‘It was amazing to see women in the front rows when we played Desert Rock in Dubai last year’ — Arch Enemy frontwoman Angela Gossow is a beacon for metal-loving women the world over.
Arch Enemy singer introduces new fans to band’s classic sound
Upon listening to the acerbically demonic vocals of Swedish heavy metal legends Arch Enemy few would suspect that the band’s frontman is actually a woman. For the past 10 years and throughout hundreds of shows it has been German-born singer Angela Nathalie Gossow delivering the gut-wrenching growls that bring the masses to their feet. Brought in to fill the pivotal role previously held by screecher Johan Liiva Gossow a veteran of loud-and-proud bands such as Mistress and Asmodina defied critics by proving a perfect fit for the Scandinavian shredders.
“When I started out in the music business it wasn’t so easy for a woman to join the metal scene” she explains. “Now there’s a strong surge of women coming in and the audiences are more of a 50-50 split. Women are often front and centre at our gigs moshing and everything. They’re a really important part of our whole fanbase.”
More than a beautiful muse Gossow has succeeded in rallying metalheads across the globe to Arch Enemy’s banner winning over males and females alike with her powerful stage presence and intimidating intonations. Perpetually engaged to the band’s founding guitarist and chief composer Michael Amott she has earned the band international exposure for its progressive style and unmistakable siren sound.
“As a woman who hangs out with metal dudes in real life I think that every gender colour and religion deserves to be represented” she says. “It was amazing to see women in the front rows when we played Desert Rock in Dubai last year. It’s the only metal festival in the Middle East and everybody from Afghanistan Pakistan Iran and Iraq comes out to see bands that can’t tour their countries because of religious and political oppression. They can be arrested for wearing a black metal T-shirt or driven from their village for having long hair as a man. There’s a real sense of freedom and revolution in the air and everyone’s so happy. I’ve never seen a more emotional or attentive crowd anywhere.”
As the band’s popularity continues to rise the venom-tongued chanteuse has thrown herself into bringing the band’s newest fans up to speed on Arch Enemy’s ominous pre-Gossow oeuvre. After nine full-length albums and as many live and compilation releases the band instinctively knew that the time was right to re-record the morbid yet melodic material that comprised its first three albums Black Earth (1996) Stigmata (1998) and Burning Bridges (1999).
“Between tours we always want to retreat to our homes but this time we resisted that urge and spent two weeks in the studio recording [2009’s] The Root of All Evil ” Gossow says. “My stamp is all over this band but I’ve been living with a whole bunch of old Arch Enemy songs and performing them for so long that I thought it was time to re-release them with me as the headliner. Michael is a very talented songwriter and his material has really stood up over time. I don’t think he’s ever written a bad song. Some people who come to our shows know the old parts but many fans are just discovering those songs so they will be new to them. We’ve seen a lot of surprised faces in the crowd when we break out the original music; they love being reminded of Arch Enemy back in the day.”
