Arch Enemy – ‘Deceivers’ [Album Review]

There are very few groups from the European metal scene who have been as consistently on top of their game as Swedish melo-death metallers Arch Enemy. Whereas even the best bands have produced the odd sub-par offering, not so Arch Enemy, who, even despite a change of vocalist, has never been knocked from their stride. Now about to release Deceivers, the eleventh record of their top-of-the-table career, the melodic death metallers still show they’re capable of banging out an album with absolute no filler whatsoever.

Having already dropped a selection of earworms over the past few months, fans should, by now, have a good indication of how the rest of Deceivers pans out. Opening with a melodic masterpiece in the form of “Handshake From Hell,” the first thing you notice is how effortlessly the band has melded together blistering riffs with melodic, traditional heavy metal. Secondly, the opener is also the first chance for fans to hear vocalist Alissa White-Gluz unleash a frightening blend of demonic screams and angelic cleans. Yes, the scintillating guitar dualling, muscle-working grooves and White-Gluz’s feral vocals might be familiar to longtime fans but hearing it all lock together on tracks like “In The Eye of the Storm,” it’s impossible to deny that the result is simply exhilarating.

Sure, there are times like “Deceiver, Deceiver” or the pummelling “Sunset Over the Empire” where the band unloads both barrels with the relentless metal being powered by White-Gluz’s paint-stripping roars and drummer Daniel Erlandsson’s relentless drumming. However, for the best part, Deceivers is more than just balls-to-the-wall Swedish death metal. There’s the epic “Poisoned Arrow” for a start, where an almost cinematic introduction bleeds into mid-paced metal grooves, then there is the chugging “Spreading Black Wings,” where the sound treads similar waters to classic Metallica and Iron Maiden.

Either way, whether you’re a fan of the Swedes’ more melodic elements or you’re one for their skull-cracking metal juggernauts, Deceivers has it all. It’s got those delicious Swedish melodies, some ridiculous musicianship, that epic heavy metal pomp, mountain-sized grooves and a vocalist with a range that very few metal vocalists can match. Combined, it makes Deceivers another absolutely immense addition to the catalogue of a band who clearly show no signs of stopping.

Deceivers Track Listing:

1. Handshake With Hell
2. Deceiver, Deceiver
3. In The Eye Of The Storm
4. The Watcher
5. Poisoned Arrow
6. Sunset Over The Empire
7. House Of Mirrors
8. Spreading Black Wings
9. Mourning Star
10. One Last Time
11. Exiled From Earth

Run Time: 45:09
Release Date: August 12, 2022
Record Label: Century Media Records