Wages of Sin | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 25 April 2001 (Japan) 18 March 2002 (other territories) | |||
Recorded | December 2000 | |||
Studio | Studio Fredman | |||
Genre | Melodic death metal | |||
Length | 44:35 | |||
Label | Century Media | |||
Producer | Fredrik Nordström, Michael Amott | |||
Arch Enemy chronology | ||||
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Singles from Wages of Sin | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Blabbermouth.net | 8/10 [2] |
Chronicles of Chaos | 8.5/10 [3] |
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 6/10 [4] |
Metal Storm | 9.0/10 [5] |
Wages of Sin is the fourth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. It is the first Arch Enemy album to feature the vocals of Angela Gossow, and their first to feature a female vocalist. It is also their first album recorded in C tuning, starting a trend which continues across their discography. Wages of Sin was released on 25 April 2001 in Japan, but the European and American releases were delayed until 18 March 2002.
Wages of Sin was well received by most critics, who praised the new singer Angela Gossow. Blake Jessop of Blistering said that she handles the vocals on the album expertly. But he wrote that "while less diverse than Liiva, the diminutive German's more traditional death metal style gives Wages an uncommonly brutal, if slightly less creative air." Jessop also states the album "musically, it is predictably brilliant". [6]
Dennis of Lords of Metal said that "the female vocals by Angela Gossow are a remarkable performance" and that it was a big improvement compared to the former singer Johan Liiva. [7] Jeff of Metal Storm stated that "with Wages of Sin, Arch Enemy delivers to us one of the best albums of the year 2002 and proves us by the same opportunity that girls are not relegated to only sing in atmospheric and gothic metal." [5]
Ty Brookman and Jon Eardley of Metal Review was surprised with the Gossow vocals. Brookman commented that when he heard that Arch Enemy would a female singer, his first reaction was "career suicide", but after to listen to the album, he changed his mind stating that "Gossow delivers a vocal tirade that rivals any male vocalist." Brookman praised the band, however, he said about the album that there are elements that seem lacking in a few places. Eardley said that this album has "one of the best vocal performances of 2001" and that it "is a true masterpiece." [8]
Chris Flaaten of Chronicles of Chaos wrote that "the album has their best production to date and variety is abundant" and that the band found what they needed in Gossow. [3] Despite Serge Regoor of Archaic Magazine states that her voice sounds great, he comments that "actually the vocals are much better too, but they are still not as good compared to the guitarwork." [9]
Haavard Holm of Tartarean Desire praised the band writing that it "has capacities beyond the normal" and stated that "Wages of Sin is simply so well done in all ways, that it will be hard for any band to overcome this album in this genre." [10] Another critic of Tartarean Desire, Vincent Eldefors, praised the singer Angela Gossow stating that she is one of the best lead vocalists in extreme metal along ex-Opera IX Cadaveria. [11] Adam Bregman of AllMusic wrote that Gossow "is just the right touch to add to a band who ranks among metal's most progressive and unique outfits." [1]
Blabbermouth.net's Borivoj Krgin praised the production of the album calling it "most impressive production job out of all the Arch Enemy albums." [2] El Cid of Metal Rules praised the band stating that "this is arpeggio heaven amongst other things, the drumming is tight, the bass is excellent and the guitars are simply magnificent." [12]
Jeff of Metal Storm liked of quality of the production and praised the songs and the musicians calling it of "simply excellent" and "simply brilliant", respectively. He said that "the Amott brothers are certainly among the best guitarists of today's metal scene." [5]
Wages of Sin won a Burrn! magazine award in the category Best Album. [13]
Writing credits adapted from album booklet.
All lyrics written by Michael Amott, except where noted; all music written by Christopher Amott and Michael Amott, except where noted.
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
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1. | "Enemy Within" | Angela Gossow | 4:21 | |
2. | "Burning Angel" | 4:17 | ||
3. | "Heart of Darkness" | 4:52 | ||
4. | "Ravenous" | Gossow, M. Amott | 4:06 | |
5. | "Savage Messiah" | M. Amott, Sharlee D'Angelo, C. Amott | 5:18 | |
6. | "Dead Bury Their Dead" | M. Amott | 3:55 | |
7. | "Web of Lies" | 3:56 | ||
8. | "The First Deadly Sin" | Gossow, M. Amott | 4:20 | |
9. | "Behind the Smile" | 3:28 | ||
10. | "Snow Bound" | Instrumental | 1:34 | |
11. | "Shadows and Dust" | Daniel Erlandsson, M. Amott | 4:28 | |
Total length: | 44:35 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Length |
---|---|---|---|
12. | "Lament of a Mortal Soul" | Gossow | 4:04 |
Total length: | 48:39 |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
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1. | "Starbreaker" (Judas Priest cover) | Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing | Halford, Tipton, Downing | 3:25 |
2. | "Aces High" (Iron Maiden cover) | Steve Harris | Harris | 4:24 |
3. | "Scream of Anger" (Europe cover) | Joey Tempest | Marcel Jacob, Tempest | 3:46 |
4. | "Diva Satanica" | 3:43 | ||
5. | "Fields of Desolation '99" | Johan Liiva | 6:02 | |
6. | "Damnation's Way" | Liiva, M. Amott | Liiva, M. Amott | 3:47 |
7. | "Hydra" | Instrumental | C. Amott, Fredrik Nordström | 0:57 |
8. | "The Immortal" (music video) | 3:57 | ||
Total length: | 30:01 |
The first pressing of this album contains a bonus CD titled A Collection of Rare & Unreleased Songs from the Arch Enemy Vault. These songs feature the band's previous vocalist, Johan Liiva.
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. It was founded by Carcass guitarist Michael Amott along with Johan Liiva, who were both originally from the death metal band Carnage. The band has released eleven studio albums, three live albums, three video albums and four EPs. The band was originally fronted by Johan Liiva, who was replaced by German vocalist Angela Gossow in 2000. Gossow left the band in March 2014 to become the group's manager and was replaced by Canadian vocalist Alissa White-Gluz.
Michael Amott is a Swedish guitarist, founding member of the metal bands Arch Enemy, Spiritual Beggars and Carnage, as well as a former member of Carcass. He is the older brother of Christopher Amott.
Anthems of Rebellion is the fifth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. This was the first Arch Enemy album to feature clean vocals. The clean vocals were sung by Christopher Amott on "End of the Line" and "Dehumanization".
Stigmata is the second studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. The album was Arch Enemy's first to see worldwide release, in Europe and North America on Century Media Records, and in Japan again on Toy's Factory records. Stigmata features session drummer Peter Wildoer, who had also appeared in Christopher Amott's solo project Armageddon on the 1997 album Crossing the Rubicon, shortly before the recording of the album. The album was reissued on 25 May 2009, featuring a new layout, packaging, and bonus tracks. Stigmata not only contains a title track, but a track named after their previous album as well. The Sri Lankan metal band Stigmata named themselves after this album. The album was reissued again on 28 April 2023 in various formats, along with a visualiser for “Bridge of Destiny”.
Black Earth is the debut studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. The album was reissued on 24 April 2007 on Regain Records, featuring "Losing Faith", two Iron Maiden covers and the video for "Bury Me an Angel". The album was reissued again on 28 April 2023 in various formats, along with a visualiser for “Dark Insanity”.
Burning Bridges is the third studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. It is the first Arch Enemy album to feature Sharlee D'Angelo on bass and the last studio recording to feature vocalist Johan Liiva, as well as the most recent album to featured male vocalist to date. The music here showcases the band's wide interpretation of the death metal genre to include portions of melodic death metal, progressive metal and grindcore. A music video was released for the song "The Immortal".
Angela Nathalie Gossow is a German vocalist, best known as the former lead singer for the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. Her other previous bands include Asmodina and Mistress.
Doomsday Machine is the sixth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, produced by Rickard Bengtsson and mixed by Andy Sneap. It is the third album to feature the vocals of Angela Gossow. The album had some commercial success, debuting at number 87 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 12,000 copies. It had sold 65,000 copies in the United States by April 2006. Christopher Amott left the band shortly after recording the album in July 2005 but rejoined 2 years later for the songwriting sessions for Rise of the Tyrant.
Burning Japan Live 1999 is a live album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. Originally released in Japan only, the album was re-released worldwide in 2000 due to fan demand.
Dead Eyes See No Future is the second EP by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. It was released on 2 November 2004 through Century Media Records.
Christopher Amott is a Swedish guitarist, younger brother of Michael Amott and founding member of the metal bands Arch Enemy and Armageddon. He is most recently the former guitarist for Dark Tranquillity.
Johan Patrik Mattias Liiva is a Swedish extreme metal vocalist, most widely recognized as the founding vocalist of melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, as well as a former member of Carnage, Furbowl and NonExist. He is currently working as vocalist with Hearse.
Live Apocalypse is a double DVD by Arch Enemy, released in 2006. It's the band's first DVD release and contains a full concert and several extras. It was released on 24 July in Europe, 26 July in Japan, and 8 August in the US.
Burning Angel is the first EP by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. It was released on 6 March 2002. It is Arch Enemy's second release with vocalist Angela Gossow, who took Johan Liiva's place in the band. The song Starbreaker is a Judas Priest cover from the album Sin After Sin.
Rise of the Tyrant is the seventh studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. It was produced by Fredrik Nordström and released on 24 September 2007 via Century Media.
Tyrants of the Rising Sun is a DVD+CD set of Arch Enemy, released in Europe on 23 November 2008 and in North America on 25 November 2008 via Century Media. The DVD contains a live show filmed in Tokyo in early 2008, an in-depth 40 minute road-movie feature, and all promotional videos that have been shot for the band's seventh studio album, Rise of the Tyrant.
The Root of All Evil is a studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, featuring re-recorded songs from the first three albums by the band—Black Earth, Stigmata, and Burning Bridges. It was released on 28 September 2009 by Century Media Records and was made available as a jewel case CD, limited edition mediabook, digital media download and LP. The album was produced by the band themselves and mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap. All songs from this album are re-recordings, with the title track being another version of the instrumental Demoniality.
Manifesto of Arch Enemy is a compilation album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, featuring two songs from Wages of Sin, two from Anthems of Rebellion, two from Doomsday Machine, two from Rise of the Tyrant, and two from the live album Tyrants of the Rising Sun. It was released on 27 February 2009 on Century Media Records.
Khaos Legions is the eighth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. It was released on May 30, 2011, by Century Media. The record marks a return to new, original material, after releasing the Tyrants of the Rising Sun - Live in Japan live CD/DVD (2008) and The Root of All Evil (2009) which consisted of a selection of re-recorded songs from the band's back catalog. It is the band's ninth album counting the compilation.
War Eternal is the ninth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, which was released first in Japan on 4 June 2014 by Century Media. It is the first Arch Enemy album in 15 years since Burning Bridges to feature a new line-up; Alissa White-Gluz took over on vocals after former long-time vocalist Angela Gossow stepped down from vocal duties to be the band's business manager. Additionally, ex-Arsis guitarist Nick Cordle replaced Christopher Amott in 2012. Cordle ultimately left the band just before their European tour and was replaced by former Nevermore guitarist Jeff Loomis.