JOHAN LIIVA Wanted To Perform With ARCH ENEMY Again 'For The Fans'

ARCH ENEMY was rejoined by the band's original members Johan Liiva (vocals) and Christopher Amott (guitar) for their appearance at this year's edition of the Loud Park festival on October 10-11 at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan.

Speaking about his 2000 exit from ARCH ENEMY, Liiva told LoudTV.net in a new interview (hear audio below): "Actually, I wasn't that angry. I was just kind of shocked and kind of disappointed, because I wasn't expecting it. But you just have to deal with it and accept what happened. Then, a few years later, I realized, 'Okay, this is what it's like. It's the music business. [ARCH ENEMY mainman/guitarist Michael Amott] wants to make a living from his music, he wants to make the band like that.' And, honestly, at the end, I wasn't putting too much of my energy into the band; I had so many other things on my agenda, unfortunately. So it was like a mixture of all these things. I was not focused, maybe. So I totally understand it. But then again, many fans were really angry and they all supported me, and I thanked them so much for that. And now they see me doing this show in Loud Park and they wonder what the fuck is going on. You know what I mean? That I don't stand for my values or… But it's not like that. It was a very difficult thing back then."

Asked how his guest appearance with ARCH ENEMY at Loud Park came about, Liiva said: "It was Michael [that asked me to do it]. We're old friends and we speak every now and then on the phone. So he said, soon it's twenty years ago, you know — it's an anniversary for the band. And also it's an anniversary for the Loud Park festival. So he was, like, 'Would you like to do this?' And I was, like, 'Ehhh…. Yeah. Yeah, of course I want. For the fans.'"

Fan-filmed video footage of the Loud Park performance can be seen below.

Liiva was replaced by German singer Angela Gossow as ARCH ENEMY's lead vocalist in 2000. Gossow exited the band in 2013 and was succeeded by former THE AGONIST frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz, while remaining as the group's manager.

Christopher Amott first left ARCH ENEMY in 2005, only to return to the group two years later. His second, and apparently final, departure came in March 2012.

ARCH ENEMY in November 2014 parted ways with guitarist Nick Cordle and replaced him with former NEVERMORE axeman Jeff Loomis. Loomis made his live debut with ARCH ENEMY on the band's fall 2014 European tour.

ARCH ENEMY headlined the 2015 installment of "Summer Slaughter". This tour marked the band's second North American run on this album cycle — but the first stateside trek to feature Loomis.

ARCH ENEMY's latest album, "War Eternal", sold around 8,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 44. The CD was released on June 10, 2014 in North America via Century Media Records. The cover artwork was created by Costin Chioreanu.