You could call your Nemesis your Arch Enemy

Arch Enemy - Wages of Sin (2001)

Forget the stupid title I made up randomly in two seconds. Today I put my iPod on "shuffle albums" and got a great lineup. One that really stood out, I haven't heard in months, was Arch Enemy's "Wages of Sin." Easily one of my favorite metal albums and by far my favorite with female vocalist Angela Gossow.

Where to start. I am not sure I have the energy to really go on and on, I will try to be concise as to why this album really blows me away. Concise, a word I can use to describe this very recording. Coming in at 48 minutes, it certainly isn't the 60-80 minute epic that a lot of metal bands aspire to making in the 21st century. This length is great, IMO, and works very well here.

The first two things that come to mind are the vocals and the guitars for me. Angela has a very harsh guttaral scream but you can still understand a lot of the lyrics, it is nice as are the lyrics themselves. It seems like there is a lot of religious references on the album and in many other Arch Enemy moments. "Savage Messiah," the album title and the lyric "Ravenous, I will be a god. Carnivorous Jesus, I need your blood" are some examples of this. I fucking love that lyric, it sounds so good in the context of the song and is just an awesome little chorus. Some people hate this kind of "singing" but it just takes some getting used to and to me is all about effect, so awesomely brutal.

The guitar playing on this offering really takes the cake. For any Arch Enemy or metal fan, you know it is Christopher and Michael Amott. These brothers write some awesome riffs and leads. The leads are filled with nice bends for feel and the skilled, technical playing is thrown in at times to really compliment and juxtapose the soulful parts. If you played any solo off of this album, I would instantly recognize it as Amott work, they have a unique tone and style, unlike some of the robotic guitarists of the 21st century. I would say I hear some Iron Maiden influence in the leads mixd with the wonderfully technical play of recent metal. The riffs are for the most part constant and chug along nicely, usually at a higher tempo. Leads are laced in throughout bringing the music from places to place and the solos are the climax to me.

The last main point I want to make is consistency. This album has 12 really consistent tracks. I love them all, each and every one. They are all right around 4-5 minutes long yet they have their own unique feels while staying inside of a tight knit Arch Enemy style. I think this is one of the main things that makes a great album what it is. Pixies "Doolittle" would fall into the consistency category as well. Both albums have a tight style but numerous songs that all have their own feel, hard to accomplish.

Any metal fan should give this album a try. I know some don't like the singing style but whatever, it compliments the music beautifully. I almost get a gothic (not goth kid but medieval, dark) feel out of the album. (My god, the Ravenous solo is playing right now, sublime) I will listen to this as long as I am into metal, a true masterpiece from track one to twelve. I would say if you don't like Heart of Darkness, Ravenous or Web of Lies (probably the best overall), then I can't help you.

*****
Gonna be tough to do this but I'm gonna go with these:


Enemy Within
Heart of Darkness
Ravenous
Savage Messiah
Web of Lies
Behind the Smile