Click HERE to listen to "We Will Rise" taken from the new album "Anthems of Rebellion" out now on Century Media

MM: Can you give us a little about Arch Enemy’s background?
Christopher Ammott: We formed around 1995. It wasn't really a band thing at that time, it was more of a project. Michael, my brother played in Carnage in the early 90's, an early death metal band and then went on to join Carcass. He then quit Carcass and played with a band called Spiritual Beggars before he got an offer to get back into death metal. A friend of his had a record label and said why didn't he do a Carnage re-union, so he called up the old vocalist and asked me do perform solo's. I was just 19 at the time and then he got a drummer called Daniel and it progressed from there. It's been getting more and more serious over the years.

MM: We’ve been listening to your new album “Anthems of Rebellion” for a while now, how happy with the finished product?
CA: I'm very happy with it, it's heavy and very varied and dynamic.

MM: Have you had any feedback yet?
CA: Yeah, we've spoken to lots of jouralists and everyone has liked it so far. I can't wait to go out and play them live.

MM: How do you compare it to previous releases?
CA: I don't know really. There's some new element's like clean vocals and we played some 7 string guitars. The song writing is probably the best I've ever done. We stripped down the arrangements and made things simple, which has created a vibe for each song.

MM: What are your main influences in general, who do you listen to?
CA: I'm into Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer bands like that, as for solo artist, I like loads of guys, Schenker, Malmsteen and Uli John Roth.

MM: Was there anything you would of liked to change or maybe of added to album?
CA: Good Question! I mean there's always stuff as you can never get things perfect. I think I would like to change a few of the leads.

MM: Why exactly is Arch Enemy so huge in Japan?
CA: Not Sure, I think they like the mixture of agression and melody. Japan is our biggest market

MM: Have you always known that Arch Enemy would be a success, or was there a point when it just all fell into place?
CA: It's been a steadily rising thing. We've worked very hard to get where we are, recording and touring so etc

MM: What side projects are you guys involved in?
CA: I've released a couple of solo albums, only in Japan so far. Hopefully they'll be released elsewhere soon.

MM: What was it like touring with Iron Maiden?
CA: The two shows in Norway were great! lots of fun. Bruce Dickinson pop his head round the door and wished us good luck, but other than that we didn't speak to them that much.

MM: We were at the recent Graspop festival, what was your overall opinion?
CA: (Stops to think which one I was on about!) Oh now I remember!, it was packed, that show went very well for us!

MM: Can you remember your first Arch Enemy show? CA: Yes, it was in Sweden. I was very nervous and was totally concentrating on playing instead of headbanging, it was a bit of a shock actually. I did play a few other gigs before that but not as much aggression as this one. MM: Which do you think was your best show? CA: Erm...It was probably our first gig in Japan. That one really stand out for me MM: What is your opinion on file sharing programs like Kazaa and Napster? CA: I never used them, I've got nothing to say about them. I wish they wouldn't do it so I can make some money but I can see why kids do it though, it really effects the smaller bands more. I think in 5-10 years albums will be dead so I think in the future we will be downloading them rather than going out and buying them.