ARCH ENEMY delivers a night of “Pure Fucking Metal” in London

It’s another rainy and cold autumn day in London, but if you ask the fans lined up outside the Apollo waiting for the doors to open, they’ll just shrug it off, raise their metal horns, and yell, “ARCH ENEMY!”

The death metal giants, who are celebrating 30 years since Michael Amott formed the band, are currently touring their latest album “Blood Dynasty”. To mark the occasion, they’ve brought along Gatecreeper, Eluveitie and Amorphis.

Gatecreeper

As the venue begins to fill, Arizona’s quintet Gatecreeper has the crowd moving with Dead Stare, the opening track from last year’s Dark Superstition. Bathed in dark green lights on a skull-adorned stage, the band looks menacing as hell while delivering their crushing death metal sound. The tasty riff that kicks off Ruthless has everyone headbanging as Chase Mason sounds as filthy as possible in the best way.

Eluveitie

The venue is fully packed when the gorgeous backdrop featuring the artwork of Eluveitie’s latest album Ànv is revealed. One by one they enter the stage as they start with Ategnatos. It’s a joy to watch how much fun this group has on stage as they skillfully blend Celtic and death metal. Harp, hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes are just some of the instruments they bring to stage as Chrigel switches between harsh and clean vocals. It’s a nice break from the heaviness of the first act and it has the audience singing and dancing.

Amorphis

Having released Borderlands a couple of months ago, you would expect to have a set filled with the new material. Amorphis, however, opted for a more dynamic set, playing musics from throughout their long career.

The opener Bones, with its prog-filled drums immediately has the audience jumping. Tomi Joutsen alternates between harsh and clean vocals as the band goes from doom, to progressive and then folk. It’s a show where the keyboard often takes center stage instead of the guitars or drums, creating serene soundscapes or carrying the main riffs. The lighting follows suit, going for more cooler tones or even silhouettes. 

Arch Enemy

It’s time for some “PURE FUCKING METAL”as the huge curtain across the stage declares. As soon as the first drums of Deceiver, Deceiver starts and the curtain drops revealing the band, the chaos begins. Alissa screams her way into the stage, making the whole venue shake. Amott, D’Angelo and the Concepcion are having a blast pulling faces and taunting the crowd that immediately responds. The frantic Dream Steeler also has a great reaction as Alissa runs around the stage, making sure everyone is having a great time. 

Even though they’re touring their latest album, there’s still plenty of time to revisit some classics, such as Ravenous from their 2001 excellent Wages of Sin, that manages to elevates the chaos further. War Eternal and My Apocalypse, with its gloomy slow paced rhythm also have the crowd roaring and Illuminate the Path has Alissa waving the band’s flag and going from harsh to clean vocals.

To wrap up the night, Nemesis has the whole audience singing “We are strong, we are one”, an amazing thing to witness. 

Arch Enemy has been refining their craft for 30 years now and you can clearly see it. Their next tour can’t come soon enough.