War Eternal

War Eternal
Studio album by Arch Enemy
Released June 4, 2014 (2014-06-04) (Japan)
June 9, 2014 (2014-06-09) (Europe)
June 10, 2014 (2014-06-10) (US)[1]
Recorded Late 2013 – early 2014 at Fascination Street Studios, Örebro, Sweden
Genre Melodic death metal
Length 47:30 (standard)
1:51:29 (artbook)
Label Century Media
Producer Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy chronology
Khaos Legions
(2011)
War Eternal
(2014)
Stolen Life
(2015)
Singles from War Eternal
  1. "War Eternal"
    Released: March 20, 2014
  2. "As the Pages Burn"
    Released: April 28, 2014
  3. "You Will Know My Name"
    Released: May 26, 2014
  4. "No More Regrets"
    Released: June 10, 2014
  5. "Stolen Life"
    Released: February 25, 2015
  6. "Avalanche"
    Released: July 20, 2015
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Blabbermouth.net[2]
Metal Hammer[3]
Sputnikmusic[4]
Terrorizer[5]

War Eternal is the ninth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, which was released on June 9, 2014 by Century Media. It is the first Arch Enemy album in 13 years since Wages of Sin to feature a new line-up; Alissa White-Gluz took over on vocals after former long-time vocalist Angela Gossow stepped down from vocal duties to be the band's business manager.[6] Additionally, ex-Arsis guitarist Nick Cordle replaced Christopher Amott in 2012. Cordle ultimately left the band just before their European tour and was replaced by former Nevermore Guitarist Jeff Loomis[7]

Background and development

On March 3, 2014 the band revealed the album's title War Eternal and the release date.[8]

On March 17, 2014, Gossow released a statement announcing her departure from the group and welcoming her replacement, former vocalist of Canadian melodic death metal band The Agonist, Alissa White-Gluz. In the statement, she wrote that while she had enjoyed her time with the group, it was time for her to move on, be with her family and pursue other interests. Gossow did confirm that she would remain Arch Enemy's business manager, and would be "passing the torch to the super talented Alissa White-Gluz, whom I’ve known as a dear friend and a superb vocalist for many years. I always thought she deserved a chance to shine – and now she’s getting it. Just like I got that chance back in 2001."[6]

White-Gluz also released a statement saying:

"I am very honoured and happy to announce a new chapter in my life and musical career. Wages of Sin was the first metal album I ever bought, and it was love at first listen. It is not often that you get a phone call from your favourite band asking you to join! I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with such amazingly talented musicians whom I also consider great friends. I look forward to being able to write and perform at a whole new level now with Arch Enemy! Music is forever, metal is limitless and this is only the beginning![9]

Artwork

The artwork for this album was created by Costin Chioreanu.[10] Chief song-writer, guitarist and band leader Michael Amott commented about the artwork:

"I was looking for a hand-drawn feel with a unique atmosphere, something that would complement the music that we’ve been working so hard on these last couple of years. In the end my choice fell upon Romanian artist Chioreanu Costin, whose work I’ve admired for some time. Costin really grasped my vision for the artwork and layout, he’s delivered some of the coolest artwork elements we've ever had with Arch Enemy![11]

Promotion

The first single and music video "War Eternal" was released on March 20, 2014. The video was the first of three produced and directed by Patric Ullaeus and his Revolver Film Company.[12] The band will start their War Eternal world tour in May with an extensive run through Europe. A North American tour is planned for fall 2014, to be followed by more dates in Europe.[13] As of May, over 80 tour dates have been scheduled so far. On May 27th they released their second music video, "You Will Know My Name".[14] The third video, "No More Regrets" was released the same week as the album.

A fourth music video for the track "Stolen Life" was released on 5th May 2015 which was the first to include Jeff Loomis on guitar. The track is almost identical to the album version, but it includes 2 extra solos recorded by Loomis.

Track listing

Standard Edition
No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "Tempore Nihil Sanat (Prelude in F minor)" (Prelude)Michael AmottAmott 1:12
2. "Never Forgive, Never Forget"  AmottAmott, Nick Cordle 3:44
3. "War Eternal"  AmottAmott, Cordle 4:16
4. "As the Pages Burn"  Alissa White-GluzAmott 4:01
5. "No More Regrets"  White-GluzAmott, Cordle 4:06
6. "You Will Know My Name"  AmottAmott, Cordle 4:37
7. "Graveyard of Dreams" (Interlude)Instrumental TrackAmott, Daniel Erlandsson 1:10
8. "Stolen Life"  AmottAmott 2:59
9. "Time Is Black"  White-GluzAmott, Erlandsson 5:24
10. "On and On"  White-GluzAmott, Cordle 4:05
11. "Avalanche"  White-GluzAmott, Cordle, Erlandsson 4:39
12. "Down to Nothing"  AmottAmott, Cordle 3:48
13. "Not Long for This World"  Instrumental TrackAmott 3:29
Total length:
47:30

Personnel

Arch Enemy

Additional musicians
Production and design
  • Arch Enemy − producer
  • Jens Bogrenmixing, mastering
  • Staffan Karlsson − engineering (vocals)
  • Nick Cordle − engineering (guitars & bass)
  • Daniel Erlandsson − engineering (guitars & bass)
  • Johan Örnborg − engineering (drums)
  • Linn Fijal − engineering (strings & keyboards)
  • Costin Chioreanu − artwork, layout
  • Patric Ullaeus − photography
  • Jens Prüter − A&R

Charts

Chart (2014) Peak
position
scope="row" Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] 13
scope="row" Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 39
scope="row" Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[17] 43
scope="row" Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[18] 38
scope="row" Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[19] 36
scope="row" Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[20] 5
scope="row" French Albums (SNEP)[21] 56
scope="row" German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[22] 9
Italian Albums (FIMI)[23] 89
scope="row" Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 40
scope="row" Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 16
scope="row" US Billboard 200[26] 44

Release history

Region Date Label Format
Japan June 4, 2014 Trooper Entertainment CD
Europe June 9, 2014 Century Media Records CD
US June 10, 2014 Century Media Records CD
Australia June 13, 2014 Century Media Records CD

References

  1. "the Official Arch Enemy Website". centurymedia.com. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  2. Van Horn, Jr., Ray. "Arch Enemy "War Eternal"". Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  3. Riedl, Katrin. "Arch Enemy War Eternal". Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  4. Schroer, Brendan. "Arch Enemy War Eternal". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  5. Terrorizer issue 249, June 2014
  6. 1 2 "Surprising news from the Arch Enemy camp as it’s been revealed that Angela Gossow has left the band. Find out who’s replacing her inside". metalhammer.teamrock.com. 17 March 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  7. "Jeff Loomis Joins Arch Enemy". jeffloomis.com. November 17, 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  8. AXL ROSENBERG (March 4, 2014). "Arch Enemy Announce New Album, War Eternal". metalsuck.net. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  9. Graham Hartmann (March 18, 2014). "New Arch Enemy Vocalist Alissa White-Gluz Had ‘Every Intention’ of Continuing With the Agonist". loudwire.com. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  10. "ARCH ENEMY reveals artwork, track-listing for ‘War Eternal’". neufutur.com. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  11. "ARCH ENEMY reveals artwork, track-listing for 'War Eternal'". neufutur.com. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  12. "ARCH ENEMY present title track of upcoming album "War Eternal"!". archenemy.com. 2014-03-20. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  13. "reveals artwork, track-listing for 'War Eternal'". centurymedia.com. 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  14. "EXCLUSIVE: Arch Enemy – You Will Know My Name". metalhammer.teamrock.com. 2014-05-27. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
  15. "Austriancharts.at – Arch Enemy – War Eternal" (in German). Hung Medien.
  16. "Ultratop.be – Arch Enemy – War Eternal" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  17. "Ultratop.be – Arch Enemy – War Eternal" (in French). Hung Medien.
  18. "Danishcharts.com – Arch Enemy – War Eternal". Hung Medien.
  19. "Dutchcharts.nl – Arch Enemy – War Eternal" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  20. "Arch Enemy: War Eternal" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat IFPI Finland.
  21. "Lescharts.com – Arch Enemy – War Eternal". Hung Medien.
  22. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  23. "Artisti – Classifica settimanale WK 24 (dal 09-06-2014 al 15-06-2014)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  24. "Swedishcharts.com – Arch Enemy – War Eternal". Hung Medien.
  25. "Swisscharts.com – Arch Enemy – War Eternal". Hung Medien.
  26. "Arch Enemy – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Arch Enemy.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.