Arch Enemy alumni reunite in Black Earth

Original and current members of Arch Enemy are forming under the banner of Black Earth for a one-off Japan tour.

The members, who named the reunion after Arch Enemy’s 1996 debut album, will play material from the band’s first three records onstage at Japan’s Loud Park Festival in May

The melodic death metal band announced in September that they would be reforming their old lineup for the Japanese music event’s 10th anniversary.

Black Earth features four members of the original Arch Enemy lineup – guitarists Michael Amott and Christopher Amott, vocalist Johan Liiva and drummer Daniel Erlandsson, in addition to Sharlee D’Angelo on bass.

German singer Angela Gossow took over from Johan Liiva in 2000 as Arch enemy’s singer. She stepped aside to become the band’s manager in 2013 and Alissa White-Gluz – formerly of The Agonist – took over vocal duties.

Christopher Amott has been in and out of the band a few times over the years. He exited in 2005, returned in 2007 and left again in 2012. He reprised his role once again briefly in 2014 for Arch Enemy’s North American tour after guitarist Nick Cordle left. Cordle was eventually replaced permanently by Nevermore’s Jeff Loomis in November 2014.

The news comes as Michael Amott reveals Arch Enemy will start work on new material after completing a 300-date world tour in support of 2014’s War Eternal.

He tells SiriusXM (via Blabbermouth): “We’re slowing down a little bit now. We’re going to take a break and write new music. I always write music. There’s bits and pieces floating around on various laptops and phones and in my head. We’re going to try to put that all together.

“But I’d rather make an album when we have something to say as a band. I don’t want to be on a schedule and like, ‘It’s got to be out by that time next year.’ I’d rather have good music and then start thinking about making a new album.”

Black Earth Japan Tour 2016

May 17: Tokyo Shibuya Club Quattro
May 19: Fukuoka Drum Be-1
May 21: Hiroshima Club Quattro
May 23: Osaka Umeda Club Quattro
May 24: Aichi Nagoya Club Quattro
May 27: Sapporo Lane24 Penny Sapporo

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.