Arch Enemy
Anthems of Rebellion (Century Media)
by Tim Den
In a completely unexpected turn of events, Arch Enemy have followed-up the brilliant Wages of Sin with arguably their weakest platter to date. No joke, Anthems of Rebellion reeks of amateur riffs, a suspicious stench of commerciality, and a child-like obsession with predictable E-minor progressions (low E chug chug chug, high E power chord, repeat) that makes you wonder if the band have traveled back in time and gotten their 15-year-old selves to write this thing. Hey hey hey, don’t kill the messenger, listen for yourself: The Rude Awakening-era Prong leftover “Leader of the Rats,” the atrocious ripoff of “Creeping Death” and Slayer’s “Spill the Blood” in “Exist to Exit,” the copying of classic Pestilence in “End of the Line,” not to mention the random “Fear Factory-style singing” in the latter (as well as in “Dehumanization”).
The only redeeming values here are – as always – vocalist Angela Gossow’s jagged/clearly-enunciated attacks, and a monumental stomper called “We Will Rise.” Hiding phantasmic melodies within dense chords, flying the verses low and then catapulting the dynamics into the chorus, “We Will Rise” is the only track on Anthems of Rebellion that figures out how to naturally build and release with equal parts ferocity, beauty, and smarts.
(2323 W. El Segundo Blvd. Hawthorne, CA 90250)