ARCH ENEMY Frontwoman GOSSOW Looks Back On U.S. And Mexican Tour

ARCH ENEMY frontwoman Angela Gossow has posted the following message on the band's official web site:

"THANK YOU SO MUCH to everybody who rocked the house with us on the U.S. tour!!! We all had a blast and we have met a lot of wonderful people — you, our fans and friends in metal! A special 'hell yeah' goes out to HATE ETERNAL, NEVERMORE, GOD FORBID and those crazy lads from CHIMAIRA. Drinking a whole bottle of hot sauce and then throwing up before the show — that can't be good for you, Mark!

"After getting off the tour bus New Jersey, we traveled to Mexico. Yes! We made it to Monterrey with ALL our gear; we had 22 pieces of excess luggage and an overbooked flight. Well, actually two overbooked flights. The level of stress was boiling up; Sharlee [D'Angelo, bass] didn't get a seat and was on standby. I was 99% sure my luggage wouldn't show up (a nightmare come true for any woman) or at least my microphone. But all our gear made it over there (and all band members and crew!). Now we were ready for those margaritas they promised us. Let the killing begin.

"And hell, yes, how it killed! We did a signing session in Monterrey, with hundreds of kids piling up in front of that store. I am sorry we couldn't sign all your stuff and take pictures, but we had a little bit of soundcheck to do. Daniel [Erlandsson, drums] actually played on a golden sparkle drum kit that night and it took him a while to take it in and accept it, he-he... The show went well despite all the dodgy rental gear we had to use. The Iguana club was packed to the ceiling. Mexican metal fans…screaming, jumping, moshing. Wonderful.

"The next morning it was a 7:30 a.m. lobby call for us. You can't really do this with a metal band, especially not with me. I am NOT a morning type. And 7:30 a.m. is in the middle of the night for me — considering the fact that I never, NEVER get up before 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon on tour. The earliest time I feel human is 12 noon. But we had a flight to catch, playing that night in Mexico City. So I put on the blackest sunglasses I could find and made my way down to the lobby on all fours (I can't walk that early either). I was relieved to see the guys being at least as grumpy as I was. I was not alone in my disgust for early mornings. But the late evening made up for this.

"Mexico City. The venue (Circo Volador) we played is HUGE. And we managed to pretty much pack it. The show — beyond comprehension. Imagine 2,300 kids jumping up and down simultaneously. Singing along. Screaming. Absolutely overwhelming. There is no better way to end a successful tour. It was our first time in Mexico and we will come back for more. We are also looking at options to play other South American countries. We didn't have the time to do a signing session in Mexico City. Travel, sound check and show are already a lot to handle in just one day. We will do this when we come back. And I hope its sooner than later.

"A special thanx to the promoter Alejandro and his good people with EyeScream Concerts for taking care of us. It was all so smooth and well-organized!

"We will take a little, well-deserved break now before we enter the European festival season. We are playing plenty of them. See you on some muddy, green field in the middle of nowhere soon!"

ARCH ENEMY will release their first DVD, "Live Apocalypse", on August 8 via Century Media. The disc is "chock-full of phenomenal live footage, in-depth interviews and promotional video clips," according to a press release.

ARCH ENEMY's Jagermeister-sponsored co-headlining bill with CHIMAIRA, GOD FORBID and HATE ETERNAL was their third U.S. run in support of their critically acclaimed new album, "Doomsday Machine". That CD debuted at No. 87 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and recently surpassed the 65,000 U.S. SoundScan plateau. The band also completed a new video for the track "My Apocalypse" with director Roger Johansson (IN FLAMES, DARK TRANQUILLITY, SOILWORK). Watch it online at this location (Windows Media).