After a whirlwind tour across the country, melodo-death masters Arch Enemy returned to Perth on Sunday night to close out a mega successful tour and an obvious indication the band are certainly spreading their wings to wider audiences. Of course it was a warm night to give the band a final send off to but that didn’t stop the crowd from sweating it out in the pit!
Opening the night were local death thrashers Remission who hit the stage to an already packed house, which was the result of an extended line that literally went around the block with fans that eager to get in early. By the time some of us crammed into the room, the band had kicked it off and were sounding in fine form all the way through. It’s certainly a highlighted moment for any band looking to move up the music ladder, the crowd lapping up the bands aggressive sound that combined old school thrash with flashes of tech death and blistering speeds of precise musicianship. The band took notice of the moshpits as did the punters of the band, it was a win-win situation and a good start to the night.
Arch Enemy didn’t waste any time following up next with a brief 30 minute break before attacking the stage and kicking off with “Deceiver, Deceiver” off their latest album. The furor on stage was wild, brutal drum sounds and heavy bass attacking the room from Daniel Erlandsson & Sharlee D’Angelo while piercing guitars from Jeff Loomis and Michael Amott unleashed the riffs all the while vocalist Alissa White-Gluz bounding across the stage providing on-point growls. It was theatrical metal but without all the hoopla and just all about the music.
“War Eternal” hit the sweet spot amongst the fans and it was also fairly clear by this point that the band were focusing their setlist largely on latter material, which may or may not be a good thing depending on where you sit with Arch Enemy’s back catalogue. Either way, the band were in fine form.
“The Eagle Flies Alone” got the groove going hard, it was difficult to not headbang to this mid-tempo thumper and another showcase of the great melodic twin guitar attacks from Loomis and Amott. “Handshake From Hell” was another highlight, this time displaying the range of Alissa’s vocals in the chorus lines, crowd participation at an all time high here with phones out, hands clapping and heads banging.
“As The Pages Burn” round off the main part of the set before the band took a brief break and returning for the encore, Loomis and Amott brandishing their axes even more so with solos and intricate melodies, a couple more tracks before wrapping it up with “Nemesis”. A solid show overall, really can’t fault them on what was just a brilliant performance altogether.
Photos by Shadow-World Photography | Review by Andrew Massie
Arch Enemy
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Remission
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