In fact, Ive claimed many, many times that his vocals (Im not sure theres another word to describe them) are shit.

They always sound like he cant be bothered and half the time it sounds like hes just speaking angrily.

Many people will disagree, but I for one am of the opinion that he is far outclassed by his successor Angela Gossow.

And thats just why this album seems like such a great idea - it makes songs that were previously degraded by Johans awful vocals actually enjoyable without having to wonder how much better theyd be as instrumentals.

Something that I noticed immediately is that the music is recorded in a different note and the production is much cleaner.

I actually prefer it like this, but the fans of old AE stuff will probably complain that it isnt as heavy as the original version.

Not that we care about what they think, because most of them only listened to this so they could proclaim how much better the band was before Johan was so rudely kicked out.

For the most part its refreshing to hear the classic songs played in a different tune and produced in a manner that is far cleaner (slightly odd considering that most of their work is only between ten and fifteen years old), but sometimes it doesnt work.

Songs like Beast of Man are kind of odd to listen to, because on one hand theyre nicely produced but on the other thats not what they were meant to be like.

I still prefer the newer version of most songs (there is one exception that we will come to in a minute), but I actually liked that song before they released this record.

Bridge of Destiny is far better on The Root of all Evil than on Stigmata, but Beast of Man is kind of equal on both sides.

It just sounds a little bit too clean for what the song intends to be, even with Angelas demonic growls.

The only thing stopping the older version being better are Johans vocals.

Originally I heard that song on the second CD of Wages of Sin and it was one of the most crunching tracks Id heard at the time.

Johans vocals arent great (as you may have guessed), but at least theyre bearable on that track due to the fact that they fit in far better than with some other AE releases.

This new version isnt anywhere near as heavy and suddenly it loses its edge.

I dont particularly like Angelas growls on that song either, high screeches that dont belong with this band and the deeper growls dont really do too much for me either for some unknown reason.

This is the only exception where the original really outclasses the rerecording.

I can see why a lot of people would take a disliking to the band for releasing this, whether it be because they feel Johans work has been done a major injustice or that Arch Enemy are just trying to make some easy money or some other reason.

Personally though, I do quite enjoy listening to this, although there are maybe a few songs on here that could have done with being replaced with others.

I dont view this as an attempt to steal the publics money, and actually I think its a good idea to introduce the newer fans to the old material in a more accessible way.

Now, thats all true, but I have to make one thing clear: I do actually like Arch Enemy.

Perhaps theres a nostalgic quality for me considering, despite what I always say, they were the first band with harsh vocals Id ever liked.

I always claim that Children of Bodom was the band that warmed me up to the style, and thats mostly true because I wasam a MUCH bigger fan of Bodom than I am Arch Enemy and have listened to Bodoms good albums waaaaay more than the good AE albums.

But really and truly Arch Enemy beat them by about a month.

Arch Enemy The Root Of All Evil Rar