Live-Metal.Net - Interviews: Arch Enemy

The return of pure evil? Actually, just an interview with

Arch Enemy guitarist Christopher Amott.

January 29, 2010

Apart from an absence from the band in 2005-2007, guitarist Christopher Amott has been at the “root of all evil” since the 1996 inception of Sweden’s Arch Enemy. Together with his brother Michael, they form one of the most formidable guitar tandems in extreme metal. Following the recent release of re-recorded songs from their first three albums, aptly titled The Root of All Evil, Arch Enemy embarked on the “Tyrants of Evil” tour in January 2010 across the United States with Exodus and Arsis in support.

On the first night of tour, Live-Metal.net’s Jeff Maki and Ryan Mavity talked with Christopher backstage at the Recher Theatre in Towson, Md. Chris talked about the tour, his time away from the band, The Root of All Evil and a solo album he plans to release in 2010.

Live-Metal.net: First off, how did the whole tour come together? And having a veteran thrash act like Exodus on tour, I just wanted to get your thoughts on that.

Christopher Amott: Well, we wanted to do a U.S. tour right now. I don’t know how we came together with Exodus really, but I’m a fan and I’m looking forward to seeing them tonight and every night of the tour. It was just time to do a tour of the States.

I guess the last time you guys were over here was—

With Dark Tranquillity and Firewind … in ’08. In 2007, we did a tour with Machine Head [Throwdown and Sanctity] opening up for Machine Head.

I wanted to talk about you leaving and then rejoining the band. It was in 2005 you took an absence from the band. What were the circumstances upon you leaving and eventually rejoining?

I’ve answered that so many times. Isn’t that out there already? I was just tired of the whole thing. Sometimes when you have a job for 10 years—I started when I was 19 in the band—you just get tired and want to seek out something else. And I had never done anything else but playing in Arch Enemy, so I just needed to broaden my horizons and see what else was out there.

It was a different situation with the management—we didn’t have a real good manager. We didn’t know where the money was going, no insight to the business, just a bad vibe generally. I left and did some other stuff, and I was hungry again to play and I came back. But everything’s better now, like business-wise. [vocalist] Angela [Gassow] is our manager now.

Was there any kind of struggle to get back in the band—any conflict? And how had things changed since get you got back in?

Like I said, it was the manager. We kind of parted ways with him at the same time I rejoined. But no, it’s the same. I just picked it up again—picked up where we left off.

It was cool. I went to see Arch Enemy when they played in Sweden when I was out of the band. It was cool to see it from that point of view. It was very tight. When you’re on stage you’re hearing mistakes, but it’s actually pretty tight. [laughs] We’re perfectionists.

And what happened to the guitarist(s) you replaced? Where are they now?

Well, the first one was Gus G. (Firewind) and he plays for Ozzy now. And the other one was Fredrik [Akesson], and he plays with Opeth. He got a gig with Opeth pretty much directly after he left.

Onto the Root of All Evil. I already interviewed your brother [Read here] a few months ago and got his perspective on this, but what were your thoughts going into re-recording these songs. Did you have any reservations about doing these? Did you feel it was the right thing to do?

Well, it was the first three albums that had kind of gotten lost and there was a lot of good material on those albums. And we wanted to bring them back and play it. And a lot of fans wanted to hear them live. But in order for us to play them live we need to have the album out. Otherwise it’d be like half the audience wouldn’t recognize it. Maybe they became fans on Wages of Sin [the Angela Gassow period and on], so we just wanted to get it out there.

Being that your brother is in the band, how often do you guys fight and try to kill each other? Is it tough?

We wind each other up. I don’t know if it’s intentionally or unintentionally. We just keep our distance. But most of the time it’s pretty good—it’s great playing with your brother. He’s eight years older, but we grew up listening to the same kind of stuff and playing together, so it’s easy for us to create music together. We have the same opinions about what is good.

What kind of stuff did you guys grow up listening to?

He comes from more of a punk rock place. I went into metal pretty much. So he was into punk, then into death metal. We listen to all kinds of music, but all the classic bands. But he was there when the whole thrash metal scene happened—I wasn’t. I liked Carcass when he was in the band. But we listen to everything—all genres.

Did you happen to see Carcass—the reunion?

Yeah, because I never saw them back in the day.

Being that Arch Enemy is mostly Michael’s vision, what is it like following his lead?

I do my own thing on the side, so I’m just a guitar player in Arch Enemy. I have a lot to say in the band, so I don’t feel left out—it’s just the way I want it, I can concentrate. Angela and Michael deal with most of the business and stuff. So I can do some creative input and writing, and then do my own stuff on the side.

Are you currently working on other projects?

I’m releasing a solo album and it’s coming out in a few months—in Japan—we’ve only secured a deal [there]. It’s gonna come out in the rest of the world, as well. It’s kind of softer music. It’s me singing. It’s a mixed style of music, more of a ‘70’s singer/songwriter stuff—organic.

I did three metal albums under the name Armageddon, which is also like solo albums. They just happened to be called Armageddon. But there was a lot of time and space between those albums, but those last two albums have come out now. They’re getting ready to be released as a double CD on Century Media. [Embrace the Mystery and Three, released on Century Media Records, Jan. 26, 2010]

With your own new solo stuff, do you do it all yourself or work with other musicians?

I used a drummer, bass player and keyboardist from Sweden. It’s called Follow Your Heart. It’s not out yet, so I haven’t advertised it. I’ve got to send the masters off. We’re just doing the layout—it’s not ready yet. We’re trying to get a deal in Europe, but because I’m a member of Arch Enemy and it’s a different style of music … I think once we sell a few copies in Japan, we’ll be able to get distribution. Although I would just release it myself.

How is it working out within the framework of Arch Enemy when working on your own stuff? Is it more of a collaborative effort?

Well, it‘s hard work to do it on your own. You gotta pull the weight yourself. I guess in Arch Enemy I kind of step back more. If something’s bad, it’s not all your fault [laughs]. Its hard work doing your own thing, but it’s also rewarding. It’s something I’m gonna keep doing. I have to do it.

What do you anticipate being the hardest songs to play live from The Root of All Evil, technically, from a guitar player's standpoint?

There’s parts in each song … I could say which is simple …”Bury Me an Angel,” we’ve been playing that a long time—we played it on our first show and we got it down. I get tense in certain songs, certain solos … “The Immortal.” I don’t know, they’re pretty much the same, easy and hard parts.

Playing fast, extreme and complicated music in Arch Enemy, is it safe to say that no song is played the same way twice? For me being a non-musician, it’s hard for me to contemplate being able to play all that the same way time in and time out.

The sound changes even if you have the same equipment, with the rooms and different materials on the stage. But the notes are the same, especially playing them every night for a month like we’re going to do now. We get into a very set way of playing. That’s the style of music—we don’t jam, we don’t improvise. In the lead breaks when Michael and I do different solos in songs we might play different things but not a lot. Because we play the leads that are on the album.

It’s almost like the movements also become the same. [laughs] If you’re tired one night or if you’re sick, you got some stuff to fall back on. We all got together and decided we were gonna do the same thing—it’s all pretty flat.


	ANGELA GASSOW & CHRISTOPHER AMOTT OF ARCH ENEMY

What do you enjoy playing more, the big European festivals or the smaller shows in clubs like tonight?

It’s cool. All the touring and playing clubs, is more controlled. When you play a festival, you don’t have time to sound check. A big festival, if we’re not headlining, can be pretty stressful. And sometimes it’s daylight—a big festival like Wacken in Europe. Although this year we got a good slot, we’re gonna play at night. But playing in the daytime and everything, there’s no vibe.

Being on stage at Wacken, what is it like playing in front of all those people?

When it’s like a thousand people, and it can be 10, 000 people, there’s no difference. Also, if it’s 1,000 Arch Enemy fans and everybody’s into it, then it’s like a great rush—everybody from the last row is shouting and going on at the festival …

And we’ve opened up for big bands like Iron Maiden, and the front row is Arch Enemy fans … I don’t get nervous.

You guys have always been big in Japan. Why do you think that is?

I don’t know. We’ve been there every year touring. Yeah, from day one they sort of liked the brothers playing the harmonies. There are a lot of people—there are 100 billion people, so everything’s big there, all kinds of stuff. I mean, America is like 300 million people … Sweden is nine …

What do you like playing more, Japan Europe or the States?

I like the States, I like touring here, I like the country. Japan ’s cool—very different. They listen to you—there’s not mosh pits or anything. It’s like a jazz concert or something [laughs]. It’s really geeky, standing at attention. But they do go crazy, it’s just more controlled.

Anything else you want to say?

If you have a chance to come if we’re in a city near you, check it out. Exodus are really intense live—I’ve seen clips of them, so we got good competition. So I’m looking forward to it.