WITH HIS LONG black hair covering his eyes and much of his face, Arch Enemy founder Michael Amott sports a wide grin that belies the savagery of the band’s melodic death metal as he saws into his white blood-spattered signature Dean Tyrant Bloodstorm guitar. Whether rooted in place next to vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, swaying along with fellow Swedish extreme metal veteran, bassist Sharlee D’Angelo, or playing back to back with guitarist Jeff Loomis, Amott unfurls rapid-fire riffs and sky-piecing solos with equal finesse, delighted to be onstage again in front of thousands of fans.
This particular gig, August 14 at the Alcatraz Festival in Kortrijk, Belgium, comes two days after Arch Enemy released their 11th studio album, Deceivers, one of the band’s strongest and most eclectic offerings — which is saying a lot. Since he formed Arch Enemy in 1995, Amott has been the primary writer for the band’s 11 consistently high-caliber albums, and the architect behind nine other records by his and D’Angelo’s soulful stoner metal supergroup, Spiritual Beggars. Working with such a diverse range of rock has kept Amott creatively sated and helped him to weather various storms: stressful lineup and label shifts, shifting industry trends and, most recently, the Covid pandemic that prevented Loomis, the band’s lead guitarist, from joining Arch Enemy in the studio.
“I don’t like all the complications, of course, but writing a new album is super fun for me every time, no matter what,” says Amott
