It had been years since I last attended an Arch Enemy gig, so I was pretty stoked to see that their headlining tour made a stop in the Rocky Mountain region.
The North American Khaos Tour, which also featured Chthonic, Skeletonwitch, and DevilDriver was poised to kick some serious ass at the Gothic Theater in Englewood, CO.
Earlier that day founder and guitarist Michael Amott actually talked about that he really likes the venue and had been playing here plenty before with Arch Enemy and also with his other band Carcass. Well, apparently all we metal heads that night gave the band a reason to return to the Denver region again according to their twitter page:
“You guys are the best! Denver was OVER THE TOP!”
And that was no joke! About 900 plus maniacs were present to watch Arch Enemy at their finest. And I really have to state that all of the other bands that night kicked some major ass as well; with DevilDriver definitely being the fan favorite of the support bands. But even though a lot of the fans already released most of their energy during their set, there was no sign of slowing down once Arch Enemy took the stage.
During the Intro “Khaos Overture” all of the members took their positions on stage with vocalist Angela Gossow stepping out just as the galloping drums and screeching guitars of “Yesterday is Dead and Gone” came out of the speakers. Yap, and that’s all it took for the audience to get wild again!
“Enemy Within” from Wages of Sin (2001) and “My Apocalypse” out of Doomsday Machine (2005) were up next and by that time the crowd surfers came heavily over the barricade. A sea of flying hair, fists pumped up in the air and metal horns everywhere was all I could see. Thankfully the venue is multi level, so most of the fans had a good point of view no matter where they rocked out.
The last time I saw Michael Amott shred was actually with Carcass in 2009 but I honestly like him better in Arch Enemy; case in point “Bloodstained Cross” from their newest album Khaos Legions. God dammit, him and his brother Chris did such an awesome job on this piece. While I usually don’t get overly excited at shows that song just does it for me; maybe because it’s so heavily thrash influenced and also has a nice ballad type slow section. Well shit, through out the entire gig there was absolutely no doubt in anybody’s mind that Michael and Chris Amott are some kick ass shredders.
And to even further that point, both gave guitar solo interludes at some point during the set, which were just out of this world. Particularly during “Snow Bound” toward the end of the show the brothers confirmed what a lot of us already knew; their harmony in playing together is what makes Arch Enemy.
Sharlee D’Angelo, that 10 foot 1 dude (not really, but it sure seams that way) on his bass guitar was thankfully more audible then on some of their studio releases which left a nice thung, thung in my ears.
By the time Arch Enemy played “Under Black Flags We March” it was very apparent that Mr. Daniel Erlandsson is just the master behind his kit; being able to not just handle the demanding blast beat songs but also to slow it down when needed, nice!
“No Gods, No Masters” was another prime example but somehow this song sounds “Amon Amarth’ish” to me, which is not a bad thing in my book. To be honest, I really dig all of the songs on Arch Enemy’s new album, even though some say it’s too soft or too melodic.
Anyhow, the cream of the crop that night was without a doubt the vocal abilities and range of Angela Gossow. Yeah right, everybody sounds great on an album which is mastered and mixed in a studio, but to pull it off live, this is where we separate the women from the girls! And Angela proved to everybody that night that she can run with the big dogs! Her growls were vibrant and raw and the rasp of her “singing” voice gave the whole performance just that little extra edge.
She was also very engaging with the audience that night talking more than I remembered from their prior gigs. But she also had a very powerful message, talking about Amnesty International and human rights in general.
Visually the entire Arch Enemy show was extremely astonishing, with tons of strobe lights and a projector running on the back wall. Random Images and clips from their latest videos ran non stop.
They closed their set with the aforementioned “Snow Bound” going straight into “Nemesis” and ended with “Fields of Desolation”
WOW! What a night, what a stellar performance by Arch Enemy! They left the audience, who was at this point drenched in sweat and (mosh-pit) blood, yearning for a speedy return.
Setlist for Denver: Intro, Yesterday is Dead and Gone, Enemy Within, My Apocalypse, Ravenous, Bloodstained Cross, Taking Back my Soul, Under Black Flags we March, Dead Eyes see no Future, I am Legend / Out for Blood, No Gods, No Masters, Dead Bury Their Dead, We Will Rise
Encore: Snow Bound, Nemesis, Fields of Desolation, Outro
Check the Slideshow below: