Blackbriar ➢ I Buried Us [✧]

Clémentine Delauney 📸© Lina Glasir

Madeleine Liljestam 📸© acalltothedreamers

Melissa Bonny 📸© Nat Enemede

ARCH ENEMY Shares Music Video For 'A Million Suns' From 'Blood Dynasty' Album

Swedish/Canadian/American extreme metal titans ARCH ENEMY have released an official music video for the song "A Million Suns". The track is taken from the band's latest album, "Blood Dynasty", which arrived on March 28 via Century Media Records.

Last month, ARCH ENEMY founder and guitarist Michael Amott told Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show that it would be "interesting" for him and his bandmates to perform "A Million Suns" live. "It's got a very new sort of atmosphere for us," he explained.

Amott previously stated about "Blood Dynasty": "This new album pushes the boundaries of what we've done before — it's everything you've come to expect from this band, and then some! We can't wait for you to hear it and feel the energy we've poured into every track. Welcome to the 'Blood Dynasty'!"

Eight months ago, Amott told Pulp Magazine about the first single from "Blood Dynasty", a song called "Dream Stealer", and ARCH ENEMY's plans for new music: "We've been staying busy for sure and are really focused on writing and recording new stuff in between the touring we're doing. I'm kind of always coming up with new musical and lyrical ideas though — I just keep going as it's what I enjoy doing anyway. Making music is a natural process, and it's pretty much a daily thing, so it can be hard to pinpoint exactly when everything was conceived. I do, however, actually remember that the initial seed for 'Dream Stealer' was written during a songwriting session I did with Daniel [Erlandsson, drums] in Los Angeles, California, two years ago, and then it's been rearranged and updated a lot till it reached its final state that you're now hearing."

Asked if it was a conscious decision to go back to the "classic ARCH ENEMY" direction and approach with "Dream Stealer", Amott said: "I've seen some seriously great feedback from the fans, and that's always very encouraging, of course. Personally, I don't know if I’d necessarily say 'Dream Stealer' is a throwback to the sound of the past, but I get what they mean — the song has the energy and speed that is very exciting and infectious. Maybe there is a hint of vintage ARCH ENEMY in there, and why not? I'm looking forward to playing it live on stage — I think it is going to be intense as hell."

ARCH ENEMY played its first concert with new guitarist Joey 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

Arch Enemy ➢ A Million Suns

TARJA TURUNEN On Reconnecting With MARKO HIETALA: 'I've Been Really Enjoying To Get To Know Him For The First Time Ever'

In a new interview with Sakis Fragos of Rock Hard Greece, Tarja Turunen spoke about what it has been like to team up with her former NIGHTWISH bandmate Marko "Marco" Hietala for a new single, "Left On Mars" single, as well as their ongoing joint live performances which began with a series of triumphant shows in South America in early 2024. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've been really enjoying to get to know him for the first time ever. It sounds strange to you — I was in a band with him for many years, but I didn't know the guy behind. I mean, I really didn't. So he has changed, and I'm very happy for him, very happy for him. He's doing great. He's free. We have now a lot more in common, a lot more in common, and we can talk, we can communicate and we are in touch more than we ever been — ever, ever, ever. We are in touch, and I can call him as a friend. He is my friend.

"This all started in 2012," she explained. "I took part in one of the biggest productions in Finland happening every year. It's called 'Raskasta Joulua' ('Heavy Christmas'). It's a Christmas production, that they do the Christmas songs in a more rock/metal way, arrangements, and I was one of the invited guest singers on that show — a couple of shows we did in Finland at that time. Marko was there. Marko is one of the original members of the project. And so I knew that I was gonna meet him there after so many years of silence between us that I hadn't heard anything from him [and] vice versa. And so we met there for the first time and it was just very natural. Obviously we both were nervous. Obviously it was no faking in that. He just came to my backstage room, ran late in time. I was expecting him to be in a soundcheck. He didn't show up. I was, like, 'I'm gonna be singing a song with him.' It was [Franz] Schubert's 'Ave Maria' done with Finnish lyrics in a very emotional way. And particularly that song sung by me and Marko for a Finnish audience, like five, six thousand people there — wow. It was so emotional. After we finished the first song we sang together, people just collapsed. The audience, they started crying and screaming like crazy. You know Finns — Finnish people don't show that much of emotion. [Laughs] It was crazy. It was crazy. And so after a couple of shows, Marko, after the last concert, he invite[d] everybody in the production to the backstage and apologize[d] to me in front of them, in front of everybody. It made me cry in that moment and we cleaned the table, we made peace after that. And then it was silence again. I lost the contact with him for few years and then I saw [that he was going to] perform in Switzerland couple of years ago in the same festival. I was headlining the festival; he had a show with his band there. So I contacted the promoter and said, 'Hey, I would love to sing 'Phantom Of The Opera' with Marko, but I have lost a contact. So could you please forward my message to him?' And the answer was that, yeah, he would like to do that. So I was, like, 'Yes.' So [I knew I was] gonna meet him again. And it was very, again, super emotional, but the guy, Marko, came with a pen drive. He had written a song, 'Left On Mars', already thinking about me and his wishes to collaborate with me as a duet in that song. So he gave me that song, and we talked and we talked, and a little bit of tears, and we talked and [blah blah blah]. And I came back home and I recorded the song. I love the song, and I love making music with him again. And then the touring started. The ideas of touring together started, and it's been so nice. And we've been doing great shows, great shows, and we are very happy."

Asked if she feels "kind of liberated" working together with Marko again but not under the NIGHTWISH umbrella, Tarja said: "Man, how free I have been for 20 years or plus as a solo artist. Marko is starting — he's still in the beginning of his [solo career], in a way. He's been doing music all his life on his own, but now, after the band and everything, he must feel pretty much the same that I do. You are free and you can do what you want. It's very important you have that freedom, and none of us should ever lose their freedom."

Three months ago, Hietala told Belgian Jasper about reconnecting with Tarja: "So here's the thing: to do this collaboration and all these things, it kind of started already in 2017 when we cleared our old shit, so we were ready for these kind of things [to] happen. Then we were playing at a Swiss festival, both our bands. She sends me a message, would we do 'Phantom Of The Opera', that I'm demoing songs with my band. 'Yeah, well, it's exciting. I'll do it.' 'Hey, would you be interested in a duet?' 'Yeah, we'll bring your song.' And, of course, then it's touring and doing a few legendary duets and all that. It's kind of fun and nice for a while, but you can't live on it. And it doesn't really answer neither one of us ambitions. And actually, I think that at least for me mentally, this is easier to do since the NIGHTWISH guys informed the world that they're going to take an indeterminate break from touring or doing shows. So, yeah, this is okay for a while and we're still heading out also [this] year for some touring. But you cannot really expect that thing, kind of an idea, to last. It's not what we're here for."

Hietala announced his departure from NIGHTWISH in January 2021, explaining in a statement that he hadn't "been able to feel validated by this life for a quite a few years now." He has since been replaced by bassist Jukka Koskinen (WINTERSUN),who made his live debut with NIGHTWISH in May 2021 at the band's two interactive experiences.

In July 2022, Hietala told Finland's Iltalehti that he had not kept in touch with NIGHTWISH since his departure or followed the activities of his former band.

Turunen was fired from NIGHTWISH at the end of the band's 2005 tour by being presented with an open letter which was published on the NIGHTWISH web site at the same time. In the letter, the other members of NIGHTWISH wrote: "To you, unfortunately, business, money, and things that have nothing to do with emotions have become much more important."

NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen later called the decision to part ways with Turunen "the most difficult thing I ever had to do." For her part, Tarja said the way she was kicked out of the group proved that her former bandmates were not her friends. "Maybe one day I'll forgive, but I will never forget," she said.

Alissa White-Gluz 📸© Beatriz Mariano

Alecia 'Mixi' Demner 📸© RawlParedes