Empire Extreme and Just A Rock and Roll Junkie teamed up together to talk to guitar shredder Michael Amott of Arch Enemy before they hit the stage with At the Gates and Amon Amarth. 

EE: Hows the tour going so far? 

MA: Vey good, we are out here with Amon Amarth and At the Gates and we get to play right before Amon Amarth. We have had some killer reactions and we had an epic show last night in NY. 

EE: We made a joke about it being a Swedish invasion

MA: Yeah it is, there’s a lot of Swedes Around. I think it’s cool and I know most of the guys. 

EE: You guys just released the Covered in Blood compilation album, how was that?

MA: That’s a collection of songs that we recorded from 1996-2017 all the cover tunes. I didn’t realize how many songs we actually had. Some of them were unreleased. 

EE: Are you guys working on a follow up to Will to Power?

MA: Yeah we will work on it next year. 

EE: Hows it like working with Alissa no that’s she’s been in the band for a while now?

MA: Excellent. We have a great work flow. It’s working well.

EE: If you could put one song in a time capsule that’s sealed up for 100 years or so, what song would you want to be in it for Arch Enemy?

MA: I would say nemesis. That’s a pretty insane track. 

EE: I was thinking maybe Dead Eyes See No Future. What if the in the future they don’t have no eyes and are telepathic. 

JRNRJ: With all the bands on this tour being similar but different, what’s your take from the stage when you see the fans with costume and flags. 

MA: I think it’s great. Everyone has the own flavor on this tour. We have a great spot since we play right before Amon Amarth so everyone is there full packed house while we play. 

JRNRJ: I’ve got one more question for you that I can’t let you go before I talk to about Spiritual Beggars, I love that band., I love that band. I loved the Demons and On Fire albums. You have been putting out albums with them as long as you have been with Arch Enemy, did you ever have any difficulties balancing the two bands? 

MA: That’s a great question, I was able to do that, being the creative driving force of both bands. I was able to back and forth seamlessly. I was doing that early on, but then Arch Enemy got a lot more busy and toured the US. The gaps became longer. That’s funny you mentioned Demons and On Fire albums because JB who sings for Grand Magus is the singer on those albums, and the drummer from Grand Magus played on all the albums, and Sharlee who plays bass for us was on the Demons album. All we are missing is Per who played with Opeth. 

JRNRJ: When you write do you write for both bands at the same time or do you know which songs are better for which band?

MA: I just write riffs and melodies all the time. It’s easy for me to split them. I’ve a few times that I wasn’t sure but it’s usually easy for me. 

About Author

Ron

Ron has keen eye for new talent, a love for the underground, and a tremendous passion for music of any genera. You’ll probably bump into him at a horror convention or some seedy club checking out the next need-to-know band.

See author's posts