ARCH ENEMY came on their new American tour with support from FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY and a band called THROWN INTO EXILE. Missed the latter due to hellish evening traffic — turned out the venue next door was hosting some mega-popular pop-rock darling beloved by Gen Z, so many people showed up the cops had to shut down roads. THROWN INTO EXILE ended up just gloomily loitering around their merch tables all evening like forgotten cousins at a wedding.
A few hundred folks came out — not bad, but it shows ARCH ENEMY, while generally liked in the U.S. (with fans lovingly call Alissa the “blue queen”), still aren’t exactly selling out huge venues as headliners. And FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY, though a solid band with some scene clout, play so often in the States they’re kind of a regular fixture — not exactly a rare catch.
FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY hail from New Jersey and have been doing their deathcore thing since 2008. Their latest (seventh!) album The Nothing That Is saw a noticeable shift toward prog-death and a bit of that GOJIRA-esque mood. Which makes sense — deathcore isn’t the most versatile genre, and these guys have probably said everything they wanted to in it already.
The Nothing That Is is actually a pretty rich and varied release — give it a spin if you haven’t yet.
That said, they didn’t lean too hard into the new material live: just three fresh tracks, and the rest was a greatest-hits punch — “The Sea Of Tragic Beasts,” “Pandora,” “Far From Heaven,” “Warfare,” and other crowd-crushers in their usual groovy, stompy style.
Most of their music is penned by guitarist/founding father Will Putney — and yeah, the guy knows his stuff. He’s not just a talented arranger, but a go-to producer too. So much so that he doesn’t even tour with the band anymore. (He’s also jumped aboard Greg Puciato’s BETTER LOVERS project recently, in case you’re keeping track.)
The set was solid, if short — mosh pits, crowd surfers, killer sound, and the only minor complaint being vocalist Joe Badolato looking permanently exhausted on stage, like someone who’s been trying to cancel his internet provider for hours.
ARCH ENEMY, on the other hand, are all about energy and synchronized guitar showboating. Alissa White-Gluz — athletic, stylish, and fierce — never stops moving, twirling, headbanging, growling at the crowd, then flashing a grin before immediately going full beast mode again.
After Jeff Loomis decided in 2023 that playing other people’s music wasn’t the best use of his creative years, he stepped away, and AE brought in young guitarist Joey Concepcion. Not nearly as flashy or iconic as Jeff, but… let’s be honest, when you’ve got a frontwoman like Alissa, you’re visually covered.
Sharlee D’Angelo — somehow even bigger than the last time I saw him on stage.
Now, about this year’s album Blood Dynasty… I’ll be real: I didn’t even make it through the whole thing. For the past however-many years, everything Michael Amott writes (and this time Daniel Erlandsson got heavily involved too) just sounds like some AI-generated blend of identical solos, rhythms, hooks, and imagery. No offense, but it’s become very autopilot.
Call me a dinosaur, but old tracks like “Ravenous” and “Nemesis” still feel way more inspired and cohesive than the glossy bubblegum of recent years. And no, it’s not about Alissa — she’s absolutely fine.
Still, ARCH ENEMY played a solid 16-song set, long enough to please fans from any era. And say what you will — whether you miss Angela or worship the “blue queen,” one thing’s for sure: this band knows how to own a stage.
