Arch Enemy/In Flames - London Review

There was a time when three-band bills were pretty common in the classic rock touring world. Generally the two larger bands acted as co-headliners, with a smaller, yet still sizeable, band opening things up - and they helped to pull the punters in and keep these bands in the bigger venues. Sadly these tours do not seem to be as common as they once were, which is a shame as they always represented value for money and drew big crowds, but the idea does resurface every so often - with three big names in the Swedish melodic death metal scene currently undertaking such a tour across Europe. The three bands currently trekking around Europe are different from the arena-filling classic rockers who have often made use of such a format - but for those who love the Gothenburg sound, the tour was not one to miss. Arch Enemy, In Flames, and Soilwork have all been relatively regular visitors to the UK over the years - and the Swedish death metal sound has generally been pretty popular here. I had seen all three of the bands on the bill at least twice each prior to Sunday night in London - but seeing all three together on a monster bill was too good an opportunity to turn down. The Europe-wide tour kicked off here in the UK last week, and the sold out show in London on Sunday was the last one of the UK leg before the bands headed over into mainland Europe. I think that all four of the UK shows ended up selling out, or at least were very close to doing so, which is impressive considering that the tour hit some pretty sizeable rooms - with the London show taking place at the legendary Apollo in Hammersmith. In terms of UK rock and metal venues, there are few more famous rooms than the Hammersmith Odeon - as it was. So many classic bands have played at the venue over the years - with many live albums also having been recorded there. I have been there quite a few times over the years, but it had been a couple of years since my last visit - when I caught Opeth there back in 2022. I imagine that it was a lot of fun for the bands to play at the venue, too. Whilst all have played in London multiple times over the years, I cannot imagine that they had played the Apollo that regularly before - and selling it out is certainly an achievement in this day and age given all of the difficulties which touring bands tend to face. The strength of the bill certainly helped as there is a lot of crossover between all three bands' fanbases. Sometimes co-headline shows can feel a bit mismatched, but I doubt that too many people left Sunday's show early due to not having any interest in the final act of the night. I have certainly done that in the past, but there was no fear of that this time - and I was looking forward to an excellent night of melodic death metal. Both Arch Enemy and In Flames were rotating headliners - with both playing around 80 minutes each and Arch Enemy closed the London show. Soilwork are certainly the band with the smallest profile of the three, but they are still well-liked so plenty made sure to turn up early to catch them. It was a long night, then, with the doors opening at 5:30pm and Soilwork kicking things off at 6:15pm.

Navigating the venue's snaking queue did not take as long as it looked like it could have, so I was soon in the venue and waiting for Soilwork. I had previously seen the band live twice before, with both shows coming in 2019, so I was keen to catch them again after five years. Despite only having time for nine songs, and battling through a somewhat muddy sound mix, the six-piece showcased why they are likely one of the genre's most interesting bands - with a setlist that generally focused on newer releases, despite the inclusion of a few old favourites. Sadly, the sound mix for all three bands was not that great. All three lead vocalists were buried at times - and there was generally a muddiness to the evening, although it did improve slightly with each band. Perhaps in fear of being later overshadowed by the headliners, Soilwork opted to open with one of their biggest anthems in Stabbing the Drama. Usually reserved for the end of their shows, opening with the sing-a-long crowd favourite worked well - and it had the large crowd singing along from the off. Despite being low in the mix, frontman Björn Strid sounded as good as ever. There are few better singers in the genre in my opinion - with his harsh vocals sounding powerful and his clean vocals soared. The latter was showcased during the opening song's chorus - with two more older favourites in Exile and Distortion Sleep coming early on in the set, too, to give the crowd more choruses to sing along with. A highlight for me, though, was hearing the band's new single Spirit of No Return live. It is the first song the band has released since the death of guitarist David Andersson - who had also become the band's main songwriter over the previous decade. His replacement Simon Johansson (guitar) took the lead guitar-wise during the new track, though, and showed that Soilwork remains in safe hands. It contained another big chorus, too, and in many ways the melodic, yet heavy, track is very much classic Soilwork. I can only imagine that a new album will be following in the not-too-distant future - and based on Spirit of No Return it is sure to be another excellent one. The latter half of the set was made up of songs from the Andersson era, though, with Övergivenheten from the last album and the groove-based Death Diviner from a recent EP keeping the crowd going. Johansson and Sylvain Coudret (guitar) traded riffs and solos throughout the whole set - whilst the warm synth textures and leads from Sven Karlsson helped the classic Soilwork sound to ring true despite the less-than-kind mix. The anthemic and melodic Stålfågel was left to close out the band's 40 or so minutes on the stage nicely, with Strid hitting a very high note at the end of it, and the reception showed that Soilwork had done their job of warming up the crowd for what was to come nicely. The setlist was:

Stabbing the Drama

Arrival

Exile

Distortion Sleep

Spirit of No Return

Övergivenheten

Death Diviner

The Ride Majestic

Stålfågel

Morgongåva/Stormfågel

Of the three bands on the bill,  In Flames are my least favourite. I still like them quite a bit, and consider myself a fan, but I am far less familiar with their catalogue than I am with the others'. Like Soilwork, I had seen In Flames live twice previously -  a rather poor showing opening for Avenged Sevenfold in 2017 and a decent headline appearance in 2019. Despite the muddy mix, though, this latest show was easily the best of the three - both in terms of setlist and performance. With a good mix of older and newer material, covering 11 of their albums, In Flames approached the next hour-plus with all of their years of experience - clearly feeling rejuvenated following the strong receptions their last couple of albums have received. The 16-song setlist was very much packed full of favourites, old and new, with the groovy, mid-paced Cloud Connected kicking things off as the band took to the stage. Augmented this time by a keyboard player, who also handled a lot of backing vocals, the band seemed less reliant on backing tracks compared to when I last saw them in 2019 - and frontman Anders Fridén was full of confidence. He may not be the greatest singer in the world, but his clean and harsh vocals sounded strong - whilst the guitar duo of Björn Gelotte and Chris Broderick peeled off a number of memorable riffs and leads throughout. As Soilwork had done before, sing-a-longs came thick and fast early on. The anthemic Take This Life was wheeled out early - with other crowd favourites Deliver Us and the newer Voices also coming during the set's first third. The middle third of the set was a real winner for long-time fans of the band, though, as a number of tracks from the 1990s and early 2000s where wheeled out. The In Flames fanbase has often been divided, with many struggling to accept the band's direction over the past couple of decades, but I think that it is fair to say that the last couple of albums have harked back to the early days more than anything prior to them for a while. The classic melodic death metal anthems played all received strong receptions, though, with Food for the Gods kicking off this suite - with Coerced Coexistence containing some classic harmony guitar leads and Only for the Weak proving to be a real sing-a-long moment. The poppier Trigger was also included here, but it is another old favourite - and it is fair to say that everyone was on-side by this point. The two songs which followed from the latest album also received strong receptions, with Meet Your Maker perhaps being one of the overall highlights of the set for me. It has a huge chorus, which came across really well live, and Broderick showcased his contributions to the band with some memorable lead and solo work. The home straight was certainly in view at this point, but there was still time for plenty more music - with The Mirror's Truth being another late-set highlight. At this point I should also shout out the skills of new bassist Liam Wilson. He is a scene veteran due to his many years in The Dillinger Escape Plan and In Flames may not have been an obvious choice for him, but his busy playing added a lot to the sound - with his bass generally high in the mix. It was left to a couple of big anthems to round out the set, with the newer I Am Above and the older My Sweet Shadow bringing a powerful showing to a melodic close. The setlist was:

Cloud Connected

Take This Life

Deliver Us

Paralyzed

In the Dark
Voices

Food for the Gods

Coerced Coexistence

Trigger

Only for the Weak

Meet Your Maker

State of Slow Decay

Alias

The Mirror's Truth

I Am Above

My Sweet Shadow

Of the three bands on the bill, Arch Enemy are easily the band I have listened to the most. This was my fifth time seeing them and, whilst I likely listen to Soilwork more these days, they were an important band in my transition towards heavier music. They always deliver live, too, and this past Sunday was no different - despite also battling with muddy sound. Frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz fared the best of all of the singers, though, and she generally cut through the mix - which was fitting given that only two of the songs played, plus the closing instrumental coda, were from her era of the band. Kicking off with Deceiver, Deceiver, the band roared through a 14-song set with ease - with new guitarist Joey Concepcion providing to be a capable foil for band founder Michael Amott (guitar/vocals). The two traded leads and solos all night - and I hope that Concepcion fares better creatively in the band than his predecessor did, as Arch Enemy could do with shaking things up songwriting-wise in my opinion. That being said, though, the set was a powerful one. Anthems such as The Word Is Yours and House of Mirrors got the crowd on-side early on, before a rare trip back to the past in the form of My Apocalypse slowed the pace down and allowed White-Gluz to really prowl the stage. In truth, the song has never been a favourite of mine - and it is a song which could do with a rest in my opinion. Since White-Gluz has joined the band, Arch Enemy have slowly reduced the number of older cuts played, which is understandable, but the ones they do play tend to be the same each time. Nemesis is to be expected, but I am not sure that anything else is mandatory - and I would like to see the band mix up its older cuts live more. The setlist was very forward-looking, though, generally - which was great. Two songs from next year's Blood Dynasty were played, too, with the already-released Dream Stealer coming across well despite its strange tempo and groove changes - whilst Liars & Thieves was hard to judge given the muddy sound, although it sounded like it has a strong chorus. These two new cuts straddled the evergreen War Eternal, with other newer favourites such as The Eagle Flies Alone and As the Pages Burn also coming as the set progressed. A bit of a treat was a rare outing of First Day in Hell, which I had not seen the band do live before, and I always think that Sunset Over the Empire comes across better live than it does on the band's last album. There has been a lot to like about the last couple of albums but they have also felt stale in spots and I am hoping that Blood Dynasty pushes the formula somewhat. The initial signs are promising but I will reserve judgement until it drops. I hope there is some experimentation on the level of Handshake with Hell, though, which has already become a live favourite. The sparing use of clean vocals helps to shake things up and it is an anthem in the vein of the past - just a little different. It went down well on Sunday, but it was left to the band's signature track Nemesis to round things off, with plenty of singing from the crowd, before a customary abridged version of oldie Fields of Desolation brought the curtain down on a long and heavy night of Swedish metal. The setlist was:

Deceiver, Deceiver

The World Is Yours

House of Mirrors

My Apocalypse

Dream Stealer

War Eternal

Liars & Thieves

The Eagle Flies Alone

First Day in Hell

Saturnine

As the Pages Burn

Sunset Over the Empire

Handshake with Hell

Nemesis

Fields of Desolation

Enter the Machine

Despite my feet and knees feeling the full force of the long evening as I was leaving the Apollo, I had a great time on Sunday with three of the big names of Swedish melodic death metal. It is a shame that all three bands battled with muddy sound, but I still had a great time with each band in turn. It was great catching up with both Soilwork and In Flames after five years, and even though I only last saw in Arch Enemy in 2022 it was still great to see them again. With a new album from Arch Enemy dropping in the next few months, and one from Soilwork likely on the horizon given the new single, there is clearly a lot more to come from these veteran bands - and I am sure I will see them all live again at some point in the future.