The truth is, there are not enough death metal bands that are making ‘fun’ death metal. That’s a weird sentiment to express about the death metal genre, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Arch Enemy makes fun death metal. The band’s new album “Blood Dynasty” proves that, beyond all doubt.
There are critics and fans alike out there who are clinging to some bygone idea that Arch Enemy shouldn’t be making fun death metal - these are the last adherents to an older, less refined version of the band, but the truth of the matter is this - if the album “Root of All Evil,” which contained a series of re-imagined recordings from the band’s first three albums, served as the pivot point in the idiomatic expression of Arch Enemy, than the band has been this incarnation equally as long as they were that other one. Frankly, this is the better half of their career (see also: similar arguments about Soilwork.)
The reason Arch Enemy remains so vital in this space is that they’ve never lost the sense of the big hook. The band can be as heavy as they want, but there’s always a big, melodic, twin-guitared touchstone that makes each song distinct and memorable.
Go no further than the opening cut “Dream Stealer,” which is as chaotic and hammering as one can imagine, but then out of nowhere comes this buzzsaw bridge riff that would sound right at home on “Painkiller,” into a huge melodic chorus, and then back under the waves into the miasma.
It’s not just that, though - Arch Enemy succeeds on “Blood Dynasty” by pulling from a lot of metal corners and folding them into a sound that’s still Arch Enemy. Honestly, “March of the Miscreants” is not only an automatic singalong from the mosh pulpit, but might be the best Fear Factory song since “Slave Labor.”
Looking elsewhere, there’s a lot on “Blood Dynasty” that borrows heavily from the halcyon days of thrash. “Don’t Look Down”? Thrash song. “Paper Tiger”? Thrash song. “Liars and Thieves”? Thrash song. Again, there are probably going to be detractors who claim that such deviations aren’t in the best interest of Arch Enemy, but the answer to that is simply to listen to the songs! They’re fun in that way that thrash can motor along sounding like a tank rolling on old window cases. This is what we mean when we talk about ‘fun’ death metal. It can’t be all single-note musically, where everything is a slog and there’s no space to breathe. Arch Enemy understands that.
Briefly, let’s draw attention to “Vivre Libre.” Notable because it’s written in French, assuredly one of the native tongues of Quebecois vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, and that’s cool in and of itself. There’s been some push recently by a small handful of bands to write the occasional song in their native language rather than the language of business, which is a trend that one hopes continues. The song is perhaps more notable though, for featuring Alissa singing, rather than screaming or growling. And she’s pretty good!
What do we really have here, then? “Blood Dynasty” is a proto-thrash death metal record from veterans who understand what it takes to be successful and to survive for decades in the metal space. It’s stuffed full of fast riffs, blistering solos and all the associated piss and vinegar one expects from music of this type. And it’s fun. That’s important, damn it.
No comments:
Post a Comment