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July 24, 2008 |
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Michael Amott
December 1, 2004
By Tony Antunovich
Photography by Omer R. Cordell
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The name ARCH ENEMY is one of the most prestigious in metal today. Since 1996, the Swedish extreme melodic death metal band have been producing some of the highest quality music you will ever find in the metal genre. For the past month or so, ARCH ENEMY have been out on tour with CRADLE OF FILTH, HIMSA, and BLEEDING THROUGH. I sat down with ARCH ENEMY founder/guitarist Michael Amott before the show at the Commodore in Vancouver. During our conversation, Michael and I talked about the current tour, the band's new EP, plans for the new ARCH ENEMY album, and much more. Aside from being a first-class guitar player, Michael is also one of the most down-to-earth musicians I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, and I am grateful for being able to sit down with him for this chat.
How is the tour going so far?
We're very excited. It's actually a real smooth tour for us. Everything has been really, really good.
How have the guys in CRADLE OF FILTH been treating you?
Very well! No complaints whatsoever. It's been a pleasure. We kind of know them - their drummer is the brother of our drummer, so there's a connection there. They're from England and our tour manager has previously worked with them, so there is a relationship there. Everything has been real smooth. It's been good - good shows.
How about HIMSA and BLEEDING THROUGH?
Good. I mean, they bring another different style to the package. This tour was put together by I believe MTV2 Headbangers Ball in the U.S. I don't know if you get that over here or not....
We get MTV Canada.
But yeah, they have the Headbangers Ball thing. I guess they wanted quite a varied package, and that's what you get, I guess (laughs). But it's all kind of aggressive music, you know.
I heard that MTV2 dropped off though.
Yeah. I heard about that as well. But I don't know. We kind of got most of the promotion we needed out of that anyway, I guess. We did the Headbangers Ball show as guests. But yeah.... I don't know. I don't get involved in the politics. It's not our tour. We just happen to be here, and as far as we're concerned, it's a CRADLE OF FILTH tour.
It's a CRADLE OF FILTH / ARCH ENEMY tour. That's the way I look at it.
(Laughs)
You guys are a big name now. The band has been around since '96.
Well, we're working on it. It's getting bigger. It's going the right way. Every time we tour, it gets bigger. Every time we put out a CD it's the same - it's going that way. It hasn't leveled out yet. It hasn't dropped, so that's good (laughs).
You just released your new EP in the U.S. and Europe.
Yeah. It came out the same time in Europe, but it was actually released in Japan. It was to commemorate a tour we did over there in June. It worked well - that package that we decided to put out in America and Europe as well, because otherwise people have to buy expensive imports and stuff like that.
Well, it's a great package.
Yeah. It's good - with the cover versions. There's some interesting material in there.
Speaking of the covers, ARCH ENEMY rerecorded a CARCASS classic.
Yeah.
Was that your decision to do that or did the band have input as well?
Yeah, the other guys absolutely wanted to do it. I know Daniel (Erlandsson), our drummer, and Sharlee (D'Angelo) - I think the other guys really wanted to do it. I never thought I'd go there and rerecord something like that, but obviously it was quite easy for us to do because I knew the song - the riffs - whatever. So, that one was quite easy to nail. It came out sounding really, really good, so I was quite pleased with that. The other cover versions was also stuff that we kind of half knew a little bit - jam to a little bit - just messing around. So, the cover versions - we didn’t really pick "out there" songs. We just kind of went with what we knew, so it was kind of the easy way out.
How did it feel for you to rerecord a song that you had originally recorded with your former band?
It was tight this time (laughs). I guess it was easier in a way, you know. I guess I've become a better guitar player.
Angela's vocals on all three covers are just amazing. The whole production of those covers turned out really well.
Yeah, they did. We actually recorded them in a studio that I'm involved with out of town, so that was like our first testing of the waters. We might end up recording the next album there. So, it was good to get our opportunity to go in there and try out that studio.
Is that in Sweden?
Yeah. It's in our hometown.
What Studio?
Slaughterhouse.
I don't know if I've heard of it.
No. It's brand new. We've just done that there really. It's in an old slaughter house – that's why it has the name. It's in the old office space of some cat food factory or something (laughs). But the smell is long since gone. There's only metal now.
What's your overall take on the current metal scene?
Well, there's a lot of stuff that's called "metal" that I wouldn't really necessarily consider metal music. Coming from where I come from, with the roots I have - I think a lot of bands - their roots don't stretch further than maybe like PANTERA or something like mid-'90s type stuff. Metal for me is more like JUDAS PRIEST. Growing up, I listened to a lot of SLAYER, old METALLICA, MEGADETH - bands like that. Those bands kind of embrace the older type of metal. So, we kind of try to follow in that tradition. We're not doing anything new, but we're doing it better than most people like us. We just try to write good songs within that extreme metal format - the most extreme metal guitar harmonies - a lot of more traditional song writing, I guess. But it's definitely extreme metal. I wouldn't call what we do death metal. There are a lot of bands - more bands than ever - but I think that a lot of bands aren't necessarily that original. There's a lot of stuff that sounds the same.
True, but I think that you guys have progressed with the release of each album - especially now with Angela in the band. "Wages Of Sin" is one of the greatest metal releases of all time, and I think since then, the band has just gotten better and tighter, and you guys are producing some killer music.
Yeah. I'm pleased about the direction of our band (laughs). It's going well. The songwriting comes easy and it's a good atmosphere.
When can we expect a new ARCH ENEMY album?
We're actually talking about recording a new album in March. We'll see if we can keep that deadline. I don't know if we'll stick to that, but that would be great. That's what we're talking about. And then I don't know - hopefully get it out during the summer - or early summer. A lot of things are going to need to go the right way for us to meet those deadliness, so we're just hoping that nothing goes wrong, which they probably will (laughs). We've been trying to write something on the road and we've got a bunch of stuff ready as well - songs that are in the can - like 5 or 6. So, it should be possible to pull it together. It'll be fun.
What can we expect from the new album? Is it going to be much of the same sound?
Hopefully more extreme. I just don't want to.... (Angela interjects: More extreme!) More extreme. I don't know. We just want to keep it more of a real high energy level. A lot of bands try to widen their appeal by changing their music. We'd just rather work real hard at what we do and do what we do without really compromising the integrity of the music, which I think you see a lot. We don't really want to get into that. We just want to keep it real edgy. We're quite comfortable with staying on the extreme side of the fence. (Angela laughs).
Just one question about the EP again - where did you film the video for "We Will Rise"?
It was in two various locations in Sweden actually. One was in Stockholm - on an island where they used to dig a type of stone or like some kind of rock - some kind of salt mine. I don't know what it was, but there are some really good locations there. That was the idea of the director that got the people that put it together. We went out there - there were like old caves and you know - where they had mining and stuff like that. I was there recording my guitar solo shots that are in the video - a lot of action. There are all these lights around and stuff like that - and then there are bats that came out. I fucking hate stuff like that (laughs). So I was as low as I could possibly be, you know.
Well, you guys were headbanging a lot.
Yeah, well it was trying to keep the bats out of my hair. It turned out pretty good actually. It kind of looks a bit different. It looks quite epic, I guess.
Absolutely - especially with those guys running in the night while holding the flags.
Yeah. That was cool. Usually you see stuff from the paper like a synopsis or storyboard - the ideas - everything just seemed sort of cheesy. With music videos, it's not real. Most of them are kind of real seamy. You've got to have the band in there shaking their heads and doing their thing. Modern videos kind of look the same, and ours isn't really that different but I think it came out pretty cool. There's only so much you can do with that medium, I guess - within this genre as well. There are certain things that are expected, I think. But I think it was pretty cool. You always find some other elements to put in there to make the video interesting. I think it was shot quite nicely. We shot it on film, so it was all done with real high-end stuff. So, it was great.
I think it turned out great.
Yeah.
When did you first become interested in playing the guitar?
I guess I was 15 years old. I tried to start playing guitar then - I wanted to be in a band but I didn't really find anybody to play with. I played it for six months and then I kind of put it down. I got back into when I was 17 or so, and then I started playing in a band. I was getting more serious.
Did Christopher (Amott) start around the same time or later?
No. He started later. He's younger than me, but he started around the same age. I guess he followed me in a way. He was into what I was doing. I was already recording at that time. He'd hear that and I guess I kind of got him into the metal thing. It's a sad story (laughs).
Did you take lessons?
Nope.
Not one lesson?
No. I think when you're self-taught at whatever you do you probably put in twice as much or more than that. You put in a lot of time and you make a lot of mistakes along the way.
But that's how you learn.
Yeah. I guess it's something about my playing - I don't know a lot of stuff that you're supposed to know. I just write in kind of an unorthodox way and the way I play is a little bit strange, I guess - a little bit outside the box I think. See this box right here (points to a box on the floor) ? - I'm like here (points to the outside of the box). (laughs)
I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
There's nothing wrong with that. I think it's cool because it gives us that edge. My brother, Christopher, is a more educated - or even a more schooled player, and I think the combination of the two of us kind of makes it interesting. He'll tell me if something is completely too outrageous.
After the tour is over, what are your plans?
Well, our plan is actually to go to London in the U.K. right after the last show of this tour. We're supposed to shoot a DVD. We're doing a big show in London with DARK TRANQUILLITY, THE HAUNTED, and NIGHTRAGE. There are three bands opening up. So it's all four Swedish bands and we'll be headlining. We're doing a longer set and we're shooting that for a DVD. There's that, and then obviously all the stuff you have to deal with in putting a DVD together - in the new year. I guess in early January we're going to start rehearsing for the new album and do some pre-production for that. So it's basically what we did last time from the "Wages Of Sin" album to "Anthems Of Rebellion". We stopped touring on the Friday and we started pre-production on the Monday (laughs). That's what happened on that album. It looks like it's going to be pretty much the same thing. We're going to have Christmas and New Year's off at home with our families.
Well, you need some time off before go back into the studio.
You tell our management that, man (laughs).
Do you have anything you would like to say to the ARCH ENEMY fans?
Well, as far as Canada goes, we've only ever played Toronto and Montreal. It's great to finally be over on this side and playing Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary. It's exciting. We played Quebec as well with IRON MAIDEN. Yeah, it's just great to be here.
We're glad to have you. I want to thank you very much for taking time to speak with METALEATER.COM today. I really appreciate that.
It was great. Thank you too. [FIN]
» Official ARCH ENEMY Website
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