“Get out of hell if you can’t take the heat.”
Sweden is a model country. Meatballs, lutefisk, and melodic death metal.
For adherents of the melodic death metal space, names like At the Gates and Amon Amarth should ring some riff-riddled bells. On the off chance you’ve never heard Slaughter of the Soul or Twilight of the Thunder God, there are reasonable grounds to label you an uncultured swine. But we more than likely needn’t worry ourselves with such an absurd and unlikely possibility. Since you—of course—know who those bands are, it’s as equally likely you’ve heard of Arch Enemy. Like their two previously mentioned constituents, Arch Enemy hail from the Northern Light overlayed skies of Sweden, Arch Enemy are among the perennial sustainers of Swedish melodic death metal, and Arch Enemy seem to completely knock it out of the park every time they release. That time is once again upon us. At Lucky Album Number Twelve comes arguably their most experimental and ambitious body of work to date, Blood Dynasty.
When you consider the longevity of Arch Enemy, monotony should have reared its ugly head at some point over the course of their discography. In fairness, we have seen some similarities from album to album. Yet Arch Enemy never truly gave us the same record more than once. That is an enterprise that many outfits wish they could hang their hats on. It may boil down to a stringent and tightly coupled set of components having to do with both the arena of sound in which they operate and the specific individuals within the band.
First, melodic death metal inherently allows for more variation comparatively to other subgenres. Creativity from an instrumental standpoint is more free-ranging given the melodious style. Some songs can sound crushing while others trade frenetic structure for technicality. Arch Enemy have evidently been around the block several times since 1996. That extent of veterancy ostensibly accounts for the vast array of constructive discrepancies between each composition. Even with cases of mirrored song structure, it seems that Arch Enemy always has new tricks up their sleeves whether by way of soulfully choking solos, meaty riffs, or highly technical bridges.
Second, Arch Enemy is undoubtedly comprised of some of the most talented musicians in melodic death metal. That statement is long past toeing the line of opinion or fact; it’s the unequivocal gospel. Longtime guitarist and founding member Michael Amott has a storied and well-deserved reputation as perhaps the best melodic death metal guitarist in the world (and probably the universe). An absolute labyrinthian of seething riffs and face-melting solos, Amott himself is worthy of a dissertation outlining his contributions to the genre.
Bassist Sharlee D’Angelo and drummer Daniel Erlandsson, both of whom are also longstanding members, are established names in melodic death metal, as well. D’Angelo’s penchant for being able to match Amott’s pace is nothing short of incredible to witness. By bassist standards, to not only do it consistently but consistently well is sparingly seen. Newly introduced shredder Joey Concepcion of Armageddon—brother of Michael Amott and two-time Arch Enemy guitarist, Christopher Amott’s other project—is quickly making a name for himself too. Combine that with Erlandsson’s lightning-fast and highly disciplined percussion work, you have the foundation for a model melodic death metal act. Likened to similar bands, the final and perhaps most important piece is a versatile vocalist.
There really is no amount of verbiage that could appropriately express the footprint Alissa White-Gluz has made not just in melodic death metal, but even metalcore. Formerly of Canadien core act, The Agonist, White-Gluz took up the reins of Angela Gossow in 2014 prior to the release of War Eternal. Just as well-known for her unclean vocals as she is for her raw singing ability, Alissa White-Gluz came to Arch Enemy at the direct recommendation of Gossow. That very well may have been the best decision they ever made.
With these guiding integrants in mind, Blood Dynasty begins with “Dream Stealer”. Already, we see just how much Arch Enemy was willing to venture outside of their comfort zone on this record. Furiously polyrhythmic at every level, listeners will get an uncountable amount of tempo changes on Blood Dynasty’sopening track that are seamlessly woven together. Sweden’s ariose wizards are at it again. Buckle up.
While we have heard quiet snippets of White-Gluz’s singing ability since she joined Arch Enemy over a decade ago, Blood Dynasty offers that in full force. “Illuminate the Path” sees her first completely clean chorus as Arch Enemy’s frontwoman. Just as commanding as her growls, White-Gluz’s vocal occupancy is even more palpable than usual on Blood Dynasty.
On tracks such as “March of the Miscreants”, “A Million Suns”, and “Don’t Look Down”, it won’t take long to hear the several branches of death metal converge into Arch Enemy’s probing sound. Thrash-parallel solos, tech-death chugs, and the occasional helping of classic death metal are all superbly integrated. It is not only that all these influences intersect on Blood Dynasty, but that it is done with maximal precision that never seems to overdo it at the expense of Arch Enemy’s signature chime. Maintaining an unending equilibrium in any case of sound trialing is damn near impossible to accomplish. There is always the conundrum of facilitating a medium such that a band’s trademark way of doing things can effectively coalesce with anecdotal incorporations of differing elements. When you look at Arch Enemy through a pure musicianship lens, it’s hardly any surprise such an undertaking has turned out this well, so far.
The cross-genre analysis continues on the titular track. With guitar work corresponsive to power metal yet plenty of death sections omnipresent as always, “Blood Dynasty” in many ways has the anatomy of coming close to breaking the equipoise Arch Enemy has managed to preserve up to this point of the album. Key phrase: coming close. The melodic underpinnings of the song ensure that threshold is not breached.
It is well known that Arch Enemy has occasionally covered songs over the years. What had yet to occur up to this point was a covered song making it onto an actual album, as previous instances were only present on compilations. Giving an ode to French group Blaspheme, “Vivre Libre” showcases a fully clean vocal performance from White-Gluz in what could be the most pleasant surprise of “Blood Dynasty”. Who’s to say whether Arch Enemy will persist in covering songs going forward such that we get to hear more of White-Gluz’s exemplary range. If so, that stands to be wholeheartedly welcomed.
“Paper Tiger”, “The Pendulum”, and “Liars & Thieves” close out Arch Enemy’s lab test of genre concatenation with more of what has made Blood Dynasty unique. The three tracks just as functionally embody the healthy meld of external impact as any other song Arch Enemy has formulated on their latest outing.
Unapologetically pragmatic and exploratory in every sense of production, Blood Dynasty is far and away the most zealous achievement of Arch Enemy to date. While it won’t wind up being their quintessential record, it nonetheless is poised to open a potential myriad of possibilities for which Arch Enemy can capitalize on. Should they manage to routinely strike a balance between what they’ve become renowned for and cohesively intermingle contemporary set pieces, there may be no limit to what they could continue to accomplish on top of what many would gather to be an already fully consummated career. Their ceiling just got higher. Again.
9/10
Bloody Dynasty releases on March 28th through Century Media Records, and you can preorder it here.