Wages of Sin

Wages of Sin is a turning point in the band’s history, on which the arrival of Angela Gossow greatly renewed ARCH ENEMY’s expression. Gossow — a woman delivering a ferocious growl — sent a great shock through the world of extreme metal. Before her fierce vocals, the flowing twin guitars of the Amott brothers, Michael and Christopher, draw vivid, lyrical melody. On “Enemy Within,” “Ravenous,” “Savage Messiah” and “Burning Angel,” the contrast of brutal weight and lyrical leads raises each song’s tension to the limit. Songs like “Heart Of Darkness” and “Shadows And Dust” carry a firm constructive beauty within the aggression. Where Gossow’s strong personality and the Amott brothers’ melodic sense meshed ideally, this record greatly widened the band’s fame and influence internationally, and is still spoken of as an important work in the history of melodic death metal.