ARCH ENEMY's MICHAEL AMOTT On New Guitarist JOEY CONCEPCION: 'He's Been A Fan All His Life, Pretty Much'

In a new interview with Loaded Radio, ARCH ENEMY guitarist and founding member Michael Amott spoke about the band's upcoming album "Blood Dynasty" and the addition of ARCH ENEMY guitarist Joey Concepcion. Regarding what Concepcion has brought to ARCH ENEMY, Amott said: "We toured all last year with him, which was great, 2024. That was great. He's just a really nice guy and a really nice person, which is a really important thing. And then he's also a phenomenal guitarist, which is also great.

"It's fun with somebody who's kind of a bit more fresh to the whole thing," Michael explained. "We've been around the world so many times now — [we've been] doing this for a long time now — so it's fun when somebody new comes on board. And he's very excited. He's been a fan all his life, pretty much. He told me that he bought his first ARCH ENEMY CD when he was 12. So that's quite something. So metal dreams do come true."

Amott also talked about the departure of longtime guitarist Jeff Loomis, who announced in December 2023 that he was "amicably" leaving the group. Michael said: "That was a great time of stability in the band. We had the same lineup for nine years, which was a great strength. And he's a beautiful guy. I've known him since long before he played with ARCH ENEMY, and we're still friends now, so it just feels great that [there's] nothing sort of [negative] there on a personal level. I think he just wanted to do something different. He stayed home for a year, and now he's getting busy again, I guess, with a new project. But, yeah, I wish him all the best. I wish him well. I don't know what to say. It was a great time. He was a great friend. He's still a great friend."

Asked what the secret has been to maintaining the signature ARCH ENEMY sound while still evolving as a band, Michael said: "Well, I'm still here. I've been here on every album. [Laughs] And then we have the core of Daniel [Erlandsson] on drums and Sharlee [D'Angelo] on bass, Daniel since the beginning and Sharlee from the third album onwards, since the late '90s. It's that core that's remained the same. And we have a sound — when we play, it just sounds like this, it sounds like ARCH ENEMY. So even if we would start a new band tomorrow, it would sound like this. So it's just how it is."

Amott previously told Oran O'Beirne of Fistful Of Metal magazine about Concepcion's addition to ARCH ENEMY: "To be honest, it was a really easy fit. Of course, it helps that he knew how to play a number of our songs already. Joey was actually a student of my brother [Christopher Amott, ARCH ENEMY guitarist from 1995 to 2005 and from 2007 to 2012] in New York, and eventually were in a band together, so he plays very close to Chris's style and has a lot of the same phrasing. ARCH ENEMY was also one of the first metal bands that Joey got into… He's younger than all of us."

Asked whether Joey contributed anything to the songs on "Blood Dynasty", Michael said: "No. All the tracks were pretty much written to how they are on the album. Joey just came in and laid down his solos in Sweden. It was a great experience to have him in on that end of things, and the energy in the studio was great."

"Blood Dynasty" will be released on March 28 via Century Media Records.

ARCH ENEMY played its first concert with Concepcion on April 24, 2024 at Musinsa Garage in Seoul, South Korea. The show was part of ARCH ENEMY's 2024 Asian tour.

Loomis, who was the main songwriter in his previous group, NEVERMORE, joined ARCH ENEMY in late 2014, but was not involved in the writing for the latter act's last two albums, 2017's "Will To Power" and 2022's "Deceivers".