For their seventh full-length studio album, Swedish melodic death metal/thrash band, Arch Enemy (Century Media), have taken a cue from their past. This may have nothing to do with the return of guitarist Chris Amott, since he left after the band's last album, 2005's Doomsday Machine. However, the emotional boost his bandmates (including his brother Michael Amott) received may have contributed to the more energized and melodic vibe of the songs. Not that Rise of the Tyrant sounds like Dokken. The songs are ferocious, raw and vital and singer/growler Angela Gossow is in peak form. But what makes the disc stick like an icepick to the forehead are the epic arrangements and blazing, intertwining guitar melodies. Stay tuned to Headbangers Ball Blog for a podcast with Gossow in the the next couple weeks.
Other new releases:
The Bled - Silent Treatment (Vagrant) -- Call them screamo, metalcore or mall metal, this Tucson, Arizona band rock. Silent Treatment is heavy, angular and edgy, converting pent-up aggression into a vicarious catharsis you can sometimes even hum.
Down - Down III: Over The Under (Independent Label Group) -- We've waited six years for this one, and, while we can't say we'd happily do it all over again, the band's third album doesn't disappoint. Combining the direct, throat-clenching riffs of their 1995 debut with the leaden, meandering grooves of Down II, Down III: Over the Under is a test of survival -- a harsh, visceral journey through a bleak, devastating landscape. If only these guys put out records more often.
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