Arch Enemy - Anthems Of Rebellion - guest review

Arch Enemy - Anthems Of Rebellion - guest review

Cover image of the reviewed item
Band
Arch Enemy
Release date
April 25, 2003
Reviewer
9.0
8.0
Tracklist
Disc I
01. Tear Down The Walls (Intro)
02. Silent Wars
03. We Will Rise
04. Dead Eyes See No Future
05. Instinct
06. Leader Of The Rats
07. Exist To Exit
08. Marching On A Dead End Road
09. Despicable Heroes
10. End Of The Line
11. Dehumanization
12. Anthem
13. Saints And Sinners

Disc II [bonus]
01. Lament Of A Mortal Soul [live]
02. Behind The Smile [live]
03. Diva Satanica [live]
04. Exist To Exit [Dolby Digital 5.1 mix version]
05. Leader Of The Rats [Dolby Digital 5.1 mix version]
06. Dead Eyes See No Future [Dolby Digital 5.1 mix version]
Guest review by
Justin
September 29, 2003
After the initial shock of finding out that Arch Enemy had recruited a female vocalist [Angela Gossow] for last years ?Wages Of Sin?, I soon discovered that the band had created an album that was true to their original design, and easily made its way to one of the best for that year.

However, fears and speculation that guitarists Michael and Christopher Amott would fall short of the mark creating Arch Enemy's fifth album [?Anthems Of Rebellion?] can be dismissed without a second thought the moment the introduction piece ?Tear Down The Walls? emanates from the speakers!

There is a slight variation to the groups song writing this time around, with ?Anthems Of Rebellion? clearly showcasing their most diverse, heaviest, and at times most melodic music they?ve released to date. The faced paced ?Silent Wars? is the first official track to spearhead the attack with solid fast paced drumming with matching melodic metal riffs and Slayer inspired lead breaks. Gossow's vocal delivery is a solid improvement, and not only compliments the aggressive music, but seems to bring more power and style than ever before.

?We Will Rise? and ?Instinct? both latch onto a decidedly catchier groove, with the keyboards adding to the melodic hook, while the demonic fury of ?Dead Eyes See No Future? tears through will plenty of metallic fury and razor sharp hooks. ?Leader Of The Rats? is quickly followed by the darker moodier growl of ?Exist To Exit?, while hatred is abound in the uncompromising seething onslaught of ?Despicable Heroes?.

No Arch Enemy is without some instrumental moments, and ?Marching On A Dead End Road? and ?Anthem? will satisfy budding guitarists out there, regardless of their rather short running lengths.

The strangest addition to Arch Enemy is the inclusion of Chris? backing vocal work to ?End Of The Line? and ?Dehumanization?. While this may raise alarm bells to the devoted, it actually adds something new to the mix, and works surprisingly well. Shades of black metal within ?Saints And Sinners? are evident, while still maintaining the Amott melodic aspect of their song writing, and draw the album to its dramatic finale.

Everything from the songs, the melodic/heavy aspect, the playing and the production [again a credit to Andy Sneap] all add up to ?Anthems Of Rebellion? being one of Arch Enemy's most finest, diverse yet most satisfying releases to date. This really is an album full of ?Anthems Of Rebellion?.
Written by Justin | September 29, 2003
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.

Comments

Comments: 11 Visited by 126 users
BloodTears
ANA-thema
Elite

Posts: 11934


Permalink
26.12.2006 - 20:01
Rating: 8
BloodTears
ANA-thema
Elite

Posts: 11934


I was just listening to Anthems and realized i hadnt read the review here yet. I must be the only one among my friends to like this album a lot. It has a good vibe overall and the songs sound so good to me. I have a really good time listening to this album.
Good review.
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Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29

Like you could kiss my ass.

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Posts: 3894


Permalink
26.12.2006 - 20:29
Rating: 7

Posts: 3894


I would personally give it maybe a 7 at most, I dont like most of the songs on this album, but the ones I do like still kick my ass like Silent Wars, Leader of the rats and Dispicable heroes. I just thought most of the songs lacked creativity.
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Opium Magnet
Account deleted
Permalink
27.12.2006 - 08:29
Opium Magnet
Account deleted
This was the very album that got me seriously into metal, despite knowing and liking the household names for years and yet I reject this album to the point that it is now the only Arch Enemy album I don't play any tracks from whatsoever.
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Posts: 230


Permalink
09.04.2007 - 00:14

Posts: 230


The performance of the band in this album shows why they choose a female vocalist that can really sing loud and fucking roar...
She's kind of hot thoug ...
I'll give this album a 8 ...
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Nothing is unreacheable
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Posts: 1353


Permalink
10.04.2007 - 02:32

Posts: 1353


The album is very good, it confirms that Angela was a very good choice to replace Liiva. "We will rise" is an asskicking song, one of my favorites of the band.
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Posts: 766


Permalink
11.08.2007 - 22:22

Posts: 766


My favorite song of this album is "dead eyes see no future" what a great song putting all this powerful elements as a punch, melodic, great lyrics, acoustic/bridge feeling part, etc I just can say that's one of my fav ones
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- ? ?¤øØ )' ¦-¦Ö§±¦£ë '( Øø¤? ?
........StEpS_Of_SiLeNcE........
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Paradox0
Unasuming Madnes

Posts: 592
Permalink
20.09.2007 - 22:22
Rating: 8
Paradox0
Unasuming Madnes

Posts: 592
same thing with me opium. actually it was the 1st video they played on the american re-airing of headbangers ball, and I saw that video and I was like, OMG AWESOME. Arch enemy is still one of my favoruite bands though.
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Lowelas OF FIRE
Account deleted
Permalink
23.03.2008 - 00:47
Lowelas OF FIRE
Account deleted
One of their better releases, it has different production from Wages Of Sin , though I still like Wages better .
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Uirapuru
Liver Failure

Posts: 2955


Permalink
14.04.2009 - 00:14
Uirapuru
Liver Failure

Posts: 2955


Still with the awesome guitar solos, in catchy songs. Good enough as it is.
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member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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Deadmeat
Necrobutcher

Posts: 2437


Permalink
02.07.2009 - 09:53
Rating: 8
Deadmeat
Necrobutcher

Posts: 2437


Great production and some very good songs as we will rise, end of the line, dead eyes see no future but also some shitty songs like dehumanization, instict etc...
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Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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Posts: 248


Permalink
04.12.2009 - 04:33

Posts: 248


Doomsday Machine reigns as my favorite AE album, but this release is pretty solid and awesome in its own right. My favorite tracks are "We Will Rise" and "Dead Eyes See No Future." Great stuff.
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