Deceivers (album)

Last updated

Deceivers
Deceivers (Arch Enemy album).jpg
Studio album by
Released12 August 2022 (2022-08-12)
StudioHansen Studios
Genre Melodic death metal
Length45:09
Label Century Media
Producer Jacob Hansen
Arch Enemy chronology
Will to Power
(2017)
Deceivers
(2022)
Blood Dynasty
(2025)
Singles from Deceivers
  1. "Deceiver, Deceiver"
    Released: 21 October 2021
  2. "House of Mirrors"
    Released: 9 December 2021
  3. "Handshake with Hell"
    Released: 4 February 2022
  4. "Sunset over the Empire"
    Released: 20 May 2022
  5. "In the Eye of the Storm"
    Released: 14 July 2022
  6. "The Watcher"
    Released: 14 August 2022
  7. "Poisoned Arrow"
    Released: 9 February 2023
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Blabbermouth.net 9/10 [1]
Distorted Sound7/10 [2]
Kerrang! Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Metal Hammer 8/10 [4]
Metal Injection9/10 [5]
Metal Storm 7/10 [6]
Sonic Perspectives8.8/10 [7]

Deceivers is the eleventh studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. Originally scheduled for a 29 July 2022 release, the album was pushed back to 12 August 2022 for undisclosed reasons. Deceivers is Arch Enemy's first studio album since 2017's Will to Power , marking the longest gap between two of their studio albums. It is also the second and last studio album to feature guitarist Jeff Loomis before his departure from the band in 2023.

Contents

Background and recording

Writing began as early as October 2018: main songwriter and guitarist Michael Amott mentioned on an interview with Loudwire that he had "a few new ideas already for new stuff". [8] In February 2021, on "The Riffhard Podcast", lead guitarist Jeff Loomis revealed he was "doing solos for the new Arch Enemy album", though adding he did not know when it would be released. [9]

All of the album was recorded in Europe, except for Loomis' guitar contributions: due to traveling restrictions, he was unable to join the rest of the band, so they ended up "having him do his solos in the studio in Seattle". [10]

The song "Spreading Black Wings" is dedicated to the memory of LG Petrov.

Promotion

"Deceiver, Deceiver" and "House of Mirrors", respectively released on 21 October 2021 [11] and 9 December 2021, [12] were the first two singles from the album, each receiving a music video: however, at that time, the album had not been yet announced, and both tracks were simply marketed as standalone singles.

The album was officially announced on 27 January 2022; [13] the third single "Handshake with Hell" was released eight days later on 4 February 2022, along with its accompanying music video. [14]

On 20 May 2022, the fourth single "Sunset over the Empire" was released alongside a video clip. A 7-inch vinyl single featuring the single alongside "The Judging Eyes", an instrumental remake of War Eternal's "You Will Know My Name", was commercialized in limited edition. [15]

The band announced that the record was postponed by two weeks on 6 June 2022, the reason being "unforeseen circumstances". No further information was issued about the topic.

"In the Eye of the Storm", the fifth and single, was released on 14 July 2022 with its music video. [16]

"The Watcher", the sixth single, was released on August 14, 2022, which was two days after the album's release.

"Poisoned Arrow", the seventh and final single, was released on February 9, 2023.

Track listing

All music is composed by Michael Amott and Daniel Erlandsson except where noted

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Handshake with Hell" Alissa White-Gluz  5:39
2."Deceiver, Deceiver"M. Amott 3:52
3."In the Eye of the Storm"M. Amott 4:09
4."The Watcher"White-Gluz 4:58
5."Poisoned Arrow"M. Amott
3:51
6."Sunset over the Empire"M. Amott 4:03
7."House of Mirrors"White-Gluz
  • M. Amott
  • C. Amott
3:40
8."Spreading Black Wings"M. Amott 4:46
9."Mourning Star" Instrumental  1:37
10."One Last Time"M. Amott 3:49
11."Exiled from Earth"White-Gluz 4:45
Total length:45:09
Bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Diamond Dreamer" (Picture cover)Picture3:53
13."Into the Pit" (Fight cover) Rob Halford 3:52
Total length:52:54

Personnel

Arch Enemy

Additional musician

Technical personnel

Charts

Chart performance for Deceivers
Chart (2022)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [17] 49
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [18] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [19] 7
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [20] 13
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI) [21] 30
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [22] 5
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [23] 1
French Albums (SNEP) [24] 14
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [25] 2
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [26] 33
Italian Albums (FIMI) [27] 85
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [28] 17
Japanese Hot Albums ( Billboard Japan ) [29] 14
Polish Albums (ZPAV) [30] 17
Portuguese Albums (AFP) [31] 17
Scottish Albums (OCC) [32] 11
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [33] 11
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [34] 9
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [35] 1
UK Albums (OCC) [36] 80
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [37] 1

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