Philadelphia Weekly

MUSIC > WEEK'S WORST

Arch Enemy

By Bill Chenevert

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Jan. 19, 2010

There’s a scene in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective when Ace headbangs his way through a nasty, aggressive metal show towards a guy named Woodstock to ask him about marine life transportation. The band is Cannibal Corpse. This was 1994 and hair was long and dirty. Death metal seemed avant garde. It was so shockingly violent and masculine. Sixteen years later we have commercial metal and the thrill is gone. Though we still have bands like Mastadon, Isis and Lamb of God to challenge the genre, Swedes Arch Enemy and their ilk are still making screamo sludge-metal that’s unintelligible, and riddled with tired dichotomies like good/evil, rebellion/obedience and democracy/tyranny. Boring. Oh, and the cool thing now is to get yourself a lady lead singer who can scream like a man. If we’re going to get some bruises and suffer in the mosh pit, it’s not going to be for a show like this.

Thurs., Jan. 21, 8pm. $20. With Exodus, Arsis + Mutiny Within. Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South Street. livenation.com