ARCH ENEMY's MICHAEL AMOTT Says New Guitarist JOEY CONCEPCION 'Was A Really Easy Fit'

Oran O’Beirne of Fistful Of Metal magazine spoke with ARCH ENEMY guitarist and founding member Michael Amott about the band’s upcoming album “Blood Dynasty”, resulting in a candid interview that saw Amott speaking not only of the new album, but his time in CARCASS, the addition of new ARCH ENEMY guitarist Joey Concepcion and the apprehension of new vocalist Alissa White-Gluz taking over from Angela Gossow. Below are some excerpts from the interview which can be found in the latest issue of Fistful Of Metal, available online and at WH Smiths (U.K.) and Barnes & Noble (Canada and USA).

On new member Joey Concepcion and if he was an instant fit:

Michael: “To be honest, it was a really easy fit. Of course, it helps that he knew how to play a number of our songs already. Joey was actually a student of my brother [Christopher Amott, ARCH ENEMY guitarist from 1995 to 2005 and from 2007 to 2012] in New York, and eventually were in a band together, so he plays very close to Chris‘s style and has a lot of the same phrasing. ARCH ENEMY was also one of the first metal bands that Joey got into… He’s younger than all of us.”

On whether Joey contributed anything to the songs on “Blood Dynasty”:

Michael: “No. All the tracks were pretty much written to how they are on the album. Joey just came in and laid down his solos in Sweden. It was a great experience to have him in on that end of things, and the energy in the studio was great.”

On touring with CARCASS back in 1991:

Michael: “I had been playing in bands since I was about 13 or 14 years of age, and it was more like a gig here, and a gig there, but as soon as I moved to the U.K. to join CARCASS, that’s when I really started to get comfortable with playing live and my guitar skills developed so much more. Those were early days for CARCASS as a touring band also. They were a three-piece at that point. Regarding that tour with DEATH, I remember everything from those shows. I was a huge tape trader and was very much neck deep in the death metal scene, as I had my band in Sweden, CARNAGE, since 1998. So, when I got to actually meet Chuck [Schuldiner] on that tour, it was kind of amazing to say the least.

“There were not many extreme metal bands that had full albums out during that time, so when [DEATH‘s] ‘Spiritual Healing’ came out, it was kind of a big deal. I remember hanging out with Chuck and the rest of the guys on that tour. We used to listen to loads of cool music in their bus, and when I say ‘bus’, I’m talking about a glorified people carrier. I met so many great people on that tour from the guys in MORBID ANGEL to NOCTURNUS and CYNIC (to name but a few). It was such a sick time and I cherish those memories. It was awesome.”

On Alissa replacing Gossow and which album he believes solidified White-Gluz‘s role as the new front person for ARCH ENEMY:

Michael: “I’d have to say ‘War Eternal’ [2014]. We had to tour so much between that album and 2017’s ‘Will To Power’. We must have performed about 450 live shows over those two albums, so we all clicked pretty fast into the touring family that we’ve become. To be honest, when we lost Angela, I thought people were going to be overly critical because she had such an iconic presence. I thought people were going to be overly critical of Alissa, but, thankfully, it all worked out pretty great.”

On the possibility of a new SPIRITUAL BEGGARS album:

Michael: “Besides a few reissues in the past, there’s been nothing really significant happening with that project. The problem is that SPIRITUAL BEGGARS back catalog is spread out over many different labels and it’s just a complicated situation. As far as new material, nothing has really happened and as of now, there are no plans. I hate to say it, but who knows what will happen. We are all kind of busy with other projects, but you just never know. Right now, all of my focus is on ARCH ENEMY and the new album.”

“Blood Dynasty” will be released on March 28 via Century Media Records.

ARCH ENEMY played its first concert with Concepcion on April 24, 2024 at Musinsa Garage in Seoul, South Korea. The show was part of ARCH ENEMY‘s 2024 Asian tour.

In December 2023, ARCH ENEMY announced that it had “amicably” parted ways with longtime guitarist Jeff Loomis.

Jeff, who was the main songwriter in his previous group, NEVERMORE, joined ARCH ENEMY in late 2014, but was not involved in the writing for the latter act’s last two albums, 2017’s “Will To Power” and 2022’s “Deceivers”.

Photo credit: Katja Kuhl