Band:	Arch Enemy
Album:	Blood Dynasty
Style:	Gothenburg metal
Release date:	March 28, 2025
A review by:	omne metallum

01. Dream Stealer
02. Illuminate The Path
03. March Of The Miscreants
04. A Million Suns
05. Don't Look Down
06. Presage
07. Blood Dynasty
08. Paper Tiger
09. Vivre Libre [Blaspheme cover]
10. The Pendulum
11. Liars & Thieves
12. Break The Spell [bonus]
13. Moths [bonus]

Already planning for Metal Storm 2025 Awards season.

One of the more divisive bands in metal since the turn of the millennium, Arch Enemy have struggled to attain consensus in the world of metal, be it for better or worse. Blood Dynasty, the twelfth album by the band, could finally be the record to unite fans and detractors alike, gathering together these various groups as one... to shrug as the album plays out with little to no fanfare or moments that will make you leap up and take note.

Is it a bad album? No, there is nothing actively bad with Blood Dynasty, but by the same merit there is little actively great about it either, leaving it to just exist in a no man's land between the two as the metal world goes by around it. If there was a Metal Storm Award for blandest album of the year, then Arch Enemy should start working on their acceptance speech now.

Where does the fault in this lie? Well, despite downgrading with each subsequent line-up change since the departure of Chris Amott, the current roster is more than capable and, given their work on previous albums such as War Eternal (or in the case of Concepcion, previous projects), it's not that they can't make it work in the Arch Enemy framework. White-Gluz has had a mixed reception for committing the crime of not being Gossow, but on tracks like "Illuminate The Path" and "Vivre Libre", she shows that she can more than hold her own. The guitar work on tracks like "The Pendulum" highlights how Amott and Concepcion can produce solid melodic sections when inspiration takes them.

The main issue is the lack of quality songwriting, with too few standout moments or parts spread too thin across the album's eleven tracks to elevate the record as a whole, or make a singular track really shine. "A Million Suns" is perhaps the best example of this; there's nothing to make you want to hit the skip button when it's playing, but nothing to really remember it by once the album's moved on. The guitar solos are solid enough, but if someone was to shuffle them around and drop them in different songs, I doubt many would notice the difference. It's this lack of sonic individuality that hinders the listening experience to the point the album goes by in a blur.

To their merit, Arch Enemy do exhibit some potential across Blood Dynasty that resonates somewhat. "Illuminate The Path" has some solid clean vocals by White-Glutz, while "Don't Look Down" has a good chorus; it's just unfortunate that they are then dropped into otherwise middling tracks that don't take advantage of these sparks.

While I've long found something I can enjoy on Arch Enemy albums, this is the first one since The Root Of All Evil that I'm struggling to find any reason to return to.