LIVE REVIEW: Arch Enemy @ The Ritz, Manchester

ARCH ENEMY are certainly a gateway band for the heavier end of the spectrum for metal. Thanks to their harmonious dual shredding and guttural bite, the Swedish metallers have grown to a prolific status in our world. And despite personnel changes back in 2014, with Alissa White-Gluz replacing the departing Angela Gossow, their momentum hasn’t wavered, instead surging forward with new-found purpose. On the back off last year’s Will To Power, the second album to feature White-Gluz, the band have took to the road in a hotly anticipated headlining run across Europe and the UK. We caught the show in Manchester to see if the fire are still burning strong.

TRIBULATION‘s sonic evolution has certainly been interesting and serving as the opening support on this tour demonstrated just how far they have grown since their blood-soaked death metal beginnings. With their latest record, Down Below, still feeling fresh the band dedicated a large portion of their set to their latest material and it translated brilliantly well in the live environment. From Nightbound‘s melodic guitar play from Adam Zaars and Jonathan Hultén to The Lament‘s up-tempo swagger which enabled Johannes Andersson‘s vocal barks to soar, TRIBULATION acted as a unit and their gothic-tinged metal was appreciated by the rapidly building crowd. That, and with a eye-striking aesthetic and dramatic on stage movements, TRIBULATION gave a solid opening performance and probably gained quite a considerable amount of new fans.

Rating: 8/10

Much has been made of WINTERSUN‘s operations as a band. Revered for their musical technicality and expansive soundscapes but equally faced criticisms for their questionable crowdfunding practices and infamous Time saga. Thankfully, their performance as main support to ARCH ENEMY was purely a focus on their music rather than their divisive business practices and when they were firing on all cylinders, WINTERSUN were unstoppable. Guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari absolutely excelled in his role of providing the lead guitar lines in their set, with the jaw-dropping solo of Battle Against Time executed to pin-point precision, whilst Jari Mäenpää‘s vocals were right on the money here. His vocal deliveries held their own against their expansive sonics with his leading lines on Awaken From The Dark Slumber (Spring) sounding especially excellent. And whilst WINTERSUN did experience lulls and strains at various points in their set, on the whole, the Finns delivered a performance that demonstrated their musical grandeur.

Rating: 8/10

When a band change vocalists it can spark a complete rework of their sound but in ARCH ENEMY‘s case, since the arrival of Alissa White-Gluz in 2014, business has very much continued as normal and their headlining performance in Manchester reflected that. From start to finish the band provided a tight and professional sound; that was utterly satisfying to witness. Michael Amott and Jeff Loomis are skilled guitarists in their own right, but here, the duo excelled providing an abundance of hard-hitting riffing and flawless soloing. From the pumping speed of War Eternal whipping up a frenzy in the crowd to the punchy blows of My Apocalypse, enforced further from Daniel Erlandsson‘s double bass drumming, the tempo of ARCH ENEMY‘s sound was kept in top gear throughout.

Alissa White-Gluz held her own at the epicentre of this sonic hurricane through a commanding stage presence and solid vocal deliveries to boot. Delivering gutsy gutturals to strong effect, White-Gluz grew in stature as the set unfolded and her bolstered charisma enabled her to hold the audience in the palm of her hand. But where she truly excelled was in her performance of the band’s latest material. From the rapid-fire approach of The Race, the anthemic nature of The Eagles Flies Alone or demonstrating her dynamic range with soaring cleans in the opening of Reason To Believe, White-Gluz performed their new material to wonderful effect. It was a concise and well-executed performance from ARCH ENEMY and capping off with a thunderous encore of Nemesis, it reinforced the fact that they are certainly one of modern metal’s strongest names.

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in Manchester from Sabrina Ramdoyal Photography: