July 23, 2003 - Anthems Of Rebellion

A day after my last release and a little over two years since "Wages Of Sin", Arch Enemy released their fifth album "Anthems Of Rebellion" on July 23, 2003. Arch Enemy are still playing the same style of melodic death metal, but they add a member and become a six-piece on this album with Per Wiberg joining as their first keyboardist! I'm interested to see how Arch Enemy play with keyboards in the mix, let's check it out!

The album begins with a short introduction called "Tear Down The Walls" and it's the sound of an army of people chanting that keeps growing louder until they slam into the next track "Silent Wars". As usual I'm not sure which Amott brother is playing what on guitar (Michael and Christopher), but whoever is on lead fires right into a fast-paced, stop-and-start main riff that sounds pretty cool and the rhythm section nicely and heavily backs it. Angela Gossow eventually comes in to scream the first verse and she sounds so dirty and heavy with her high screams! After a couple nice rounds things slow down as they shift to a new riff led by some cool guitars by both Amotts as they nicely play off each other. Then one of them takes off on a slow, melodic and pretty cool guitar solo. Then the other Amott fires off with a much faster solo and this one sounds phenomenal, lots of great shredding! A final chorus nicely closes it out and this was a pretty typical(ly awesome) way to kick things off! Track 3 was the lead single "We Will Rise" and it's driven by a fairly simple chorus riff, but it sounds decently heavy still even though it's not all that flashy. Sharlee D'Angelo's bass shines in the pretty quiet verse and Gossow takes the spotlight with a creepy and heavy verse, and a chorus that is plenty heavy but also decently catchy, for death metal at least! After the next round it's solo time and the solo starts off slow, but does ramp up at the end with some nice faster stuff. I can see why this was a single, but a band this heavy shouldn't try to pander to a made-for-radio audience. The next track "Dead Eyes See No Future" was also a single, but it sounds like a typical Arch Enemy song that is fast-paced with a heavy rhythm section and lots of complex and cool guitars. The main riff is quite heavy, especially for a single, and there's even a short solo before the first verse! Gossow screams a pretty heavy and sweet verse overtop and there's even a second awesome guitar solo before we even reach the chorus! The chorus has a simpler guitar riff but Gossow still sounds great screaming overtop and before the next round we're treated to a third short, but super sweet guitar solo! After the next round it's time for a longer solo, but this one is easily the worst of the five on the song. It leads nicely into a soft, epic new part though and this somehow leads smoothly into the chorus! A fifth and final solo closes things out and it's back to being pretty awesome, all the short solos were wicked! Track 5 is "Instinct" and it's the first song that we really notice Wiberg as he plays a repetitive but catchy keyboard riff that drives the main riff, with your usual heavy and solid rhythm section. The chorus is led by a super cool guitar riff is super low and sounds so dirty! The other Amott plays some cool faster guitar overtop and Gossow sounds sweet as well, making this a pretty complete and cool chorus! After another round we get another pretty sweet guitar solo and it leads perfectly back into the heavy chorus and Daniel Erlandsson is playing some great drums throughout this one. Up next is "Leader Of The Rats" and after a pretty cool short intro they settle into a similarly cool main riff with both Amott brothers playing some more pretty cool guitars. Gossow sounds great screaming in a nice range of high and low vocals and they roll right into a pretty similar chorus. After another round things quiet right down as D'Angelo takes over with a cool bass riff and Wiberg adds some trippy keyboards to the mix. From here they nicely ramp into solo time and it's a truly epic solo that isn't their flashiest but it fits the mood perfectly. They close it out predictably but it was another pretty solid tune! Track 7 is "Exist To Exit" and it's got a much slower pace than most of the album with one Amott playing some slow but solid guitar and a dark and creepy rhythm section backs him. Once the guitar cranks up things sound pretty epic and decently heavy and Gossow screams another great verse overtop. The speed picks up in  the pretty heavy and cool chorus, then they slow right back down for another long verse. After the next round there's a short but solid guitar solo, a final chorus, and then they jam out a new riff for the final minute-plus, but it's a pretty bland way to wrap things up honestly. The next track is a short one called "Marching On A Dead End Road" and both Amott brothers are playing acoustic guitar on this minute-plus interlude. The rhythm riff is slow but pretty cool and the lead guitar is fast and pretty sweet overtop. It's a nice light little interlude! Track 9 is "Despicable Heroes" and they jump right into a super fast and heavy main riff with some cool lead guitar and some great heavy rhythm guitar and bass. Gossow sounds scary good overtop and everything sounds so heavy and awesome, it's like thrash metal on steroids! This song is just over two minutes, but it's relentlessly the whole.way and one of my favourites off the album! Up next is "End Of The Line" and it's driven by a main riff that has a nice mix of heavy and catchy with some accessible and cool lead guitar overtop a nice heavy rhythm section. Gossow screams another great, heavy verse and things roll into a pretty solid chorus with some decent backing vocals by Christopher Amott as well. It mixes well with Angela's screams, and she still sounds so dirty and so metal! After another round there's a pretty epic and cool guitar solo that takes over, then they fall slowly back into the chorus. Track 11 is "Dehumanization" and Erlandsson starts us off with a cool drum beat, then a pretty wicked guitar riff enters and for a main riff it's a pretty sweet one. Christopher adds more backing vocals to the verse and once again he blends nicely with Gossow's much heavier vocals. They slam into a slow but super heavy headbanger of a chorus and everything sounds pretty sweet here too! After another awesome round each Amott gets a turn to solo in a nice back-to-back part! Wiberg ends the song with some creepy and cool piano as well. This was definitely up there, another great metal song! The next song is less than a minute long and it's called "Anthem". It's led by some slow and epic lead guitar and for a short song it's pretty sweet honestly! It leads right into the album's final track "Saints And Sinners" and they kick right into a typical(ly heavy and cool) main riff with some fast rhythm guitar and some even faster lead guitar! Gossow sounds great throughout the song and when she screams "bow down and worship me!", I'm inclined to do so! The chorus has some lighter but cool keyboards by Wiberg and some great bass by D'Angelo if you can pick it out amongst everything else. After another solid round it's solo time and once again each Amott gets a chance to solo with them both playing some slow-to-fast, epic stuff. A final verse and chorus later and this album is brought to a nice epic finish.

That is the end of "Anthems Of Rebellion" and I thought it was another pretty cool album from Arch Enemy. The music continues to be tons of great metal riffs and solos, though the keyboards were a little disappointing and not very much in the forefront. Angela Gossow is such a great vocalist and like their last album I think it's way better than any of their albums with original vocalist Johan Liiva. It's really close with "Wages Of Sin", but I give thr slight edge to this new album, so we have a new top rung on the ladder! Can Arch Enemy continue to climb?