AS THE PAGES BURN BY ARCH ENEMY

WELL ESTABLISHED AS one of the world’s premier face-ripping metal bands, Arch Enemy had already undergone a major personnel change when original frontman Johan Liiva had made way for the iconic Angela Gossow in 2000. From then on, Michael Amott’s virtuoso crew were unstoppable and, increasingly, a certified big deal. So when the wildly charismatic force of nature that is Angela Gossow announced that she was stepping down from the job of frontwoman and dedicating herself to Arch Enemy’s behind-the-scenes affairs, fans were left to ponder a tricky question: who the fuck could replace her? Fortunately, someone with all the right credentials had been doing their homework.

“I remember buying [Arch Enemy’s first with Angela] when I was a teenager and I’d just started to be in a band,” says Alissa White-Gluz, now Arch Enemy’s firmly established figurehead and vocalist. “It was a prog band, kind of Dream Theater-ish. I was, without really knowing anything about them.”