ARCH ENEMY Frontwoman Says Band's Last Two Albums Were 'Too Harmless'

ARCH ENEMY frontwoman Angela Gossow has posted the following message on her MySpace page:

"Hello from Gigantour!!! We are still alive and kickin'.

"Today we played Milwaukee, the Eagles Ballroom. Great crowd but not the best sound. It's a huge, echoing hall, not necessarily the best set up for a lot of pumping bass and thundering metal drums. It is great though hearing a huge crowd singing 'Peace Sells… But Who is Buying'!!! These lyrics are timeless..

"We just got a wonderful card from Dave Mustaine [MEGADETH]. Words of friendship plus a bottle of champagne. I decided not to cry of joy but to try that wonderful fizzy stuff instead. I have to admit, gestures like this touch my heart. The other day in Oklahoma, Shawn Drover [MEGADETH drummer] personally investigated the shower situation for us and made sure we got to use them.

"It is interesting how low the ego levels are when you tour with big metal bands. We experienced the same uncomplicated, friendly and helpful attitude when we toured with IRON MAIDEN and with SLAYER. I have never understood why a headlining band won't let the support acts into their dressing room where usually the only shower of the venue is while they are on stage. If you are afraid to have stuff stolen take it out. We have never had any such bad experiences and we will gladly share dressing rooms etc in the future. I remember a couple of tours where I had to plead and scramble for every single shower. I hated it.

"[By the way], whoever out there believes to know Dave and talks down on him I would like to see YOU pulling off what he does. He is setting up a serious metal tour, giving smaller bands like us the opportunity to reach a larger and new crowd and he pays us for that! MEGADETH headline this tour night after night, delivering an impressive set and a kick-ass live show. I doubt they will ever cancel a show. He is the first one up in the morning, and the last one who hits the sack. Just thinking about his workload and double-duty makes me feel dizzy.

"It is funny to watch people backstage. The roughest, most dangerous looking dudes with the sickest growls stir a little bit of honey into their camomile tea before the show. I prefer the green tea. Chai-style. Most of us try to ignore the load of greasy, delicious catering and opt for the salad leaves instead. Lean and mean looks better on stage than fat and tired. Several people have been spotted doing Yoga, Pilates and meditation after the show instead of partying. I have become an expert in balancing on one foot on a Jagermeister bottle while twisting my arms behind my neck and saying 'Ooohm' at the same time. With a cup of throat coat tea juggling on my head. There might be a little shot of Jager in it though.. before I turn into a total saint..

"We got a good run of shows ahead of us now. Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, the bloody border crossing (everybody has to smoke at least 5 bongs each to get rid of that herbal stuff) and then its Canada Toronto and Montreal! Very much looking forward to these shows the Canadians know how to blow off the rooftop!

"We are also working on new tunes, the guys are shredding away on the tour bus. Watching a metal show every day is very inspiring. I personally believe the last two ARCH ENEMY albums were too harmless. We got to get the grit, bite, speed and danger back into our music. Less controlled, more riffs, melodies, solos, different parts, breaks, sudden changes. It will be interesting to see how far we can take it."

ARCH ENEMY's double disc DVD set, "Live Apocalypse", was released last month. An e-card is available that features two videos taken from the DVD for the tracks "Ravenous" and "My Apocalypse", along with a new photo gallery. You can view the e-card by clicking here.