Arch Enemy

Live at The Palladium

Los Angeles, CA

October 26th, 2019

Review and photos by Travis Baumann

Swedish melodic death metal titans, Arch Enemy form the vanguard assault ahead of fellow Swedes Amon Amarth on the North American Berserker tour.

Assembled twenty five years ago by founding member and guitar god, Michael Amott, Arch Enemy have rigored line up changes over the years to stabilize into the metal onslaught that they now present.

Composed of Michael's musical companions, Arch Enemy's roster has Sharlee D'Angelo on bass guitar, Jeff Loomis on guitar, Daniel Erlandsson on drums, and the charismatic power-house front woman, Alissa White-Gluz on lead vocals.

Arch Enemy's tenth album, "Will to Power" dropped two years ago and provided over a third of the set list on this evening, starting off with the empowering anthem, "The World is Yours".

Part of an all Swedish invasion of bands, each opening act was relegated to a rather limited set, Arch Enemy got eight songs total but they made each one count. The followed up their opening song with the title track from "War Eternal" which was the first album Alissa was a part of after joining the band.

I started listening to Arch Enemy about fifteen years ago when "Doomsday Machine" dropped, and that album still remains one of my favorite of their releases.  I was really excited to hear "My Apocalypse" live, as this is easily one of my top songs they have ever written. The guitar riffs and driving nature of song are intense and addicting.

"Wages of Sin" is another amazing album from their earlier days, marking nearly twenty years since its release. They again went right to my favorite song for their selection from this album with the brutal, "Ravenous".

At the half way point of the set, they returned their aim to the new album for "The Eagle Flies Alone" and "First Day in Hell", giving us a double dose of their blazing riffs and intricate melodies from the current era of Arch Enemy.

"War Eternal" provided the hit single "As the Pages Burn" before they embarked on the final fan favorite of the night. Without a doubt, Arch Enemy's most popular song (and with ample justification) is "Nemesis" from that pinnacle release "Doomsday Machine".

Everyone in the sold out Palladium sang along with the chorus; "One for all, All for one, We are strong, We are one... Nemesis!" The band took their bows and got a picture with the crowd before departing the stage. It was an all too short of a set for such an amazing band but it was an epic night of music overall. Really looking forward to their return in the near future.

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