Metal Monday: Arch Enemy Q&A

posted in: Exclusive Interviews • Rock

Arch Enemy are no rookies to the melodic death metal scene. The Amott brothers and company have been around since the early ’90s, churning out solid metal album after solid metal album. It seems that their musical prowess might be approaching its climax, as Khaos Legions is their most prolific, varied and technical work to date. We got a chance to ask Michael Amott some questions regarding the new album, his guitar playing, influences and working with his brother. Check out what he had to say:

OS: Khaos Legions is a bit of a departure from Rise of the Tyrant. What sorts of ideas did you have coming into writing and recording it?

MA: We really had a “no rules” approach during the writing and pre-production phase of Khaos Legions. Arch Enemy has always encompassed a wide spectrum of influences. We have influences from thrash and death metal, but also classic metal/hard rock. The idea from the very beginning of the band was to blend heavy and extreme sounds with a lot of melody. I had so many guitar ideas for this album, it was just a matter of getting everything to fit together and make good songs out of all the riffs and melodies that we all had been writing and collecting over a four-year period. As you said, there are some new sounds on Khaos Legions” and I am really happy about that! We don’t want to become too predictable as band. We want to continuously progress, yet remain true to our “core sound”.

OS: The guitar work on Khaos Legions has a lot of variation, more so than usual. How much of this was a conscious effort?

MA: We always try to have a lot variety and exciting, quality guitar parts. I think on this new album everything just came together in a very cool way for whatever reason. In the writing and pre-production phase we could tell that we were more inspired than ever before, we had an absolute abundance of riffs and melodies to work with and we had a blast arranging the material.

OS: What sort of dynamic do you and Chris have when writing? How do you think it changes how you write, compared to when you were writing with Carcass or other bandmates?

MA: As Chris is my brother, we have played guitar together so much that we have a pretty non-verbal and very intuitive relationship when we write and arrange guitar parts and songs. I very much enjoy writing and recording with other players, but obviously it will always be special with Chris.

OS: The break between Rise of the Tyrant and Khaos Legions is the longest yet“how much of an effect do you think that had on how you approached Khaos Legions?

MA: Well, the riffs just kept piling up you know? We never stop writing really, we always jam and come up with new ideas backstage before a show or on the bus or in a hotel room. We’re always playing guitar! The longer break between albums meant we had more material to choose from and also Khaos Legions captures the bands sound over a longer time period (four years). I personally think this is obvious when I listen to the album and I hope the fans will appreciate the work that went into the creation of the music.

OS: There aren’t really any acts out there that share yours and Chris’ guitar style, primarily that found on the new album. Where do your primary influences come from?

MA: Our influences cover a wide spectrum of music styles and genres. Of course we have the Metal influences that you’d expect, but we listen to a lot of music that might seem like an odd fit for a band like us. As we all know, there’s only two kinds of music: good and bad! We are not afraid to play major key stuff for example”we try to paint with all colors that are available to us.

OS: Do you think taking the short break from writing/playing with Arch Enemy to do a few shows with Carcass have anything to do with the evolving sound of Arch Enemy?

MA: I think you are right”that had an impact on Khaos Legions. With Arch Enemy we had been in the album-tour-album-tour routine for so long, I think it was a good idea to break that and have a new fresh perspective on what we do with Arch Enemy.

OS: You’ve played/wrote a ton of albums at this point in your career, whether with Arch Enemy, Carcass, Carnage or guest spots. Which of these are most special to you, and why?

MA: That’s a tough question for me to answer, but I have to admit that the new Arch Enemy Khaos Legions strikes me as being one of those defining moments as I managed to get what’s in my head out and capture it perfectly. Other recordings I am proud of are Arch Enemy’s Wages Of Sin and Carcass’ Heartwork.

Do yourself a favor and check out Khaos Legions.  It’s hot off the presses via Century Media records”and it’s a really good album (especially if you love face-melting guitar solos and really good female vocalists). You can grab the album from iTunes, Amazon or your local record store (if those even exist near you anymore).