Deceivers (album)

Deceivers
Studio album by
Arch Enemy
Released12 August 2022 (2022-08-12)
StudioHansen Studios
GenreMelodic death metal
Length45:09
LabelCentury Media
ProducerJacob Hansen
Arch Enemy chronology
Will to Power
(2017) 		Deceivers
(2022) 		Blood Dynasty
(2025)
Singles from Deceivers
  1. "Deceiver, Deceiver"
    Released: 21 October 2021
  2. "House of Mirrors"
    Released: 9 December 2021
  3. "Handshake with Hell"
    Released: 4 February 2022
  4. "Sunset Over the Empire"
    Released: 20 May 2022
  5. "In the Eye of the Storm"
    Released: 14 July 2022
  6. "The Watcher"
    Released: 14 August 2022
  7. "Poisoned Arrow"
    Released: 9 February 2023
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Blabbermouth.net9/10[1]
Distorted Sound7/10[2]
Kerrang![3]
Metal Hammer8/10[4]
Metal Injection9/10[5]
Metal Storm7/10[6]
Sonic Perspectives8.8/10[7]

Deceivers is the eleventh studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. Originally scheduled for a 29 July 2022 release, the album was pushed back to 12 August 2022 for undisclosed reasons. Deceivers is Arch Enemy's first studio album since 2017's Will to Power, marking the longest gap between two of their studio albums. It is also the second and last studio album to feature guitarist Jeff Loomis before his departure from the band in 2023.

Background and recording

[edit]

Writing began as early as October 2018: main songwriter and guitarist Michael Amott mentioned on an interview with Loudwire that he had "a few new ideas already for new stuff".[8] In February 2021, on "The Riffhard Podcast", lead guitarist Jeff Loomis revealed he was "doing solos for the new Arch Enemy album", though adding he did not know when it would be released.[9]

All of the album was recorded in Europe, except for Loomis' guitar contributions: due to traveling restrictions, he was unable to join the rest of the band, so they ended up "having him do his solos in the studio in Seattle".[10]

The song "Spreading Black Wings" is dedicated to the memory of LG Petrov.

Promotion

[edit]

"Deceiver, Deceiver" and "House of Mirrors", respectively released on 21 October 2021[11] and 9 December 2021,[12] were the first two singles from the album, each receiving a music video: however, at that time, the album had not been yet announced, and both tracks were simply marketed as standalone singles.

The album was officially announced on 27 January 2022;[13] the third single "Handshake with Hell" was released eight days later on 4 February 2022, along with its accompanying music video.[14]

On 20 May 2022, the fourth single "Sunset over the Empire" was released alongside a video clip. A 7-inch vinyl single featuring the single alongside "The Judging Eyes", an instrumental remake of War Eternal's "You Will Know My Name" , was commercialized in limited edition.[15]

The band announced that the record was postponed by two weeks on 6 June 2022, the reason being "unforeseen circumstances". No further information was issued about the topic.

"In the Eye of the Storm", the fifth and single, was released on 14 July 2022 with its music video.[16]

"The Watcher", the sixth and "final" single (until 2023), was released on August 14, 2022, which was two days after the album's release.

"Poisoned Arrow", the seventh and final single, was released on February 9, 2023.

Track listing

[edit]

All music is composed by Michael Amott and Daniel Erlandsson except where noted

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Handshake with Hell"Alissa White-Gluz 5:39
2."Deceiver, Deceiver"M. Amott 3:52
3."In the Eye of the Storm"M. Amott 4:09
4."The Watcher"White-Gluz 4:58
5."Poisoned Arrow"M. Amott
3:51
6."Sunset Over the Empire"M. Amott 4:03
7."House of Mirrors"White-Gluz
  • M. Amott
  • C. Amott
3:40
8."Spreading Black Wings"M. Amott 4:46
9."Mourning Star"Instrumental 1:37
10."One Last Time"M. Amott 3:49
11."Exiled from Earth"White-Gluz 4:45
Total length:45:09
Bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Into the Pit" (Fight cover)Rob Halford3:52
13."Diamond Dreamer" (Picture cover)Picture3:53
Total length:52:54

Personnel

[edit]

Arch Enemy

[edit]

Additional musician

[edit]
  • Raphael Liebermann – cello (on "Poisoned Arrow")

Technical personnel

[edit]
  • Jacob Hansen – production, engineering (drums, vocals), mixing, mastering
  • Michael Amott – co-production
  • Daniel Erlandsson – co-production, guitar and bass engineering
  • Aaron Smith – recording (Jeff Loomis solos)
  • Ruben Kamlah – recording (cello on "Poisoned Arrow")
  • Alex Reisfar – cover art
  • CVSPE (André Trindade) – artwork (booklet)
  • Costin Chioreanu – layout
  • Patric Ullaeus – photography

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Deceivers
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[17] 49
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[18] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[19] 7
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[20] 13
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[21] 30
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[22] 5
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[23] 1
French Albums (SNEP)[24] 14
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[25] 2
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[26] 33
Italian Albums (FIMI)[27] 85
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[28] 17
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[29] 14
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[30] 17
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[31] 17
Scottish Albums (OCC)[32] 11
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[33] 11
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[34] 9
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[36] 80
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[37] 1

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Arch Enemy Deceivers". Blabbermouth.net. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Album Review: Deceivers – Arch Enemy". Distorted Sound. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Album review: Arch Enemy – Deceivers". Kerrang!. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Arch Enemy's Deceivers: Melodeath Monarchs Deliver the Goods on 11th Album". Metal Hammer. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Album Review: Arch Enemy: Deceivers". metalinjection.com. Brooklyn, New York. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Album Review: Arch Enemy: Deceivers". Metal Storm. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Arch Enemy – Deceivers (album review)". Sonic Perspectives. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Michael Amott Has 'A Few New Ideas Already For' Arch Enemy's Next Album". Blabbermouth.net. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Jeff Loomis Is Working On Third Solo LP, New Arch Enemy Album". Blabbermouth.net. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Jeff Loomis Tried to Get to Europe to Record With Arch Enemy But Couldn't". Loudwire. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  11. ^ DiVita, Joe (21 October 2021). "Arch Enemy Debut Fierce New Song 'Deceiver, Deceiver'". Loudwire. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  12. ^ Hartmann, Graham (9 December 2021). "Arch Enemy Release '80s Inspired Song 'House of Mirrors'". Loudwire. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Arch Enemy Announces New Album 'Deceivers'; with Album's First Single 'Handshake With Hell' Arriving Next Week". Sonic Perspectives. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  14. ^ DiVita, Joe (4 February 2022). "Arch Enemy Introduce Clean Singing on New 'Handshake With Hell' Song". Loudwire. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  15. ^ Blabbermouth (20 May 2022). "Arch Enemy Releases New Single 'Sunset Over The Empire'". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  16. ^ Blabbermouth (14 July 2022). "Arch Enemy Releases New Single 'In The Eye Of The Storm'". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
  17. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Arch Enemy – Deceivers". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  18. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Arch Enemy – Deceivers" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Ultratop.be – Arch Enemy – Deceivers" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  20. ^ "Ultratop.be – Arch Enemy – Deceivers" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  21. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 33.Týden 2022 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  22. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Arch Enemy – Deceivers" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  23. ^ "Arch Enemy: Deceivers" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  24. ^ "Lescharts.com – Arch Enemy – Deceivers". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  25. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Arch Enemy – Deceivers" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  26. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2022. 36. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  27. ^ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 35 (dal 26.08.2022 al 01.09.2022)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  28. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2022-08-22/p/2" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  29. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums – Week of August 17, 2022". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  30. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  31. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – Arch Enemy – Deceivers". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  32. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  33. ^ "Top 100 Albums Weekly". Promusicae. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  34. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Arch Enemy – Deceivers". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  35. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Arch Enemy – Deceivers". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  36. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
  37. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
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