Arch Enemy’s Chris Amott Releases Armageddon Material in the U.S.

Arch Enemy guitarist Christopher Amott has released two out of three albums from Armageddon, the ever-shifting project he began in 1997 that never released music outside of Japan and Korea. Rather than allow the albums to be lost in time, Amott wanted to expose them.

"I put a lot of work into them when I did them, so I don't want it to go to waste," Amott told Noisecreep about the decision to release the material now and in the U.S. and Europe, finally. 2000's 'Embrace the Mystery' and 2002's 'Three' are the albums that were issued; 1997's 'Crossing the Rubicon' will not be released until rights issues are cleared.

Amott believes fans of his main band will take to Armageddon, since "it has the same melodic guitar playing, so they should check it out. It's more straightforward, traditional hard rock and metal. That was what I was into at the time."

Amott said that no live shows will ever happen for Armageddon, either, so don't hold your breath. He said, "It's a nostalgic thing. I have the masters, so I wanted to release them. The only shows I ever did under the name were three shows in Japan, when we were opening for In Flames in 2001."

While Armageddon have obtained 'cult' or even 'obscure' status, the band has gone through a few different incarnations, one with Amott's brother and Arch Enemy bandmate, Michael. Amott admits he does "sign a few Armageddon CDs on every tour. It's my solo record, sort of. When it started in 1997, my brother helped me to write a concept album called 'Crossing the Rubicon,' about the end of planet earth. He did the lyrics and we chose to call the project 'Armageddon.'"

As the project progressed, Amott said, "I wanted to make more melodic hard rock working with more vocal melodies, since I am big fan of classic rock. I found a singer in Sweden and we wrote together and that became the album, 'Embrace the Mystery.' I still called [the project] Armageddon, because my name was linked to it. On the he third album, 'Three,' I wanted to try singing myself. It's me trying different styles."

Amott says 'Embrace the Mystery is his favorite of the three Armageddon albums, because "the songwriting is the best."