Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Totally Enthralling!, August 25, 1999
By A Customer
After such a promising album as was Stigmata I had good reason to anticipate better things from ARCH ENEMY. I read a review of this new CD that, while praising the album for the merits of its sound and quality songwriting, seemed to indicate that ARCH ENEMY hadn't offered their fans anything new. Let me begin with telling you why I disagree and why Burning Bridges is probably the best Death/Thrash album so far this year. Firstly, lets discuss the concept of melodic Death Metal. It wasn't long ago when such a thing would have been considered heresy in the underground. Lets face it, 80's Death Metal was almost totally devoid of any melodic content of any sort. Then came Chuck Schuldiner's revolutionary harmonies and sweeping melodic leads applied to DEATH's music and a new variety of extreme music was thus created. We've seen our share of melodic Death Metal over the past few years but none, in my opinion, so melodic and so damn good as that played by ARCH ENEMY. What I love about this album is that the band make no effort to conceal the fact that they are melodic or that the songs were written expressly with that purpose in mind. This is the most melodic Death Metal album that I've ever heard. In addition to that its also one of the finest in years in terms of albums - period. I was still perfectly happy with listening to their previous release and now ARCH ENEMY serve up a thick portion of some seriously heavy and polished art. Burning Bridges is truly a professional sounding affair and one that, while remaining efficient in the brutality category, is extremely melodic and well-produced enough to attract fans from more tepid forms of Metal. I loved this friggin' album the moment the final song ended and I'm being honest when I tell you that I played this disc at least 8 times consecutively the night it arrived in my mailbox. I couldn't stop playing it! Let's quickly run through some basic facts. Vocally, its great. Frontman Johan Liiva gets my vote for best Death Metal vocalist. He's vicious and powerful yet totally coherent. The drumming on this album is superb as well; thunderous in fact. Bassist Sharlee D'Angelo keeps the rythms heavy with a good solid foundation and, speaking of rythms, this brings us to the highlight of the album. The Amott brothers are two extraordinary guitarists. Their leads are spectacularly fluid and dynamic. Stirring harmonies, and entrancing leads keep your head spinning all throughout the album and its a relentless guitar assault from one track to the next. Frenetic leads and a cacophony of outstanding riffs bless this disc from the very beginning and by the final song, the title track, you are wishing this album was composed of just a couple of more. That's my biggest, and only, gripe with this disc. I think the record company could have pushed the band to inlcude more than 8 songs. But don't fret, all 8 songs are truly amazing. I think another factor in the sheer enjoyment I get out of this album is the moodiness it has. I've never heard a Death/Thrash album that I could honestly say made me feel good inside. This one does. And I can't recall listening to an album that had me itching to bang my head so damn hard! When you hear it you'll know what I mean. Just some of the excellent songs are "Dead Inside", "Pilgrim", "Silverwing", "Demonic Science" and "Seed of Hate"". ARCH ENEMY manage to pack in near-rock influences into their intense Death Metal structures and it works splendidly every time. Burning Bridges is a beautiful step forward for ARCH ENEMY and an almost flawless creation.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply SLAUGHTERING Metal!, April 7, 2004
Arch Enemy has quickly become one of my favorite bands, and a huge reason for that is this album. Now I see what all the hype is about; this album is a venomous beast that slaughters most other metal albums in history, yet with enough melodic flow that too few bands dare try to accomplish with this much heaviness.The Amott brothers (Michael and Christopher) are such a tight guitar duo, they could easily give anyone a run for their money. Their interweaving rhythms, twin harmonies, and dazzling solos never fail to impress me. AND THEY CREDIT EVERY LEAD, SOLO, HARMONY, ETC.! Too many killer guitar duos fail to do this, and that is one of my biggest petpeeves with guitarists. Now I can so easily envision the brothers alternating their lead and rhythm duties. The riffs and leads are probably my favorite aspect of this album. Take, for instance, the main riff to "Pilgrim;" it's sick enough in itself, but then listen to the riff in the pre-chorus - it is so uplifting and powerful, especially as Michael's lead comes in. Oh, and speaking of uplifting, just listen to the riffs of the chorus to "Silverwing" - this is coming from a METAL band, and yet it is one of the most uplifting, "feel-good" guitar riffs that I've ever heard in any song, ever. Quite a contrast is made on the title track, however, with slower, chugging riffs that mirror the dark, almost suicidal lyrics, making for a very bleak and emotional song. Perhaps my favorite guitar solo is on "Demonic Science." After a series of riffs played at a lock-step rhythm, Christopher's lead slices up with such a moving finesse. Then Michael comes in with a sort of funky, trippy series of notes, and then they join in for an outro harmony that is nearly haunting. Beautiful stuff. As much as the guitars dominate, they're not the only thing that's good about this album. Just listen to the intro to "Seed of Hate" - after a simply SICK opening riff, the guitars drop, opening an atmospheric passage where Sharlee D'Angelo's bass thrums a highly effective rhythm over Daniel Erlandsson's beat. The rhythm section of this band is highly underrated, I think; Sharlee's style is rather complex and always flows, forming a perfect backdrop for the guitars. Erlandsson has inhuman skills behind the set, with great use of double-bass pedals and snares; he is surely one of the best current metal drummers, if not one of the best ever (just listen to his work on "Angelclaw" and you will know what I mean!). This was my introduction to Johan Liiva on vocals. I see what people mean about his performance as a death metal vocalist; he has an impressive range of low-end growls and grunts, to higher-pitched wails of uncompromising fury that is easily recognizable as his own. Comparing him to the band's current vocalist, the great (and gorgeous) Angela Gossow, I will agree that while Liiva has a better range, Gossow still fills his shoes very well. Not many other females can do what she does, and she does her job very well. Perhaps my one and only complaint about this album is the length. Clocking in at a mere 35 1/2 minutes, this album surely could have used another bunch of songs to expand it to at least 45. Then again, if Arch Enemy had tried putting more songs on here, perhaps it would have "wanked" a bit. Regardless of the length, this album is simply FLAWLESS, and one of the most important and fantastic in the world of melodic death metal.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitive., May 4, 2003
Arch Enemy is perhaps the purest sound of "Swedish melodic death metal" or the "Gothenburg sound" still in existence. Crushing death riffs, roaring vocals, catchy guitar leads, intense writing and insatiable metal energy. With eight songs, in total clocking in around 38 minutes, songs are concise and tight and equally memorable. Some of the riffs can be a little cheesy and Iron Maidenish, but at their best, Arch Enemy lays down a fatter thrashdown than any Metallica song ("Demonic Science", "Angelclaw"), play the catchiest guitar lick that will bring out the air guitarist in anybody ("Silverwing", "Dead Inside"), and puts it all together into an unbeatable package with killer guitar solos. "Seeds of Hate" could have been a huge metal anthem had it been around during the 80s, while the title track is a slowed-down sludge of barely-changing, ultra-heavy riffs that revels in its dim, stifling emotional atmosphere. This one is especially interesting because it evaporates into chiming guitars chords and mellotron that shows a less appreciated side of Michael Amott's talent -- writing *beautiful* music. A very powerful song, and very unlike the others on this album. Final note: Daniel Erlandsson's drumming is fracking HUGE. Oh, and I prefer Johan Liiva's hostile bark to the abrasive screeching of Angela Gossow (who performs the vocals on their last album, _Wages of Sin_). Consider this an essential purchase.
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