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Wages of Sin represents one of the defining turning points in Arch Enemy’s career. Originally released in 2001 in Japan and internationally in 2002, the album introduced Angela Gossow as the band’s new vocalist and immediately established a new era for the Swedish melodic death metal heavyweights.
Any concerns that changing vocalists might weaken the band disappeared almost immediately. Gossow’s performance is ferocious, particularly on the opening combination of “Enemy Within” and “Burning Angel.” Her vocals gave Arch Enemy a renewed aggression while Michael and Christopher Amott continued delivering the harmonised leads, sharp melodic hooks and crushing riffs that had already become central to the band’s sound.
“Heart of Darkness,” “Dead Bury Their Dead” and “Web of Lies” demonstrate just how effectively Arch Enemy could combine traditional heavy metal guitar work with the brutality of Swedish death metal. Then there’s “Ravenous,”one of the band’s signature songs and a track that helped introduce an entirely new audience to Arch Enemy.
The Amott brothers are exceptional throughout. Their twin-guitar work draws heavily from classic metal while remaining unmistakably Arch Enemy, and drummer Daniel Erlandsson gives the record tremendous momentum. “Savage Messiah”slows things down without sacrificing weight, while the instrumental “Snow Bound” allows the band’s melodic side to take centre stage.
Closing with the epic “Burning Bridges”, Wages of Sin feels like a band entering a new phase with absolute confidence. More than two decades later, it remains one of Arch Enemy’s essential records and one of the strongest melodic death metal albums of its era.
Some international CD editions were issued as a 2CD set, adding the seven-track A Collection of Rare & Unreleased Songs from the Arch Enemy Vault bonus disc featuring recordings from the earlier Johan Liiva era.
(CD)
Rare & Unreleased, more properly titled A Collection of Rare & Unreleased Songs from the Arch Enemy Vault, is a fascinating snapshot of Arch Enemy’s early years. The seven-track collection gathers covers, Japanese bonus tracks and previously difficult-to-find recordings from the Johan Liiva era, before Angela Gossow joined the band.
Originally issued as the bonus disc accompanying Western editions of Wages of Sin in 2002, the collection reaches back through the band’s first three albums and brings together material recorded between 1996 and 1999. Despite being packaged alongside the first Arch Enemy album with Angela Gossow, Johan Liiva handles vocals throughout this entire disc.
The opening trio alone makes this worth owning. “Starbreaker” takes Judas Priest into considerably heavier territory, “Aces High” gives the Iron Maiden classic the full melodic death metal treatment, and “Scream of Anger” tackles the considerably less obvious choice of Europe. It’s a great demonstration of the traditional heavy metal influences sitting underneath Michael and Christopher Amott’s guitar work.
The original material is equally worthwhile. “Diva Satanica” comes from the Stigmata period, while the 1999 version of “Fields of Desolation” revisits one of the highlights of the band’s debut. “Damnation’s Way” and instrumental closer “Hydra” also originate from the Stigmata sessions.
For collectors, Rare & Unreleased is particularly interesting because it connects several scattered pieces of early Arch Enemy history in one place. This isn’t a conventional studio album. It’s an odds-and-ends collection documenting the rawer Johan Liiva incarnation of the band and contains some genuinely excellent material that complements Black Earth, Stigmata and Burning Bridges.
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Tracklisting:
Arch Enemy: Rare & Unreleased
