Burning Bridges (Arch Enemy album)

Burning Bridges is the third studio album by the Swedish band Arch Enemy. This is the first Arch Enemy album to feature Sharlee D'Angelo on bass and the last studio recording to feature vocalist Johan Liiva. 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.[1] A music video was released for the song "The Immortal."

Burning Bridges
Studio album by
Arch Enemy
Released21 May 1999
RecordedDecember 1998 – January 1999
StudioStudio Fredman
GenreMelodic death metal[1]
Length35:46
LabelCentury Media
ProducerFredrik Nordström, Michael Amott
Arch Enemy chronology
Stigmata
(1998)		 Burning Bridges
(1999)		 Burning Japan Live 1999
(2000)
Singles from Burning Bridges
  1. "The Immortal"
    Released: 20 March 1999

The album was reissued on 25 May 2009. Featuring original vocalist Johan Liiva, the reissue has a new layout, remastered sound, packaging & bonus tracks. Contains original artwork, liner notes by Johan Liiva and a track by track commentary by guitarist Michael Amott.[2]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Burning Bridges is dark like a death metal album should be, but the use of melody in the guitar work push it limitlessly far above the level of a standard death metal release like Gallery of Suicide or Serpents of the Light.

– Paul Schwarz, Chronicles of Chaos[3]

Burning Bridges was well received by critics. Steve Huey of Allmusic praised the album, writing:

"... having honed a potent blend of classic-style death metal, melodic twin-guitar leads à la the new wave of British heavy metal, touches of prog metal and of grindcore courtesy of later Carcass or Napalm Death, and just plain solid riff writing. Burning Bridges, their third effort, consolidates the gains made on its predecessor Stigmata, establishing Arch Enemy as a dependable force and one of the better bands working death metal territory as the '90s drew to a close."[1]

Nathan Robinson of Metal Rules was surprised at the amount of fast material, although there are no blast beats, and praised the singer Johan Liiva stating that he "offers more variety this time, moving between his classic guttural belches to higher, blackened screeches. He truly delivers an impressive vocal performance!" He later highlights the songs "Silverwing", "The Immortal" and "Seed of Hate".[4] Archaic Magazine's Ron Salden also praised Liiva's vocals and the production. Salden states that "they took the best of their first 2 albums and Burning Bridges is the amazing result!"[5]

Sean Palmerston of Exclaim! writes that "the eight tracks contained within stand-up quite nicely with recent releases from The Haunted and Witchery as some of the best Swedish metal in recent times."[6] Paul Schwarz of Chronicles of Chaos praised the songs highlighting "Pilgrim". He wrote: "What I love most, though, is the way Arch Enemy slip between the two different feels. "Pilgrim" begins with a hugely melodic, very heavy metal, lead/harmony part, but when Johan Liiva's crushing vocals enter, so does a heavy, percussive, death metal sounding verse riff, then, when the chorus comes in, the two opposites are expertly combined together."[3] Critics Ron Salden and Paul Schwarz stated that "this album will surely be one of the best releases in this year if not the best!" and that Arch Enemy "managed to pool their considerable talents and emerge with one of the year's best albums", respectively.[3][5]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Michael Amott, except where noted; all music is composed by Michael Amott and Christopher Amott, except where noted..

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."The Immortal"Johan Liiva, M. Amott 3:43
2."Dead Inside"  4:13
3."Pilgrim"  4:33
4."Silverwing"  4:08
5."Demonic Science"  5:23
6."Seed of Hate" Christopher Amott4:09
7."Angelclaw"  4:06
8."Burning Bridges" Michael Amott5:31
Japanese Edition
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
9."Scream of Anger"Joey TempestMarcel Jacob, Tempest3:50
10."Fields of Desolation '99"LiivaC. Amott, M. Amott6:02
European Limited Edition Digipak
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
9."Diva Satanica"M. AmottC. Amott, M. Amott3:46
10."Hydra"InstrumentalC. Amott, Fredrik Nordström0:57
Deluxe Edition
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
9."Fields of Desolation '99" (from A Collection of Rare & Unreleased Songs from the Arch Enemy Vault)LiivaC. Amott, M. Amott6:02
10."Star Breaker" (from A Collection of Rare & Unreleased Songs from the Arch Enemy Vault)  3:27
11."Aces High" (from A Collection of Rare & Unreleased Songs from the Arch Enemy Vault)Steve HarrisHarris4:26
12."Scream of Anger" (from A Collection of Rare & Unreleased Songs from the Arch Enemy Vault)TempestJacob, Tempest3:50
13."The Immortal" (from Burning Japan Live 1999)Liiva, M. AmottC. Amott, M. Amott3:55
14."Dead Inside" (from Burning Japan Live 1999)M. AmottC. Amott, M. Amott4:35
15."Pilgrim" (from Burning Japan Live 1999)M. AmottC. Amott, M. Amott4:34
16."Silverwing" (from Burning Japan Live 1999)M. AmottC. Amott, M. Amott4:16
17."Angelclaw" (from Burning Japan Live 1999)M. AmottC. Amott, M. Amott4:39

Personnel

Personnel credits adapted from Burning Bridges album liner notes.[7]

Arch Enemy

Production
  • Fredrik Nordström − producer, engineer, keyboards
  • Per Wiberg – mellotron and grand piano on "Burning Bridges"
  • Göran Finnberg – mastering
  • Ulf Horbelt – re-mastering
  • Anna Sofi Dahlberg – artwork, photography, layouts
  • Tony Hunter – band photography
  • Adde – band photography on page 16
  • Media Logistics GmbH – additional layout
  • Philipp Schulte – product coordination

References
  1. Huey, Steve. "Review: Arch Enemy - Burning Bridges". Allmusic. All Media Guide. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  2. "Arch Enemy guitarist says band will have new studio recording available by October". Blabbermouth.net. June 5, 2009. Archived from the original on September 26, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  3. Schwarz, Paul (July 7, 1999). "Arch Enemy - Burning Bridges". Chronicles of Chaos. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  4. Robinson, Nathan (July 1999). "Arch Enemy - Burning Bridges". Metal Rules. Archived from the original on September 2, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  5. Salden, Ron (January 1, 2000). "Arch Enemy - Burning Bridges". Archaic Magazine. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
  6. Palmerston, Sean (August 1999). "Arch Enemy - Burning Bridges". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on September 8, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  7. Burning Bridges Deluxe Edition (Media notes). Arch Enemy. Century Media Records. 2009.CS1 maint: others (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.