ARCH ENEMY Begins Recording New Album

Coming off a triumphant headlining tour in the U.K. last month with support from GRAND MAGUS, CHTHONIC and MALEFICE, Swedish/German extreme metallers ARCH ENEMY have entered Sweet Spot Studio in the south of Sweden to begin recording their new studio album for a tentative May 2011 release via Century Media Records. The CD is being produced by the band and engineered/mixed by Rickard Bengtsson (who previously worked with the group on 2005's "Doomsday Machine").

Commented ARCH ENEMY drummer Daniel Erlandsson: "After an intense but inspiring stay in the studio, I've just completed recording the drum tracks for the upcoming ARCH ENEMY album! We're working once again with Rickard Bengtsson, who produced 'Doomsday Machine', and he quickly dialed in an absolutely pristine drumtone! I've also had the expertise of local drum guru Beppe Wackelin at hand, helping out with tuning and kindly letting me use some of his vintage drums.

"This time around I've used a Pearl Reference drum kit, while incorporating various snare drums on songs that demanded a slightly different feel.

"We had a very inspiring and creative time writing this album. I think this is definitely evident when listening to the new songs. There's tons of variation in the material, ranging all the way from very melodic to extremely heavy.

"As you can expect there's no shortage of killer riffs and intricate guitar work; the Amott brothers [Michael and Chris] have come up with some very cool yet demanding ideas!

"This album has some of the fastest songs I've ever recorded, along with a bunch of heavy pounding mid tempo songs.

"As always, it's difficult to describe music in words, but rest assured — this album will be one heavy fucker!"

Video footage of Daniel recording the new CD can be viewed below.

ARCH ENEMY's "The Root Of All Evil" album featured re-recorded versions of songs from the band's first three LPs — "Black Earth" (1996),"Stigmata" (1998) and "Burning Bridges" (1999). Acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, TESTAMENT, EXODUS) mixed and mastered the CD, which was recorded at a few different locations in Sweden and produced by ARCH ENEMY with Daniel Erlandsson and Rickard Bengtsson handling the engineering. The Japanese edition of "The Root Of All Evil" featured five bonus tracks, including cover versions of "Wings Of Tomorrow" (EUROPE) and "Walk In The Shadows" (QUEENSRŸCHE).