Arch Enemy

Finally having enough time on their hands to look backwards after years of chugging forward, melodic death metal brigade Arch Enemy have turned their eyes and ears toward their formative albums with original vocalist Johan Liiva ― some of their greatest yet overlooked material from 1996's Black Earth, 1998's Stigmata and 1999's Burning Bridges. Wanting to pay respect to both their catalogue and current vocalist Angela Gossow's commitment to delivering these tunes from before her tenure, the band have selected their favourite tracks and re-recorded them with her at the helm. The end result is not only a documentation of better musicianship, Gossow's powerful abilities and a more aggressive stance overall but the fact that because these songs were written moments after founding member Mike Amott had left Carcass, The Root Of All Evil sounds like the missing link between Carcass's Swansong and Arch Enemy's more commercially viable present. Forthright, thick, upbeat and searing, thanks again to Gossow's ravenous delivery, The Root Of All Evil may be a revisiting of Arch Enemy's past but it's easily their most brilliant offering to date.