Arch Enemy's Alissa excited by new challenge

Arch Enemy singer Alissa White-Gluz says agreeing to replace Angela Gossow was the easiest decision she's ever made.

When Gossow left the band last month, she approached The Agonist frontwoman White-Gluz to offer her the job.

In an interview with Maximum Rock, White-Gluz says she accepted the offer and planned to work with both bands, only to be sacked by her former bandmates.

White-Gluz says: “I didn’t have any doubts about joining Arch Enemy. With Angela believing in me, I knew I could do it. It’s obviously not an easy task and I am pushing myself as hard as I can, but I know that now is the right time for this change to happen and that I am up for the challenge.

“The guys in my former band obviously didn’t like this idea very much because they kicked me out when I told them about my new engagements. I had planned to be in both bands and I am very capable of doing double duty, but I wasn’t given the option, so now I will focus exclusively on Arch Enemy.”

While she brings her own style to the role, White-Gluz says she will remain faithful to Gossow’s delivery on Arch Enemy classics.

She says: “I think I will bring a different lyrical style and slightly different vocals. I draw my inspiration from different sources than Angela, but I think my style sounds quite good with Arch Enemy’s music as well. I would like to stay very true to her delivery when it comes to the old songs though, since they sound fantastic that way and I don’t see any reason to change them.”

She plans to overcome any nerves by remaining focused on the job at hand, which includes recording and touring the upcoming album War Eternal.

White-Gluz adds: “I’m not really as nervous as I am excited. I’m going to do my absolute best, like I always have. The back catalog of songs is quite demanding so I will definitely be very focused.”

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.