good songs on it too. Deceivers does have one song in particular that I do really enjoy, which is Poisoned Arrow.

Loomis is one of the best guitarists I've ever heard. Granted, I'm a HUGE Nevermore fan (fucking stoked as hell we're getting a new version of the band next year, btw), but still, what an amazing player. He was absolutely wasted in Arch Enemy, and I think he knew it. I think that's why he re-activated Nevermore. I get that Arch Enemy is Michael's band, but when you've got a lead powerhouse like Jeff Loomis, why the hell would you not utilize him?

 

[DE4life]

Seems to be a common theme in Swedish MDM bands. Super talented musicians arrive and proceed to have no noticeable impact on the sound. Maybe it's a cultural thing.

 

[drawntoblack]

I think reactivation of Nevermore has more to do with finally enough time having passed where the brand can command a decently high price again than whatever epiphany Loomis had. I think he knew exactly what he was signing up for when he accepted the Arch Enemy gig.
As for Nevermore, remember that Warrel played with a bunch of random dudes from south america and performed the material, and it wasn't exactly expensive either. It's all just good timing is what it is.

Can Nevermore attract more $$$ than Arch Enemy? Doubtful, even without Alissa. He must have some really big names locked in for the line up that will raise the profile of the brand.

 

[Cronopio]

Check out Adrienne Cowan from Seven Spires. She can growl and sing clean, and switch between them effortlessly. She's been doing great stuff live with Avantasia too, even though that's hardly extreme metal.

She'd be a potential candidate for AE, but I wouldn't want her to join them, as that would surely impede any activities with SS, who are far superior.

 

[Xpyro125]

100% agreed, she’s fantastic. She even made it into an Arknights song of all things, and it was both surprisingly good and surprisingly metal. Absolutely killer vocalist, it’s awesome to see her get more recognition.