Thoughts on new Arch Enemy

There seems to be a minor trend with bands these days on rerecording songs or albums with current singers. So far in my opinion they haven't really panned out. Iced Earth and Exodus comes to mind for instance. Personally I think it's a slap in the face of the former singer to rerecord their material and then tour under that package.

Arch Enemy continues this with their new album The Root of all Evil. It's a collection of songs spanning the first three albums with Johan Liiva, who I understand was fired because his stage presence wasn't dynamic enough, rerecorded with Angela Gassow on vocals.

Her efforts to bring a feminine touch to death metal vocals has not done her any favors over the last few years. While the muscianship is top notch as usual, her vocals are to the point on this album that I can't understand a word she's saying where as with Johan I could. This band drives me nuts. I want to like them more but the vocals kill it for me everytime and it's even worse this go around.

The first three albums put this band on the map but their popularity and legacy is with Angela. Rerecording these songs seems to be more of a cash grab with no real value beyond the originals. I'd recommend this to new listeners maybe, but long time fans would do well to stay away from it. These guys have had plenty of time to record new material and instead dip into the well and insult a former member by putting this waste of time out.