Arch Enemy - London Review

What better way is there to end a long weekend in London that included gigs from Marillion and Lindsey Buckingham? I am not sure that all would answer by saying a night of full-on metal - but that is what I did this past Sunday. Following the lush and majestic progressive rock of Marillion at the Eventim Apollo on Friday night and the more sedate singer-songwriter vibes of Buckingham's appearance at the London Palladium, I headed south of the river to Brixton to take in something much louder. Multi-gig weekends are great, but they are also tiring. Even having sat down for both Marillion and Buckingham - the long days spent exploring London and the late nights meant that by the time Sunday evening rolled around I was flagging somewhat. To get the elephant in the room out of the way first - the title of this piece should actually read Behemoth/Arch Enemy - London Review. This is because the show that I saw at the O2 Academy in Brixton was part of a co-headline European tour by the Polish extreme metal legends Behemoth and the Swedish melodic death metal veterans Arch Enemy. As I have never been a big Behemoth fan, and the fact that they closed the evening, I actually chose to leave after Arch Enemy's set. I had resolved to hang around and give Behemoth another go - but by the time Arch Enemy's powerful set had come to a close I was feeling pretty tired. Half an hour of standing around followed by an hour of so of blackened death metal was not really what I wanted to be doing with the rest of my evening - so I headed back to my hotel. I may end up regretting this one day, but I imagine that I would have, again, been fairly non-plussed by Behemoth's set - and decided to cut my losses after thoroughly enjoying Arch Enemy and the two openers. Arch Enemy were the main draw for me in any case, and this was my fourth time seeing the band. I last saw them live back in 2018, when they were touring 2017's Will to Power. This current tour is supporting their recently released album Deceivers - which contains a handful of great songs but on the whole is quite patchy in my opinion. Will to Power was similar, but the band remain a powerful live act - and I fully expected the best tracks from Deceivers to make the set rather than any of the songs which I am less keen on. I was sure that the band would impress despite them taking something a bit of a dip in songwriting form of late, even within the context of a tour with Behemoth. On paper, the matching seems like an odd one. I am not sure who the tour was really aimed at, as I am not sure that there are too many people who genuinely love both bands. Arch Enemy and Behemoth tend to cater to different audiences, but perhaps that was the point - and plenty of people were packed into the O2 Academy by the time the lights went down.

Before Arch Enemy took to the stage, the growing crowd was treated to sets from two support acts. Opening the proceedings were Unto Others, a gothic-tinged metal act whom I knew a little about but had never really heard much by. I was looking forward to checking them out, then, and I was quite impressed with their set. Sadly, though, their set was hampered by a very muddy sound mix. This generally persisted throughout the night, although Unto Others certainly had to deal with the worst of it. As such, their first two songs essentially sounded like mush - but thankfully things did level out somewhat for the few that followed. I was expecting the band to sound a bit heavier than they were, but instead they essentially channelled the gothic sounds of the 1980s pretty faithfully. There was definitely quite a lot of Fields of the Nephilim in Unto Others' sound, although the songs felt somewhat punchier and there were less meandering, atmospheric sections. As such, there was some metal grit in the band's sound, then. Both Gabriel Franco (vocals/guitar) and Sebastian Silva (guitar/vocals) riffed away throughout the band's short set, which added weight, but they also regularly played melodic, gothic lead lines straight out the 1980s. Despite this reliance on an old sound, Unto Others did not just sound like a throwback. I think the heavier riffing helped to set them apart from the goth bands of the 1980s, and they never really strayed into modern gothic or doom metal territory. As such, I imagine that Unto Others are a band that I would get into quite a bit if I gave them a proper listen - which I intend to do in due course. It was clear that they had quite a few fans in attendance, too, as the reaction from the crowd throughout was generally pretty receptive.

Following a quick changeover, the crowd was then treated to a heavy set from the Liverpool-based death metal act Carcass. I have been a casual Carcass fan for quite a while, but this was the first opportunity that I had had to see them live. Despite the muddy sound persisting throughout their set, the veteran band showcased why they are considered an important piece of the death metal puzzle - with songs from last year's strong release Torn Arteries and a handful of cuts from the influential Heartwork, among others, impressing the large crowd. Like Unto Others, there were clearly a lot of Carcass fans in attendance. Considering how well-loved they are, this was not surprising - and at times the crowd greeted them as warmly as they would later greet Arch Enemy. The mix made all of the guitars sound muddy, but the vocals of Jeff Walker (vocals/bass guitar) managed to transcend this. His trademark growls sounded powerful throughout the set, even if some the nuances from Bill Steer's guitar playing were lost. Steer, and fellow guitarist James Blackford, still soloed quite a lot throughout the set, though - some of which managed to cut through and make an impact. It is a shame that Carcass' sound was so muddy, though, as death metal needs to sound tight and sharp to really work - especially for me. The faster parts of the set were the worst affected - but some of the more mid-paced sections that relied less on drum barrages faired somewhat better. A couple of the more mid-paced tracks that I am more familiar with stood out the most, then, with the new The Scythe's Remorseless Swing and an excellent closing rendition of Heartwork being the overall highlights for me. Carcass are not a band I know well enough to be able to pick out all of their songs, especially with a muddy sound mix, but I enjoyed finally getting the chance to see them - and I will look to complete my Carcass collection in due course and continue to delve into their influential catalogue.

The changeover following Carcass' set was somewhat longer, but it was not too long before the lights went down again and Arch Enemy took to the stage behind a large curtain - onto which their silhouettes were projected in a rather effective way. Given this was a co-headline set, Arch Enemy had around 75 minutes to play with. I imagine that Behemoth were afforded a similar time slot, too, and the shorter-than-average time on stage ensured that Arch Enemy had to really make it count. They wasted little time though, and largely just let the music do the talking. The groove-based Deceiver, Deceiver kicked things off, with Michael Amott's (guitar/vocals) big riff driving everything - whilst frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz prowled the stage. She has always been a great frontwoman for the band, but she continues to grow in confidence with each passing show. She really is the focal point of the band now, and with three albums under her belt most of the set came from her era. One of my favourite cuts War Eternal was up next, which featured some excellent soloing from Jeff Loomis (guitar/vocals) - before an oldie in Ravenous was wheeled out. The band's whole set was well-received, but songs like Ravenous really got the crowd going. It is an anthemic track with a big chorus that saw plenty of fist pumping in the venue, something which also carried on during the mid-paced and more classic rock-influenced In the Eye of the Storm and House of Mirrors - the latter of which in particular really impressed live. If I had a criticism of the current incarnation of Arch Enemy live, though, it would be their reliance on a handful of older cuts. I have never been a big fan of My Apocalypse, but it is ever-present in the set. It is great that they focus so much on their newer material live, but it would nice if they rotated the older tracks a bit and threw in a deeper cut here and there. The catchy The Watcher, with its epic chorus, left the slow-burning My Apocalypse in the dust - and a trip back to Will to Power for the riffy The Eagle Flies Alone brought a strong reaction from the crowd. Another highlight for me was Handshake With Hell - which allowed White-Gluz to showcase her clean singing. It will be interesting to see if the band write more songs that allow her to do so going forward, but the melodic track came across well live - with the slower-paced bridge section creating something more atmospheric. There was not much time left by this point but the thrashy As the Pages Burn went down well as always, before the pace was slowed properly for the instrumental Snow Bound. This was a showcase for Amott, who displayed his Michael Schenker-inspired playing throughout, before the evergreen Nemesis opened up a huge circle pit and generated a loud reaction. This was essentially the end, but as is often the case the band finished with an instrumental portion of the oldie Fields of Desolation - with Amott and Loomis coming together for the dual guitar leads. The setlist was:

Deceiver, Deceiver

War Eternal

Ravenous

In the Eye of the Storm

House of Mirrors

My Apocalypse

The Watcher

The Eagle Flies Alone

Handshake With Hell

Sunset Over the Empire

As the Pages Burn

Snow Bound

Nemesis

Fields of Desolation

Enter the Machine

Despite leaving before Behemoth's set, I still had a great night. I bought my ticket on the strength of Arch Enemy and Carcass being on the bill, so I do not feel that I really missed out on that much as I have never really been a Behemoth fan. I had a McDonald's in Brixton before getting the tube back to my hotel, and there were a few others in there who were clearly doing the same thing. There is always that risk with co-headline tours, but I am sure that plenty of people also enjoyed Behemoth - who were no doubt excellent. Arch Enemy's great set was enough for me, though, but I do hope that they return to the UK again soon - this time as a headliner in their own right.