Rise of the Tyrant

Vocalist Angela Gossow commented on Rise of the Tyrant on the band's website that:

I experimented quite a bit with doubling vocal lines on the last album, which I now feel kind of took personality and vocal attack away. So this time it's the classic, one-vocal-track, no-frills, no-effects approach. I put a lot of work and emotions into the lyrics, some of them actually made me cry, most of them made me very, very angry. They deal with the pain and losses we cause each other. To balance these gloomy themes out, we managed to write some lyrics in the vein of 'We Will Rise' — you know, fight songs! There is not only suffering and injustice in this world, but also hope, love and friendship .

Guitarist Michael Amott described it as:

...the ultimate Arch Enemy album!!! To me, this album sounds like the perfect mix of melody and brutality. This album is an organic and honest statement from the band — it's pure fucking metal at its absolute best, the Arch Enemy way! Producer Fredrik Nordström did a killer mix on the record — the sound is big and intense!

Rise of the Tyrant debuted at number 84 on the Billboard 200, selling around 8,900 copies. This surpasses Doomsday Machine, making it the band's highest-charting effort yet.[4]

Arch Enemy

• Angela Gossow − vocals
• Michael Amott − guitars, keyboards
• Christopher Amott − guitars
• Sharlee D'Angelo − bass
• Daniel Erlandsson − drums

Production

• Produced by Fredrik Nordström and Michael Amott; co-produced by Daniel Erlandsson
• Mixed by Fredrik Nordström
• Engineered by Patrik J. Sten
• Mastered by Peter In De Betou
• All music arranged by Michael Amott and Daniel Erlandsson. Drum arrangements by Daniel Erlandsson. Vocal arrangements by Angela Gossow. Additional arrangements by Arch Enemy.
• Keyboards by Per Wiberg (not credited in album artwork)
• Artwork by Niklas Sundin[8]

• The speech from the song "Rise of the Tyrant" is taken from 1979 movie Caligula, and was also previously featured by ZAUM and on Matthew Sweet's 1993 album Altered Beast:
  Caligula: I have existed from the morning of the world and I shall exist until the last star falls from the night.
  Although I have taken the form of Gaius Caligula, I am all men as I am no man and therefore I am... a God.
  I shall wait for the unanimous decision of the senate, Claudius.
  Claudius: All those who say aye, say aye.
  Caligula: Aye... aye!
  Senators: Aye! Aye! Aye!..
  Guard: He's a god now...
• The song "The Day You Died" is inspired by the Japanese anime movie Grave of the Fireflies. In Revolver (Nov. 2007 issue), Angela Gossow names the movie as one of her favorites.
• The song "Wings of Tomorrow" (Europe cover) was also recorded during the Rise of the Tyrant sessions, but wasn't released until Khaos Legions, on the second disk of a two disk media book version.
• A video was made for "Revolution Begins" and "I Will Live Again" (both directed by Patric Ullaeus).
• The title of the album is also the title of a movie in the Metalocalypse episode "P.R. Pickles".
• The text at the top of the album cover reads "Beneath the burning cross my immortal soul"; this line is taken from the second track of the album ("The Last Enemy"):

Funeral silence beneath the burning cross
My immortal soul sleeps with the wolves tonight

• Rise of the Tyrant at Encyclopaedia Metallum