CD: Anthems Of Rebellion
Date: 01.22.04
Reviewer: Wes
Review:
Tear Down The Walls
Silent Wars
We Will Rise
Dead Eyes See No Future
Instinct
Leader Of The Rats
Exist To Exit
Marching On A Dead End Road
Despicable Hero’s
End Of The Line
Dehumanization
Anthem
Saints And Sinners
A few years back ARCH ENEMY pulled one of the greatest and smartest moves a band could make-showing the exit door to their singer. This is a well-respected and established metal band kicking out their singer. Why in the world would you do such a thing? And how do you recover from this? And, moreover, how do you explain your move to your fans and press alike?
Answer: Boobs! That’s right. Bring in a hot blonde with a rack and tell everyone she is the new singer, erasing everyone’s questions and creating brand new questions with even more important implications! Can she sing? Can she replace Johan? Who is she? Are those real? etc…… Meanwhile, the band throws her into the fire and lets the press attack her because she is a female in a male dominated world of extreme metal. The Amott brothers were writing what would be their most socially acceptable album. In fact, if you ask most, this is the closest thing to bubble gum, butt rock a metal band has ever gotten away with, but every male journalist was too busy staring at Angela Gossow’s boobs to take notice, and every girl who had ever dreamed of being a metal singer now had a new hero.
Wages Of Sin was an absolute sugarcoated melody machine, and it also let us know those boobs held a large amount of oxygen because Angela’s voice was incredible! Johan was forgotten and a star was born. But what they did not do was look toward the future, I don’t think. We’re all used to the boobs now, and we expect greatness.
Anthems Of Rebellion is like blue balls to me. This record has very little melody and the sugar is gone. It is a razor sharp machine of brutality with moments of commercial acceptance. In fact, I’m pretty sure if you play IN FLAMES’ “Cloud Connected” backwards, you will get the ever poppy and catchy “We Will Rise” off of “Anthems.” This is an album full of rebellion because they rebelled against all of those who loved the bubble gum and put out a record that is not soft as pantyhose but more like getting dragged down the streets of Germany with a cactus on your ass.
Being a big fan of seeing Angela suck on a candy cane in thigh high stockings, I think “Wages” is a much better album. But check your ARCH ENEMY history--one good, one bad. So I bet the next one is fucking amazing!
Rating 8
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