Arch Enemy have been keeping a low profile for the last few years, losing a guitarist in the process but they are ready to return to the spotlight. It's been three years since the band released Khaos Legions and now the band has entered the mixing phase for their ninth studio release, War Eternal.
The band is working with engineer Jens Bogren (of Opeth and Kreator production fame) at Fascination Street in Sweden on the mixing.
As for the actual recording, the band did it all themselves, as guitarist Michael Amott states in the press release:
We've been producing ourselves, as we did on 'Khaos Legions'. We have a clear vision of what we want Arch Enemy to sound like, and we can actually achieve it without the help of outside producers. We also have the advantage of having two talented sound engineers among our ranks in Daniel Erlandsson (drums) and Nick Cordle (guitar).
We've been tracking at a few different studios here in Sweden, the drums at Fascination Street Studio and guitars and bass in another room. We just finished vocals in a third studio with engineer Staffan Karlsson ('Khaos Legions') and the mix and mastering will done by Jens Bogren at his Fascination Street mixing facility.
Musically, this album is going a few places we haven't visited before. As our fans have come expect, our albums have all had their own vibe and 'War Eternal' will leave its own mark. Lyrically it's a much more personal record, and I feel the songs have more dynamics and depth than ever before. The songs are loaded with strong and vicious metal, drenched in tons of melody and emotion. All the trademarks of Arch Enemy are present, just more in your face and turned up to 11".
As for the title of the album, Michael explains:
"A lot of times life is a struggle, a war against what I like to call 'mental chains' in society that try to prevent you from living life the way you want, that try to stop you from making your dreams come true. I have always resented that and I always will. The title sums up our collective attitude a band as well; stages will be destroyed, eardrums will bleed. There will be no choice. This, ladies and gentlemen, is 'War Eternal'…"
The band is hoping for an early June release of the album with Stateside touring planned in the fall and winter.
I am curious to hear what the new material sounds like. It's safe to say a lot of people will be comparing it to Carcass's highly revered 2013 release, Surgical Steel, which Amott decided not to play on to focus on Arch Enemy. Amott, of course, was the longtime guitarist for Carcass, and Arch Enemy is the band he formed once Carcass dissolved.
Here is an interview we conducted with Michael in 2010:
