- advertisement -

ARCH ENEMY
Will To Power
Century Media 2017

Ruben Mosqueda ARCH ENEMY are days from unleashing the second album with [3rd] vocalist Alissa White-Gluz known for her gravelly, yet melodic vocal and of course her petite frame and her trademark ‘electric blue’ locks. Will To Power also marks the first [studio] recording since the addition of guitarist Jeff Loomis [NEVERMORE, SANCTUARY].

There’s a couple of things that will surprise you if you’re an ARCH ENEMY fan; Loomis didn’t make the impact on this album that you’d hope he would have. While his play is outstanding throughout the album, you get the feeling that he was somewhat restrained. Loomis also was a contributor to Will To Power which is probably a bigger disappointment to me as a listener. I don’t know if this was done by design or what but I’m pretty certain that Loomis’ input would have made for an even more blazing record. Fear not as Loomis material will be featured throughout on the White-Gluz solo album. Will To Power was produced by founding member/guitarist Michael Amott, which explains the ‘quality control’ with the guitar work on the album. Noticeable on Will To Power is the amount of ‘clean’ vocals that are featured within; not really that bothersome at this point in time unless this is setting us up for future efforts when the band will go ‘clean.’ Hopefully that NEVER happens.

The lyrical content hasn’t improved with age and that has been the weak link of the band since its inception. I would assume with a Canadian in the band the lyrical content would have improved on album #2 with White-Gluz. It hasn’t. All is not a lost however as tracks like; “Blood In The Water” and “The World Is Yours” measure up to the band’s classics. Songs like “The Eagle Flies Alone” are fantastic musically, the buffoonery that is taking part lyrically is equal to a musical ‘cockblock.’ Having said that, when does the tour start?

3.0 Out Of 5.0

Grab a copy of Will To Power in the KNAC.COM More Store right HERE.