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E-mail interview with Michael Amott of Arch Enemy
By Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal
March 7th 2010, Los Angeles CA

Andrew: How would you rate the 'Tyrants of Evil' North American tour, specially the fact that you played after a thrash band like Exodus?
Michael: The 'Tyrants of Evil' North American tour' was a raging success from our perspective! Our best headline tour ever in U.S. and Canada! Having our friends in Exodus open up for us just made it better as they really kick ass and got the fans fired up.

Andrew: Your last studio effort of original material was in 2007 [Rise Of The Tyrant]. What's the progress on the new material?
Michael: We've been writing here and there, there are a lot of ideas on various demos that we have been working, either individually or as a group. The music that we have now excites me, I can say that much! We'll get more serious about making the next record later this year and we'll release it in 2011.

Andrew: Angela said about the album 'Rise Of The Tyrant' that there was less of vocal processing and it was 'raw'. Is that the general direction you are taking for all future releases?
Michael: Yes, Angela keeps developing her voice and on 'The Root Of All Evil' she sounds really great too. You know, every album is different and I'm sure we'll all keep progressing and trying new things. But it's too early to talk about the production values on the next album.

Andrew: Talking about this North American tour that just finished, I read that the band had some problems in the first show of the tour. How did you deal with them and how did you solve them for the remaining part of the tour?
Michael: Every time you start a new tour there are some things that need to be ironed out in the production, set-list and other things. No big deal, just small details that I doubt most fans would even notice.

Andrew: What's your opinion on digital releases vs physical CD releases, specially in these financially bad times?
Michael: I grew up on vinyl records and I had a lot of respect for the music I bought and supported and the artists behind it. I do feel that is an attitude that is missing now to quite a large extent. But then again, I am realistic enough to understand that was then and this is now, and I do enjoy the simplicity and accessibility of how things are now with music too. Although the sound quality of mp3's for instance is compressed and sadly isn't as good as one would like.

Andrew: What's happening with your other projects?
Michael: I am making a new album right now with a band I do called Spiritual Beggars. I'm having a blast in the studio, something creative and fun to keep me occupied before we go out with Arch Enemy again on our upcoming European tour.

Andrew: You and Chris both played guitar solos as part of your House Of Blues Hollywood show. Some people say that bands should just play songs and shouldn't have solos in their set. What do you have to say to that? I thought it was great that you played your solo!
Michael: Cool, I'm glad to hear you enjoyed that aspect of what we do with Arch Enemy. We just make the Arch Enemy show exactly how we would like to see a show. So for us this is something we enjoy, you know. Guitar solo spots are fun and it's a way for us to build in some cool dynamics into the Arch Enemy show.

Andrew: What was the reason for releasing 'Root of All Evil' and are you happy with the way its been received?
Michael: The reason for doing it was that we wanted to do it and we felt it would be a cool thing for the fans, as they kept asking about if we'd ever do a project like that. The album has been well received as far as I can tell and I'm happy we did it. The next studio release from Arch Enemy will be released in 2011 and will be all new material of course.

Check out the band's website archenemy.net!

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