Ranking the Studio Albums: Arch Enemy

[@exploringwithasmr]

Wages of Sin was one of my favorites when it came out.

[@kevinm5957]

Wages of Sin Stigmata Anthems of Rebellion Black Earth This band is so melodic and is definitely a gateway band into extreme metal for those who’ve never listened to growling vocals. Three different singers, the last two female. I think Angela is unbelievable.

[@METALBENSCHRONICLES]

I honestly miss Angela being in the band. Wages Of Sin would be my favorite arch enemy album.

[@exploringwithasmr]

Yup, I listened to that album a ton back in the day. Still holds up.

[@1976HNRK]

Pete, how about ranking KREATOR albums?

[@ThrashYaGutsOut]

Yeah more thrash/death metal ranking's would be nice.

[@Alexi676]

Certainly the album that catapults your interest into being a full on fan plays a huge part in a creating a list like this. For me, that album is 2001's Wages of Sin. I don't know if many of you remember, when AE announced Johan was being replaced, they played an audio clip of the new vocalist. The venom that was being spewed out, it could only come from a male vocalist right? Angela's influence on women fronting this style of metal cannot be expressed enough! Amazing! As for Alissa, she grew up and went to High School down the road from me in the west island of Montreal, so to see her growth from The Agonist into replacing Angela will always amaze me. She is fantastic, and uses her platform with such moral conviction, she undoubtedly will inspire future female metal artists. 1) Wages Of Sin 2) Anthems Of Rebellion 3) War Eternal 4) Stigmata 5) Doomsday Machine 6) Black Earth 7) Burning Bridges 8) Rise of The Tyrants 9) Will To Power 10) Khaos Legions

[@gabriellarrubia1006]

Seeing this reminds me that I need to catch up on albums I missed. I think Alissa might even be more talented than Angela but I gotta say Arch Enemy felt way more inspired late 90s to mid 2000s with the Amott brothers doing amazing work... This band was actually a huge influence on my guitar playing- I'm always mentioning Dime, EVH, Lynch but in the riff department the Amott bros were just as important...

[@professorhastig4191]

I really love Black Earth! It sounds like a lost album of Carcass, the band Michael Amott left right before founding Arch Enemy. There is al lot of Heartwork in that first album. After that they were still good for a while but they lost me when Johan Liiva left. I've never really been into his voice, but they also changed their musical direction at the time.

[@hevihoo]

Angela was the best. She had undeniable charisma and authority. Aggressive, powerful and dynamically well executed vocals. Great natural presence on stage also. With Alyssa everything feels a bit polished and artificial. Not a bad singer at all but just not quite right. And like Pete said, Johan was the weakest link. In my opinion he was a bit sluggish and lacking some serious strength and edge. Angela's vehemently spewed articulation lifted the band to a whole new level.

[@BobbyJr_]

I hate all the purist snobs who just shit on everything after Johan. Musically the albums are good but his vocals are the weakest.

[@GarethAlan81]

Hey Pete, have you ever listened to Michael Amott's side band, Spiritual Beggars? They put out some quality albums. Had 3 different singers so they are all very different.

[@johnappleton8133]

I noticed Death and Roll became a big thing after Entombed and Carcass did it back around 1994 till 1998. Some cool songs from all those bands but the albums as a whole were always missing something. Carcass Heartwork was the best album fusing it all together and made it sound so original.

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

Yep, I certainly have! Enjoy them more than AE to be honest.

[@GarethAlan81]

@@seaoftranquilityprog Me too. They are one of my favourite bands. Especially On Fire and Demons albums. 😎

[@matthewvoss7365]

I got into them in 2003 when I saw them open for Slayer.

[@diannecarpenter7718]

Arch Enemy rocks!!🎼🎤🎸🎵🥁

[@mohammed.alfarsi.454]

I love death metal & some melodic death metal, but I never got into Arch Enemy I'll revisit some of their stuff and see if I like them, as always thanks Pete 🤘🏻

[@smokeaphatredbull]

On the Japan release of Rise of the Tyrants, there is a killer cover of the KISS song "The Oath" from 1981 "(music from) The Elder"

[@dsc1970]

Hi Pete, I’m a 51 yo Cdn guy who was into heavy metal during the 80s for 3-4 yrs and was largely out of it until early 2018. I was totally unaware of European heavy metal but once I discovered it, I loved lighter stuff like power and symphonic metal. Arch Enemy was the first heavier band I got into. Found them from a "We Rock/Dio" tribute video Alissa was involved in. The harsh vocals shocked me at first but I love it now. I’ve listened to all their albums now. I’ve learned a ton of heavy music since then. Arch Enemy isn’t the heaviest band, but I still find them a ton of fun. I don’t listen to them every day but definitely some each week. They might be my favorite heavy band.. I found their last 2 albums first and love them. I’d say Alissa brings a slight punkish element to the band -- I can hear it in a few songs (‘The Race” for eg). So if you were a guy like me who sees what’s good about the band but recognizes the criticisms against them, what are some other bands with good, blazing guitar like Arch Enemy? I don’t know prog as well as you do, but I’ve loved Queensryche since 1984. With all the music you know, you’re a good guy to ask. Cheers.

[@747jono]

Being in the Uk The Hudson Valley Squares is my highlight of the week thanks

[@gordanlazinica]

Can't say much about albums since I'm not a fan, but I love 'Enemy Within' from 'Wages of Sin', just a crushing, pummeling song, great riffing, melodies, production and Angela sounds really like a demon.

[@kushleafs8638]

Doomsday machine is an absolute masterpiece

[@sammyorr2265]

This band was my gateway into extreme metal. No idea how I would rank all these albums but I do really dig just about the entire catalog. Going to revisit my least favorite, Will To Power, because you had such very nice things to say about it. Really enjoying your channel Pete.

[@GRKMetalHead]

Awesome list Pete...I agree with the ranking very under rated band.

[@houseofclouse1509]

So glad you did this band Pete, one of my faves. I enjoy all of their albums. My Ranking: 1. Wages of Sin 2. Doomsday Machine 3. Burning Bridges 4. Stigmata 5. Anthems of Rebellion 6. Black Earth 7. Rise of the Tyrant 8. War Eternal 9. Will to Power 10. Khaos Legions

[@stephenrace7976]

Arch Emeny is a killer band...thanks for the great review Pete...and by the way...what's Jeff Young been up to lately?...haven't seen him much on any of your shows

[@johnappleton8133]

A band who were really good in the beginning and started a slow decline throughout the years. I started loosing interest after Wages Of Sin, which I would say was their best album of the 2000s with Angela. The band made about the exact album over and over again after Anthems Of Rebellion. They have talent and they should of done more with it. Heres my list of their prime period albums: 1. Stigmata 2. Burning Bridges 3. Wages Of Sin 4. Black Earth 5. Anthems Of Rebellion 6. The rest would go in order of Decline.

[@recordmass6298]

Yeah absolutely, there are so many better-serious bands in that context. Good early 2 albums perhaps, then just nothing really interesting, saturation. For me as soon as Angela stepped in, no interest at all even further...plus, the typical oversaturation and overproduced artificial sound that is used in a millon other clone bands doing the same thing over and over again. Dispensable.

[@LeatherRebel75]

I got into them with the Stigmata album, partly due to being a Carcass fan and Michael Amott was on two of the best Carcass albums. Also, it was partly due to hearing "Beast of Man" on that 4th Century Media compilation, and that song tearing my head off. I always loved Johan's vocals on those early albums, but Angela really helped to make the band into stars.

[@t702942]

Oh wow, my ranking is pretty different from yours 😄 Also, they’re great live! Saw them on the Wages tour and the Anthems tour. I’ve been following them since Stigmata came out, and that album is a real masterpiece. My ranking: 1. Stigmata 2. Burning Bridges 3. Anthems of Rebellion 4. Wages of Sin 5. Will To Power 6. Rise of the Tyrant 7. War Eternal 8. Doomsday Machine 9. Black Earth 10. Khaos Legions

[@thrashpuppy2010]

The Angela/Christopher era will always be my favorite. Top 3 for me would be Wages of Sin, Anthems of Rebellion and Khaos Legions.

[@chriscleveland3123]

I just heard "Will To Power" for the first time...and was blown away !!!

[@0neInTheWorld]

1 - Burning Bridges (short - apart from that their best) 2 - Khaos Legions (immediately fell in love with this one when it came out, still a fan) 3 - Rise Of The Tyrant (yes, in my top three! - great effort) 4 - Anthems Of Rebellion (only record i know Andy Sneap didn't fucked up) 5 - Wages Of Sin (this album revived metal) 6 - War Eternal (you know who is great on this one: Nick Cordle! it´s like getting Yngwie into the band) 7 - Doomsday Machine (looks weak on 7th place, but it's actually awesome) 8 - Black Earth (first album, in 1996, first song, straight up death metal interrupted by a steel pan interlude. that. was. ingenious.) 9 - Stigmata (looks like i would despise this one, but i listen to this from time to time) 10 - Will To Power* Will To Power made me realise how one dimensional Alissas voice is. Compared to the previous album the compositions aren't nearly as good and manifold. Also Jeff couldn't safe this one for me. Whining at a high level, ha ha.

[@maximegervais2213]

Great channel, have you done the band Redemption ( Ray Alder group) album ranked, thank you

[@dmphax]

Did you rank Dark Tranquillity albums yet? Since Chris Amott is there now, it would be interesting to hear your opinions! My favourite AE album is hands down Khaos Legions, followed by Anthems and Wages.

[@wastelander1015]

For me it goes like this: 1. Anthems of Rebellion 2. Wages of Sin 3. Burning Bridges 4. Stigmata 5. Black Earth 6. Doomsday Machine 7. Rise of the Tyrant 8. War Eternal 9. Will to Power 10. Khaos Legions 11. The Root of All Evil The problem is not Alissa's vocals, she was great in The Agonist. It's the increasingly uninspired album after album. There's barely any good songs in AE post- Doomsday Machine albums.

[@Dragonface013]

Seems like I'm alone in this opinion, but to me Burning Bridges is one of their best albums; it absolutely blew my mind when I first heard it, and to this day it's still one of those records that I can come back to pretty much whenever and enjoy every second of. Was hoping you would put it at least a 'little' higher, but whatever; pretty much agree with your entire ranking otherwise :)

[@MCDLHOTP]

1. Doomsday Machine 2. Khaos Legions 3. Rise of the Tyrant 4. War Eternal 5. Will to Power I'm not so familiar with Anthems of Rebellion and Wages of Sin or the Johan-albums, so I can't rank them now.

[@piotrkowalski451]

ROOTS OF ALL EVIL -compilation,they re-recorded a lot of their stuff /with Angela obviously/ from the first 3 albums and although it is not an original material,the entire album is a KILLER.

[@darrenbooker8144]

The mighty Peter Wildoer of Darkane, James lebrie and auditioned for dream theatre played drums on stigmata apart from beast of man and one other..... you can hear the double bell assault and complex patterns all over it

[@slipknotmfkrlocust8843]

1. Rise Of The Tyrant 2. Anthems Of Rebellion 3. Doomsday Machine 4. Wages Of Sin 5. War Eternal 6. The Root Of All Evil 7. Khaos Legions 9. Stigmata 10. Will To Power 11. Black Earth 12. Burning Bridges

[@DunlopTortex05mm]

Your "Doomsday Machine" feeling is for me with "Rise of the Tyrant". For me the alchemy between the Amott brothers you talked about is at its absolute best here. Maybe not their most memorable, but guitar wise I think we can agree it's their very best.

[@Tonydiosmetalemporium]

Great band. Saw them many times since 1999. “Burning Bridges” is my personal favorite followed by “Wages of Sin”. Haven’t really dug their last few. I’d love to see their side project Black Earth (Stigmata/ Bridges lineup) record some new music.

[@deadliestassassin3092]

I have to give love for Johan Liiva's vocals on first 3 albums. He had a more clearer vocal growl and to me more unique then Angela and Alissa. First 4 albums were the best. Burning Bridges my favorite and Wages of Sin 2nd favorite. They fell victim after that to being more commercial and kind of basic and predictable. Their music just got more bland with each release starting with Anthems of Rebellion. Doomsday Machine has some okay moments but i completely lost interest after that. Especially with The Root of All Evil where they rerecorded some songs from first 3 albums and the magic just wasnt there. Very unnecessary for any band to rerecord classics. I just bought Armageddon's rerecording of their first album. Christopher Amott was in that band. Also got Canorous Quintet's 2nd album rerecorded. The originals are best.

[@kushnirdo]

My ranking: 1. Wages of Sin 2. Burning Bridges / Rise of the Tyrant / War Eternal 3. Stigmata / Anthems of Rebellion / Doomsday Machine / Khaos Legions 4. Black Earth / Will to Power

[@nerzenjaeger]

Pete, are you going to do a "ranking the albums" on XYZ? Discovered them through you (as it is often the case these days), but need some more solid recommendations from their catalogue.

[@jameshart5327]

Pete, Totally agree! First time I saw this band was on their Doomsday Machine tour and thought WOW! Went and got the album immediately. Easily my favorite Arch Enemy album. I own all their albums, but really only listen to Doomsday. Definitely not a fan of their 1st three albums. Maybe if redone with another singer, may be worth listening too.

[@piotrkowalski451]

My absolute favorite metal band. Some albums are better,some worse but overall,this is a true,brutal yet melodic,sophisticated metal .

[@Intermentor]

Wages of Sin will always be my favorite. I was way into the band back then, not so much with the new vocalist. Agree that the best album with Johan was Stigmata. A very heavy and good album

[@bobbaldwin3572]

Hello Pete, completely different artist but have you considered doing a mike oldfield discography review?

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

Never owned anything but Tubular Bells, sorry.

[@bobbaldwin3572]

No worries Pete, if you ever fancy trying more Oldfield give Ommadawn a go, it's superb. Wonderful channel, keep it up!!

[@thespectrebeneath3812]

Good list. My entry point was Burning Bridges so I would rank that higher, but Wages of Sin is my number 1. For me they did 5 tasty album in a row from Burning Bridges to Rise of the Tyrant, not a bad return in anyone's book. I miss Angela though and the music has hit a wall since Khaos Legions for me, although i did like a few from War Eternal.

[@tonyjambor1984]

Pete how about a ranking of Hatebreed albums? I am loving the new album that just came out. Killer songs with no filter.

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

Not a fan, sorry.

[@NitroModelsAndComics]

Angela is who I think of when Arch enemy is ever mentioned. For me it's Doomsday, Wages, Tyrant.

[@747jono]

Great band miss Angela but Alissa is also awesome. I love War Eternal . Latest is awesome

[@giannhsaleuras5291]

One for All All for One WE ARE NEMESIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS

[@nicholasadams9881]

Saw these guys back just before Angela left in 2009....I never knew a lady could sound so evil, in the words of Chris Alo, my jaw hit the fucking floor, she was amazing!! Wages of Sin by far my favourite of the band!!

[@lening9]

1) Stigmata 2) Wages of Sin 3) Burning Bridges 4) Anthems of Rebellion 5) Doomsday Machine 6) Black Earth 7) Rise of the Tyrant 8) Will to Power 9) Khaos Legions 10) War Eternal

[@robertweir8658]

Wages of Sin was the one I came in on. Still my number 1.

[@ajaykiran973]

Most of my favourite albums are Pete’s number 2 favourite. 😊

[@jaygrinder7694]

I don't really care how Alissa sounds, but she does sound amazing, I just have to admit I could look at her all day, and night.

[@dandogful]

Yes what a hottie, she has good clean vocals too i wish she would use them more.

[@gwyld]

Probably the hottest singer out there right now, haha. Angela's growls were better, but Alissa's doing a good job, and has a nice clean vocal when she does those, like with Kamelot.

[@bengalgangster]

yet another group i will have to check out great dio show last night pete do you like the cult ? i feel underated especially billy duffy

[@robcarrier1969]

First time I saw them in 2001, the security guys did a double take when Angela opened her mouth the first time - hahaha

[@gordy3714]

Never really been a Arch Enemy fan, it's a bit why I am not a Kreator fan just can't get away with the vocals on both bands.

[@purpletemple1]

Didn't they re-record the first 3 albums with Angela?

[@gabriellarrubia1006]

They had an album of remakes but as far as I know they didn't do all three in their entirety

[@MegaModulator]

War Eternal (2014) Doomsday Machine (2005) Wages Of Sin (2001) Stigmata (1998) Khaos Legions (2011) The Root Of All Evil (2009) Anthems Of Rebellion (2003) Black Earth (1996) Will To Power (2017) Burning Bridges (1999) Rise Of The Tyrant (2007)

[@Buckeye_4_Life_]

Wow brand spankin' new video..😁

[@peterichards3261]

Agree Pete never really liked Johan's vocals. Transmigration Macabre one of my favourite riffs of all time though. Think Chris Amott wrote that one. Personally I'd put Khaos Legions higher. Some more adventurous music on that I think

[@grahamevans9606]

Snap!!!! 1. Doomsday Machine 2. Anthems Of Rebellion 3. Wages Of Sin 4. Khaos Legions 5. Stigmata 6. Rise Of The Tyrant (Ruined by brickwalled mastering) 7. Will To Power 8. Burning Bridges 9. Black Earth 10. War Eternal

[@titan90000]

I have heard a few songs from them in the past and really didn't like them. Gojira is my favorite band currently and I have been into metal my entire life. Never been that big a fan of female led metal bands until I heard Jinjer so I will revisit Arch Enamy based on your recommendations of their best album.

[@analogkid2869]

Hey Pete - What’s your take on Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation ?

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

I like a few of the earlier albums for each, but stopped following both years ago.

[@analogkid2869]

@@seaoftranquilityprog Fair enough. Thanks for the reply Pete - I appreciate that.

[@doctorinfinite6704]

Huuuuuge fan of this band. I got into them with Wages. Was it me or did Rise of the Tyrant have a much more raw sound and/or production? Just the overall character of the album felt really different compared to the pretty clean, concise, and piercing sound of the previous two albums with Angela. At first it turned me off, but it definitely grew on me big time and I think its a great selling point. Helps the album sound more aggressive, which always suits the band...and sonically sets it apart from the others. Im not into audio production, so this may just be my imagination.

[@AltheSpiderlord]

Burning Bridges (shocked that was so low) Wages of Sin Black Earth Stigmata Anthems of Rebellion Rise of the Tyrant War Eternal Doomsday Machine Rise to Power Khaos Legions

[@captainbeyond7469]

Never heard this band checked out the top pick Domesday Machine on Spotify. Excellent guitar work in the beginning had me drawn in and then the vocals. Jeez LOL not for me is an understatement. Shame I love great guitar work but each to their own.

[@w-james9277]

Today's been a good day. Covid vaccine approved and Pete uploads a video about one of my favourite melodeath bands!

[@Buckeye_4_Life_]

Covid vaccine is a good thing..? Good luck with that..

[@w-james9277]

@@Buckeye_4_Life_ Are you an expert in vaccines? Where can I find your research?

[@andypostema4269]

Not only has there not been enough time to safely conduct human trials, they've already been reporting major side effects from these vaccines. But let's forget about politics and pandemics for a second and just enjoy the music, or reviews. Whatever takes your mind off the stark reality of the world right now.

[@joeylyons4549]

Only on KZbin. Can a post about a great band turn into banter about the safety of the vaccine. Lol

[@w-james9277]

@@andypostema4269 Of course it's rushed. It's a global pandemic. But the reason why it's been developed so quickly is because all the manufacturers are sharing all of their information with each other. And no there hasn't been any problems. That is more fake news being spread online by conspiracy theorists. All the data has been published online and is available for you to read for yourself. If you want to spend the rest of your life in lockdown then be my guest. But let the rest of us who believe in science and reason get on with our lives.

[@magnuswettermark8293]

Great band. I am also one of the few who like Alissa more than Angela. Sorry..but take it folks,just my opinion.

[@ukrocksounds3419]

Thought i give this a listen, death growls not my thing.

[@cmiller6501]

Wages of Sin. Anthems Of Rebellion. Doomsday Machine. Rise of the Tyrant. Stigmata. War Eternal.

[@mikem.7921]

The amott brothers got me hooked on this band and Angela will always be the only singer for this band

[@swingthestatue]

Wages of Sin Anthems of Rebellion Doomsday Machine Black Earth Stigmata Rise of the Tyrant War Eternal Will to Power Burning Bridges Khaos Legions

[@dimeraRaven]

I quite enjoy Arch Enemy, though their latest two albums are fairly forgettable for me, with some songs being the exception. I got to see them live when they were supporting Machine Head on their tour for "The Blackening," and they were a lot of fun. Played some songs of "...Tyrant," but I don't think that album had been released yet. Trivium was at that show to, highly forgettable. I wish Jeff Loomis would be able to contribute more to the song writing, which is how I felt with Holt in Slayer. For me those two guys are better than their fellow band mates, but they don't get to contribute outside of solos. A shame. 1. Rise of the Tyrant 2. Burning Bridges 3. Doomsday Machine 4. Stigmata 5. Black Earth 6. Wages of Sin 7. Anthems of Rebellion 8. Khaos Legions 9. War Eternal 10. Will to Power Stigmata and Black Earth are interchangeable for me, the same with War Eternal and Will to Power.

[@robcarrier1969]

I would say 'Black Earth' is the best album, kinda sucks to open your first album with the best song of your career though....

[@747jono]

Pete you are the only guy who can go from prog rock to death metal brilliant so many others concentrate on one genre. On the Kaos bonus cd the covers are not so good

[@BlackMoore82]

Stigmata. Black Earth. Burning Bridges. That's it, the first album with Angela on it "Wages of Sin"s not too bad otherwise not a fan of her and Alissa is much worse (saw her in The Agonist two years before she joined AE). When it comes to female fronted extreme metal I prefer Dana Duffey from Demonic Christ, Lori Bravo from Nuclear Death, and Tokiko Shimamoto from the Japanese band Shadow.

[@fredlaroche6969]

1 - Burning Bridges 2 - Wages of Sin 3 - Stigmata 4 - Black Earth 5 - War Eternal ...the rest... don't care for it... at all.

[@Gregbaltzer]

I think Wages of Sin, Anthems of Rebellion, and Doomsday Machine are their holy trilogy. I bought the Khaos Legions album and just found it boring. It felt like they were trying to target a demographic I didn't identify with and I just lost interest and sold all of their stuff. Interesting to see Pete rank Khaos so low.....I guess it wasn't just me.

[@robcarrier1969]

I never understood the argument that Liva was one dimensional, Angela is the epitome of one dimensional.

[@sadisticsav4g372]

Anthems of Rebellion is the best Album🤘

[@michaelparise4076]

For me after Johan it's rest in peace Arch Enemy! Not into jagermeister tour music personally!!

[@venustoise4389]

I would have to agree that Johan is the least enjoyable vocalist in this band. The first AE song I heard was Nemesis back when I heard it in Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock, but I didn't really get into the band until last year when I first heard The World Is Yours. I would say War Eternal is my favorite album right now, and War Eternal being my favorite song from my new favorite band.

[@SPak-rt2gb]

Like it...do you like Dark Angel

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

I dug 'em in the '80s...don't have anything by them anymore though.

[@mauriciogoncalves9474]

Doomsday machine Will to Power Burning bridges Wages of sin

[@JoseEspinoza-ly3rk]

Doomsday machine awesome album

[@747jono]

Add Jeff Loomis wow great

[@747jono]

Will To Power is the latest

[@sadekx5251]

Big fan since the first album but I started losing interest after Anthems when they turned into a Hot Topic band.

[@kriskincaid6128]

I think War Eternal is they're best album! Great solos and melodies! Instantly loved it! Second best is Stigmata 🤘

[@nerzenjaeger]

For me, Arch Enemy NEVER had an adequate vocalist matching their style. That guy from Illdisposed would be an amazing fit, he's wasted on that band anyway.

[@bradleyy432]

They did do an album of re-recordings of Johan songs with Angela. Over produced and boring at least for me.