Arch Enemy
The Root of All Evil


2.5
average

Review

by PartySmasher USER (1 Reviews)
October 10th, 2009 | 19 replies


Release Date: 2009 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Not as good as the originals but still solid from Arch Enemy

As a lover of old Arch Enemy, I was sceptical about listening to The Root Of All Evil and as it turns out my reservations were well founded.

With Johan Liiva on vocals, his voice suited what The Amott Brothers were writing at the time with the lower tuning and the brutality being brought to it. With Angela on vocals, she suits their newer sound perfectly. Don't get me wrong I think Angela is as powerful and brilliant as she is terrifying but with the older songs her vocals don't sit well.

The thing that was brilliant about pre-Angela albums is that they were raw and very brutal to say the least, the production on The Root Of All Evil takes a lot of that away from the songs. The lead lines sit very low in the mix most of the time which makes the original guitar work have less impact as it originally did, the vocals sound very over produced and the drums are very mechanical (but none less brilliant).

In my opinion, Arch Enemy have given fans a chance to listen to older songs in a sort of "Greatest Hits" fashion but to be honest if you really want the full impact of Black Earth, Stigmata and Burning Bridges, I would seriously recommend to go back and give the originals a listen. You won't be disappointed.


user ratings (252)
2.9
good
other reviews of this album
taylormemer (2)
An attempt to surpass the past and add another nail in Johan Liiva’s coffin......



Comments:Add a Comment 
zuzek
October 10th 2009


931 Comments


Review is as disappointing as a lactating female with cup A, in other words: there's nothing there.

Fugue
October 10th 2009


7371 Comments


^ lulz

Crysis
Emeritus
October 10th 2009


17628 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

SOUNDOFF!



Make your reviews longer please.

Metalstyles
October 10th 2009


8576 Comments


yeah not really a review, would work good as a soundoff though so i'd convert this to a one.

Phantom
October 10th 2009


9010 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

soundoff



rating is about right though

FadeToBlack
October 10th 2009


11043 Comments


it would probably help if you actually review this album instead of talking about the Johan albums

LepreCon
October 10th 2009


5481 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Its clearly sonictheplumber, guys. And I actually enjoyed this, don't really get the hate

FadeToBlack
October 10th 2009


11043 Comments


i haven't listened yet, i was kind of looking forward to it though

LepreCon
October 10th 2009


5481 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

You'll probably be like me and give it 3-3.5, then again maybe you won't. I didn't find it to be anything close to a badly-necessary release but that doesn't bother me at all so idk

FadeToBlack
October 10th 2009


11043 Comments


well i hated liiva's vocals so i will probably enjoy it, as long as there aren't too many vocal effects

LepreCon
October 10th 2009


5481 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

The vocal layering in Beast of Man may seem to some as overdone but I found it to be fittingly brutal.

I liked Liiva's vocals but he was kinda indistinguishable from most other death metal vocalists.

zaruyache
October 10th 2009


27417 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0 | Sound Off

"I would seriously recommend to go back and give the originals a listen. You won't be disappointed."



I tried listening to Stigmata a while ago. The key word there being "tried." Tried and failed, since Joe sucked.





"well i hated liiva's vocals so i will probably enjoy it, as long as there aren't too many vocal effects"



The vocals on Beast of Man are really overdone, but the rest of the songs don't seem to have that much layering to them, so you shouldn't be disappointed. Actually, on songs like "Demonic Science" she uses some of her most brutal screams to date. It's fucking killer.



Shattered_Future
October 11th 2009


1629 Comments


Album is fucking terrible. Digital sounding, incredibly wimpy, vocal layering is overdone, and WHY THE FUCK DO YOU SLOW DOWN SONG TEMPOS?! The whole project lacks energy.

Fxxkit13
October 11th 2009


1567 Comments


Orginial songs are better. Liiva is an acquired taste for sure, but this set is pretty lackluster compared to the originals

zaruyache
October 11th 2009


27417 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0 | Sound Off

Nope it's better. Demonic Science has like the best screams ever.

Fxxkit13
October 11th 2009


1567 Comments


If they left the tempos the same then I would agree with you



Willie
Moderator
October 12th 2009


20213 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

I didn't really like the originals, this is at least tolerable.

PartySmasher
October 13th 2009


3 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

This my first review, I'll remember not to be a bell next time

Zip
October 13th 2009


5312 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

This was good.



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