Written by:	Abattoir
Published:	July 31, 2023
Event:	Arch Enemy: European Summer Tour 2023
Location:	Tvornica Kulture, Zagreb, Croatia

As part of the variegated summer festival touring, Arch Enemy are one of many bands that filled the “in-between” days with a moderate portion of club shows. The (almost) half-Swedish band played in front of a 1000-head crowd, packed inside a steamy, sauna-like venue that is based in the middle of the main Croatian city. Executing this on the first day of summer suitably brought additional heat throughout the whole place. At the end of this show, I could simply wring liters of sweat from my soaked shirt.

In regards to getting acquainted with their music, I kind of grew up with the Wages Of Sin and Anthems Of Rebellion albums. Since around the release of Doomsday Machine, I’ve been monitoring them just occasionally. Nonetheless, I felt it was time to see them live after many years. Without any support groups at this particular event, Arch Enemy commenced the show sharply at 9 PM.




Since the last major line-up change back in 2014, acquiring Alissa White-Gluz on vocals and experienced guitarist Jeff Loomis, Arch Enemy have been solid strong, stabilized as a line-up and tight live performers. Even with a strengthened fan base, in this time period, they’ve managed to produce nothing more than just average studio albums. After putting out Deceivers last year, I did expect this to be a major source of input for their set this evening. If I’m not wrong, they included six tracks, mostly in the first part of the show. Even if I do not pay much attention to a certain band over the years and their (new) music, at a concert, I try to focus on the execution of the individual members and the band as a whole, their overall sound as well as observing the ambience that includes crowd involvement. So, in regards to the song selection, I was the mostly satisfied with the encore tunes. The song "Fields Of Desolation" off the Black Earth record was also one of the positive additions and good choices to conclude this gig. It was actually the only piece performed live from the any of the group’s '90s albums. Anyhow, Michael Amott and company delivered a well-executed performance with satisfying general sound. Alissa, as a “torchbearer” on the stage, motivated the already very active crowd enough to give an additional spark to the whole atmosphere. I can admit that these factors consequently compensated for the underachieving set listing, although the latter would be hard to improve significantly anyway.