ARCH ENEMY's MICHAEL AMOTT Says ANGELA GOSSOW's Decision To Leave Band 'Was Not Such A Huge Surprise'

Turk Gitar recently conducted an interview with guitarist Michael Amott of Swedish / American / Canadian metallers ARCH ENEMY. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Turk Gitar: Firstly, we need to touch on vocal change. What is going to change in ARCH ENEMY after Alissa White-Gluz joined the group? We know that Alissa's successful clean vocal for THE AGONIST and in the future, can we see the same things for ARCH ENEMY?

Amott: Yes, that is right, Alissa has many different vocal styles that she can do very well… She is much more versatile in that aspect than [former ARCH ENEMY singer] Angela [Gossow]. But for ARCH ENEMY, we are sticking with the aggressive vocal style that we are known for. When I started the band in 1995, I had the idea to make the most heavy melodic band of all time, combining elements of extreme death metal heaviness and thrash speed alongside traditional heavy metal and hard rock influences with the harmonies, melodies and solos. We are very much staying true to these roots of the band on [the new ARCH ENEMY album] "War Eternal".

Turk Gitar: What happened in the group when you heard Angela Gossow's decision and when Angela said you she would't continue as a vocal with the group? Have you ever fallen into pessimism?

Amott: No, I am always thinking positive. The biggest pro with what has happened would be that it's new energy and power for ARCH ENEMY. The biggest downside would be that, as we know very well, it can be hard for fans to accept a new singer in a band that they love. But last year, I was presented with two options, to stop doing ARCH ENEMY completely or find a new singer, a new voice for the band, and continue making the music that is the soundtrack to my life. I chose to continue alongside Daniel, Sharlee, Nick and now also with Alissa. I am looking forward to letting the fans hear "War Eternal" and we will let the music do the talking!

Turk Gitar: When you published the first song "War Eternal" you made with Alissa, we know that most people found this change reasonable but another different topic was started to be argued. Angela is one of the most prominent vocal of her domination scene all over the world and everyone has the same question in their heads: "How can Alissa fill this space?" What do you think about it?

Amott: Sure, it was a sudden change for the fans; we know that. But, of course, these kind of big steps in life don't come easily, and I believe this was a gradual thing that kept growing in Angela's mind for some time. We had decided to take 2013 off from the road and any sort of band activity. The only thing we were doing was writing music and also there always the plan to go into the studio and record at the end of 2013. As the scheduled recording time got closer, Angela informed us last year that she would definitely be stepping down from her position in the band. To be honest, it was not such a huge surprise to the rest of us, as there were a lot of conversations of that nature leading up to that point. I made the changes in the band that were necessary for ARCH ENEMY to continue and keep the music alive.

Read the entire interview at Turk Gitar.