- War Eternal review
| Band: | Arch Enemy |
| Album: | War Eternal |
| Style: | Gothenburg metal |
| Release date: | June 2014 |
Disc I
01. Tempore Nihil Sanat (Prelude In F Minor)
02. Never Forgive, Never Forget
03. War Eternal
04. As The Pages Burn
05. No More Regrets
06. You Will Know My Name
07. Graveyard Of Dreams
08. Stolen Life
09. Time Is Black
10. On And On
11. Avalanche
12. Down To Nothing
13. Not Long For This World
14. Shadow On The Wall [Mike Oldfield cover] [bonus]
15. Breaking The Law [Judas Priest cover] [Japanese bonus]
Disc II [Seeds Of War - The Demos]
01. Never Forgive, Never Forget [demo]
02. No More Regrets [demo]
03. You Will Know My Name [demo]
04. On And On [demo]
05. As The Pages Turn [demo]
Disc III [Instrumental]
01. Never Forgive, Never Forget [instrumental version]
02. War Eternal [instrumental version]
03. As The Pages Burn [instrumental version]
04. No More Regrets [instrumental version]
05. You Will Know My Name [instrumental version]
06. Stolen Life [instrumental version]
07. Time Is Black [instrumental version]
08. On And On [instrumental version]
09. Avalanche [instrumental version]
10. Down To Nothing [instrumental version]
Ah? Arch Enemy - the love-it or hate-it band since having a female vocalist who growls. Regardless, most casual listeners of the band would agree that Khaos Legions was one of those forgettable releases that they won't mind putting behind.
Now that Angela Gossow has retreated to the side lines, the band has a chance to start afresh with Alissa White-Gluz. Personally, I usually had no problem with the vocals of Angela, and Alissa sounds like the perfect replacement. Instead, what matters is that the overall aggression and energy is back, so either the band has listened to its critics or Alissa has reinvigorated the sound of the band. The melodies and riffs sound less stale, the cascading solos are quite impressive and the music in general is definitely more head-bangable.
Here's the problem though. Khaos Legions was such a low point for the band that it's not hard to top it, so it's only natural for War Eternal to be relatively superior in almost every category. Furthermore, one should take into account that expectations had been lowered so much, so meeting or even exceeding them is not such a difficult task. Despite the album on the whole is inoffensive and even pretty good at some points, it's not something I would recommend to those who want to get into Arch Enemy, or just those wanting some great Gothenburg / melodic death / extreme power metal.
The light at the end of the tunnel is that it really does seem that the band has gotten out of that tunnel that they've dug themselves into, and it's nice to see them foray into some previously unexplored territory with some symphonic sprinkles here and there. Is it time for Arch Enemy to change their sound? I'd imagine the fan-base would be rather divided if the band continues to expand into that direction. Ultimately, I'm fine with either option, and it's just a matter of how well they are executed that matters. In the case of War Eternal, the song-writing still leaves the listener wanting more, specifically in terms of being memorable. As mentioned earlier, the band feels energised again, but in most cases, raw energy and conviction is not enough. While one can compose brutal songs and come up with the most blistering riffs, the defining factor here is not being able to be vicious with a lasting impression.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 6 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 8 |
 | Written on 17.06.2014 by Ag Fox loves listening to music but is far from being a prolific writer. This corner just shows how territorial he is. |
Comments
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| Fallen Ghost Craft Beer Geek Posts: 710  |
Tried to listen to this, stopped listening halfway through, for me it sounded boring and very generic
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| bodomdragon Posts: 49 |
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| allgutsnoglory Posts: 27 |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Couldn't even stomach the title track but got a laugh out of Alissa's attempts to look hardcore with her generic boy band hand gestures in the video.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Dark Forever Ruído Sonoro Posts: 701  |
I agree with most of the review but I'd still rate it higher. The more I listen to the album, the more I like it, I only find 3 songs without any memorable part, easily forgotten among the rest. People are always talking about the lack of originality, but what's wrong with repeating the formula if it works? I mean, I sure prefer original albums, but a classic sound from time to time doesn't hurt, and Arch Enemy executed it very well here. (P.S. - I don't get it, two people commenting exactly the same in the review and the album post by slightly different words, saying they don't like the album - why bother so much to say the same thing twice if you don't like it anyway?)
---- Taste the DARK... ... and you'll live FOREVER!
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| Dark Forever Ruído Sonoro Posts: 701 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 17.06.2014 at 23:08 Tell me again how often do you watch boys bands' videos to know what their generic gestures are like 
---- Taste the DARK... ... and you'll live FOREVER!
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Dark Forever on 17.06.2014 at 23:16 More often than I watch metal music videos - at least 'N Sync ventured into action movie territory to keep your interest.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Lit. Account deleted |
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted Written by Author on 17.06.2014 at 23:27 Yeah "backstreet" boys... 
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| mz Posts: 4774  |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 17.06.2014 at 23:20 For the record, I was a huge fan of this video some 12 years or so ago good memories.
---- Giving my ears a rest from music.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Where are all the Arch Enemy fans trying to steer this back on topic? The fact that we're all talking about pop bands from the '90s instead of this album goes to show how excited we all are about its release I guess...
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| theFIST Posts: 1061  |
Written by bodomdragon on 17.06.2014 at 19:53 Well i think they noticed the crap Khaos Legions was, forgot it, and made this a Gossow lite album just with Alissa on vocals Not surprising since i think Wages of Sin was basically a Liiva era album just with Angela on vocals, in clear contrast to the sound of the following albums
---- http://metalstormmusicianscorner.bandcamp.com Written by Warman on 07.11.2007 at 22:39
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| !J.O.O.E.! Account deleted |
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| Orangutoad Low-life douche Posts: 33  |
I'm a big Arch Enemy fan, and I'd only give this between 7.2 and 7.5. It is decent, and the more I listen to it the more I like it, but it's nowhere near as good as Wages of Sin or Doomsday Machine. Alissa is ok, but I think Angela was 10x better, and I miss her. The band is capable of so much more than this.
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| LascaillesShroud Posts: 164  |
Written by allgutsnoglory on 17.06.2014 at 22:59 He's been in Spiritual Beggars for the past 20 years.
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| Angelic Storm Melodious Posts: 6675  |
This is a mostly average album, with vocals even worse than Angela's deteriorating performance on later AE albums. They're thin, weak, and flat, with no venom whatsoever. Musically, a small amount of the album is good, but the same could be said about "Khaos Legions", which was another mostly poor album. The best songs on KL are better than most of the songs on here, and again, this album is a fair way off from their best works quality wise. And I agree with Troy. Alissa's posing in that video is embarrassing!
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| s_t_s Posts: 1208  |
I tried to get into Arch Enemy a couple of times but really, I cannot get into femal growls  The title track doesn't sound so bad but the voice doesn't help support the music imho.
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| Sword_Chant Posts: 714 |
Looks like I disagree with just about every post above me  Yes it's in the same AE formula and has its generic moments but you could say that about most of their discography. They went for the 'same formula' route, I think someone above said this already but sometimes that works better than a band trying to completely reshape their sound. This album does venture into new territory anyway, especially through the use of symphonic elements, though not in a massive manner :- something I always loved about AE is Ammott's guitar solos when they are more prominent in songs, they definitely worked on this more in War Eternal. There is a sense of nostalgia from this album; hell, some parts of the album remind me of the songs they did in the Liiva Era.I don't mind Alissa's vocals and I thought it was more innovative than Khaos Legions and musically it's probably their best material since Doomsday Machine.
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| Giza Posts: 81  |
I think that most of these old melodic death metal bands like In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, and etc have long burned out their creativity and are only living off their big name and former glory. It's time to move on and give praise to new bands that bring something fresh to the genre. As the saying goes: you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
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| tea[m]ster Au Pays Natal Contributor Posts: 5252  |
Their sound has become very predictable...and boring. I will stick with Anthems Of Rebellion when I need an Arch Enemy fill. Nice review and thanks.
---- rekt
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Irritable Ted on 19.06.2014 at 21:19 I seriously burst out laughing at the 8 second mark. Tearing up a little over here... my god that was hilarious. Thanks for that.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| theFIST Posts: 1061 |
Written by deadone on 19.06.2014 at 04:52 well there is Allegaeon, but they are rather melodic "death" then there also was Infernal Poetry that after a quite conventional start on their last 2 albums could be described as kind of melodic death without sounding like any melodic death band they unfortunately split up though
---- http://metalstormmusicianscorner.bandcamp.com Written by Warman on 07.11.2007 at 22:39
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774  |
Written by Irritable Ted on 19.06.2014 at 21:12I'm neutral about the vocals (so I am not wow-ed by it, nor am I put off by it), thought the solos were good, but the melodic edge was too sugary. While the sound is indeed fresher, the last album was so... mouldy that most things sound fresher lol. My main gripe is that whether it's the aggressive parts or the melodic parts, they should be written in a more memorable way, which isn't the case in here to my ears.
---- loves 小巫
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| Uldreth Posts: 1150 |
Written by Irritable Ted on 19.06.2014 at 21:19 What the fuck did I just watch? 
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| EnigmaLake Posts: 86  |
Written by Giza on 18.06.2014 at 23:01 Such as...?
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| Valankir Posts: 3 |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Valankir on 22.06.2014 at 19:55 You're calling these bands fresh? They're all about as stagnant as Arch Enemy - they just happen to be more atmospheric and less thrash-influenced.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Karlabos Meat and Potatos Posts: 5658  |
^Agree. Honestly I wouldn't know what to say if someone asked me for a fresh mdm band. I must go with deadone on this. The genre is far too stagnated
---- "Aah! The cat turned into a cat!" - Reimu Hakurei
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| Valankir Posts: 3 |
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| BlueMobius Account deleted |
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