Review of the Album "Rise of the Tyrant" by Swedish Melodic Death Metal Band Arch Enemy

Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy adjusted very well following the departure or firing of vocalist Johan Liiva. Their 2007 studio album called Rise of the Tyrant is probably better than 1999’s Burning Bridges. The first song called "Blood is on Your Hands" has the sound of an ambulance siren as the guitars take over. The song makes reference to the beginning of the Bible when Cain and Abel were put on Earth and one of the brothers was tragically killed. When blood is on a person’s hands because of a crime they committed, that is more than a crime. It is a sin as well. A reference is made to the band’s 4^th album called Wages of Sin which is the first album that Angela did the vocals on.

Due to the sin that was committed by Adam and Eve along with Cain, humans must pay the ultimate price of death. This may not seem fair but I always wonder would we want to keep on living?

The song called "The Last Enemy" is a song that sees Angela Gossow extend her voice in such a way as to provide a sort of screeching sound. There is a classically influenced interlude before the solo. After the solo, there is a fast, melodic tapping interlude. Can we conquer death itself? Humans cannot prevent bodily death. At the end of the song as the pace slows down, we hear a slower version of one of the beginning riffs in this song but it is performed with lead guitar. And then, an acoustic part similar to In Flames takes over as the next song sets in. "I Will Live Again" is a song that tries to point out that even if our dreams become broken due to failure or other circumstances we will live again and revive our abilities and talents to succeed. Angela Gossow’s voice can sound like a really harsh screech at times but she is still a far better vocalist than Daniel Davey of the band Cradle of Filth even at her worst performance. There is a terrific neoclassical influenced tapping part in the second song before the solo.

The song called "In This Shallow Grave" is a song about a person that really has no soul and they were born to die for a lie. Revolution Begins is a song that describes what happens in the life of a person that is born. It seems that their life and plans are preordained and the road is already set. But it is never too late for people to rebel against the social norms. Who are they to tell us what to do? We have to speak out against injustices whenever we can. Rise of the Tyrant is a song that describes what can happen in a nation that loses its freedom as the population lives in fear, being afraid of the end of their civil liberties. Tyrants always exercise absolute power for themselves and sometimes for their family as the average person in the country suffers. Arch Enemy went from a melodic death metal band that began with harsh, rough vocals and muddy riffs to a more mature band that uses better vocals and stronger songwriting. Arch Enemy was never a bad band but they got better as their career progressed. There is an instrumental song on this album called "Intermezzo Liberte" and it uses melodic leads and further strengthens Arch Enemy as a band. Michael Amott made his career better by starting this band back in 1995. The song called "Night Falls Fast" uses classically influenced guitars again as the song talks about how man has made the Earth harder for humans to live in. There is a sense that the Earth is losing its light fast and it has been made into a hell of mankind’s making.

Overall, Rise of the Tyrant is a very good album however it is not as good as Wages of Sin or War Eternal. Even so, this is a nice album by one of Sweden’s finest melodic death metal bands.