Anarchist anthems come in many forms. Whether you’re fired up by the rap metal wrath of Rage Against The Machine, Chumbawamba’s eccentric daze of anarcho-punk, or the loutish cries of the Sex Pistols, the ethos remains the same – a snarling resentment of the establishment, and a longing for change. In 2005, Swedish melodeath unit Arch Enemy would unleash their own revolutionary mantra, Nemesis.
While rumblings of political and humanitarian fury can be traced all the way back to the band’s 1995 formation, the turn of the millennium would see Arch Enemy firmly anointing themselves as outspoken (arch) enemies of the state. The shift would come in the form of self-proclaimed green, liberal anarchist Angela Gossow, whose “fuck the system” attitude bled into every guttural wail on 2000’s Wages Of Sin and 20003’s blistering follow up Anthems Of Rebellion.
By the time 2005’s Doomsday Machine rolled around, the fire was fully stoked; it was time for an anthem to rally the masses. Fully settled into her role as Arch Enemy’s resident ‘Rottweiler’, Gossow was ready to sink her teeth into something radical. Gossow was outspoken both on and offstage, claiming she was “too intelligent to be happy” in a world full on injustice.
“I can put one and one together,” she once wrote on her personal website. “Given the ignorance and denial a lot of people live in, I assume they can’t do the maths. Everything we do has an impact on this planet. Each one of us has a responsibility and can make a change.”
Together, Arch Enemy would piece together Nemesis, the perfect track to combat and overcoming this “ignorance”. Decked out in a red jumpsuit and a bad attitude, Gossow’s in-your-face onslaught of brutal vocals and lyrical insurgence was the perfect way to inspire change.
“We thought the world was fucked up,” guitarist Michael Amott explains. “The song was our way of reminding people that it didn’t have to be that way; things can change if we work together.”
Rather than cowering behind vague metaphors, the track co-opts the swashbuckling Musketeers “all for one, one for all” mentality and transforms it into a rousing thrashed-up melodeath warcry. Imploring that “all blood runs the same”, the track defies class, race and gender, encourages the masses to join together and focus their fury on common oppressors and injustices.
“I think the lyrics speak for themselves,” Michael says. “Even if the world is messed up, we can all work to change that. Nemesis is about unity, because we are all more powerful together.”
Live, the power of unified voices is tangible. While Nemesis is a gut-punch on record, the addition of thousands of fans crying “we are strong, we are one” holds phenomenal weight. It’s a response that’s earned Nemesis the honour of being a staple of the band’s live sets for 20 years – and, as Amott explains, it was destined for greatness from the very beginning.
Let’s set the scene. It’s 9am on July 15 2005, and metal fans are piling into Massachusetts’ Tweeter Center. Ozzfest is marking its tenth anniversary in style, dragging along the likes of Iron Maiden, Rob Zombie and Killswitch Engage. In 20 minutes, Arch Enemy are set to kickstart the entire festival.
"We were opening the second stage, and it was a huge opportunity for us,” Michael recalls. “We thought nobody would be there – why would anyone get out of bed so early to catch a Swedish death metal band? But, wow, were we proved wrong.”
Despite being on while most sensible people would be waking up, the Ozzfest masses were raring to go. “It was one of the craziest shows we’ve ever done, and we were on at like 9:20am,” the guitarist laughs, still in disbelief. “All the kids were there! It was insane – we performed to this huge crowd we hadn’t expected. When we played Nemesis, the response was incredible.”
It’s a memory Amott takes a moment to bask in. “Even though we’d toured plenty of times in the States before, that show was special,” he reflects. “I actually have a distinct memory of playing the breakdown, trying to focus, and I noticed a guy in a wheelchair swinging his prosthetic leg around in the air!”
“Nemesis can be a difficult song to play as it is, so I tried to keep looking down at my guitar… but when you see something like you, you have to take a second look, right?” Amott admits, chuckling to himself. “Playing a brand new song, and it gets the fans that excited, opening the maddest mosh pits – all at 9 in the morning?! Crazy.”
Considering the track had been completed under a time crunch, the response was undeniable proof that the rush had been worth it. The tight timeframe was partly due to a hectic touring schedule as the band seemed to blow up just about everywhere they went.
“Everything just took off, so we never had any downtime,” Amott recalls. “We were forced to write a lot on the tour bus and in hotel rooms.”
Michael and Angela would pen lyrics in tandem, with Michael’s brother and second guitarist Christopher Amott conjuring up whirlwind riffs and breakdowns.
“Nemesis’ chorus, the melody and the chords were all written in the tour bus – we even recorded some of it there,” Michael notes. “Then we had to rush to finish the Doomsday Machine album mix in time for Ozzfest. It was the perfect way to launch our new album, our new era, so we just had to get it done.”
Despite having to wrap the album up quickly, Amott wouldn’t change anything about Nemesis. “I think it’s a universal song, and it’s still incredibly relevant today,” he says. “It’s now 20 years old, but it feels just as powerful when we play it live now. It’s a magical song for us, and it’s become so much bigger than we could have ever imagined. I know Angela is still very proud of it.”
Nemesis’ persisting relevance isn’t necessarily a good sign (“when we wrote this song, we thought the world was fucked up – now, you look back and you go, ‘what were we moaning about?’” Amott sighs), but some things have certainly changed. In 2014, Gossow handed over vocal duties to Alissa White-Gluz – and White-Gluz has added her own flare to the pivotal track.
“Because of how big the song has become, Alissa really leans into the power it has,” Amott smiles. “We’ve incorporated little nano-second gaps in places, just to see how the crowd react, to hear them screaming the lyrics before we kick back into it ourselves. We all love to play around with it a little bit, make it feel fresh. I wish I could write those kind of songs every day, but it doesn’t always work out that way!”
Lightning can’t strike twice – but at least it struck in the first place. “We have tried to follow the same recipe; write another song in the same kind of tempo, the same energy,” Michael admits. “But it made us realise something: you can’t force it. Songwriting is not a formula. And we already have Nemesis – we don’t need another Nemesis!”
The impact of Gossow’s antagonistic reign and smeared black warpaint has left an indelible mark on the metal world. Countless female metalheads were inspired by the Doomsday Machine touring days, with Svalbard frontwoman Serena Cherry noting the band’s 2006 Download Festival as one of the key experiences that inspired her to train her “kitten-yelps” into full blown screams.
“We meet a lot of people nowadays that have the Nemesis lyrics tattooed, and it just reminds us how that song has left its mark on a generation of metal fans,” Amott says. “In retrospect, we can all see how pivotal Doomsday Machine was for us. It was groundbreaking, and it really made Arch Enemy explode… but, when you’re in the eye of the storm, you don’t realise what’s going on around you.”
Of course, Arch Enemy aren’t ones to dwell too much on the past. “We don’t like to be too nostalgic,” Amott explains. “It’s okay to dip your toes in, but you shouldn’t swim in it because you might drown. And our new material always seems to resonate with fans; our 12th album came out this year, and we’re still so proud of all the songs we write. It’s just become very difficult to decide on a setlist!”
Michael insists Nemesis “captured everything that we wanted to do as a band”. It’s a track that will remain a key fixture of every Arch Enemy show, whether you like it or not. “I think I’ll still be playing that one when I’m in the retirement home,” he jokes with a warm laugh. The tempo will probably have to be more sensible, though… “It’ll be a very slow version," he adds. "But Nemesis will never die.”
Arch Enemy's latest album Blood Dynasty is out now via Century Media
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