Arch Enemy Update

ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott has posted the following update at the band's official website:

"Hail Arch Enemy fans!

Just want to drop a few lines and thank everyone who came out and had fun with Arch Enemy last weekend at the Sweden Rock and Download festivals (UK). And what a weekend it was!

After our show at Sweden Rock, which went surprisingly well with only a few technical problems (standard procedure at festivals...), we had to pack our gear together quickly and race down the highway to Copenhagen Airport for an evening flight to the UK. We were due to play the Download festival in the early afternoon the next day. As we left the festival area I could hear parts of the METAL CHURCH set - sounded really killer, old-school metal... I wish I'd had the time to hang out.

The Arch Enemy show at Download also went well, although much shorter than what we normally play at festivals - only 30 minutes, we made a big impact. They told us that we had 40,000 people in the audience when we played - that's the biggest show we've ever played!

The total capacity at Download was 65,000 and it was sold-out, I watched the METALLICA set from the side of the stage and they opened up with 'Creeping Death' - Gotta love that.

We hung out with friends (seemed like I knew everyone there) and did a signing session at the Kerrang! tent (amazing) and few of us even stayed on for the Metal Hammer awards in London on the Monday. After that we were pretty wrecked and have spent the last few days picking up the pieces.

Basically, we enjoyed perfect summer weather and strong shows at both performances - a good start to our European festival summer!

Next up, is Hellfest (France) and Graspop (Belgium). We are headlining the second stage at both these festivals and we are prepared to blow these up - be there or be, well...not metal."

Upcoming Arch Enemy dates include:

June
24 - Hellfest - Clisson, France
25 - Graspop - Belgium
30 - Tuska Metal Festival - Helsinki, Finland

July
2 - With Full Force - Germany
13 - Arvika Festivalen - Sweden
20 - Earthshaker Fest - Germany
21 - Metalcamp Festival - Tolmin, Slovenia
29 - MetalWay Festival - Gernika, Spain

August
5 - Wacken Open Air Festival - Germany
8 - Gothenburg City Fest - Sweden