Arch Enemy und The Black Dahlia Murder

The members of Arch Enemy were previously in bands such as Carcass, Mercyful Fate,Carnage, Spiritual Beggars, Eucharist and Armageddon which means Arch Enemy is considered to be a metal super group. The idea originates with Carcass guitarist Michael Amott and Johan Liiva. The band has gone from strength to strength over its career and has released ten studio albums to date, the first 'Black Earth' was released in December 1996.

The early albums only achieved commercial success in Japan, yet the fifth album 'Anthems of Rebellion' charted across Europe whilst the sixth 'Doomsday Machine' appeared on the US Billboard. They toured extensively worldwide to support each of their releases, with a large amount of tours in Asia due to the early success they enjoyed there. They filmed a live DVD 'Tyrants of The Sun' in Tokyo and headlined the Melon AX Hall in Seoul, South Korea.

Their highest charting US album is 2014's 'War Eternal' which reached #44 on the Billboard charts. It also appeared on numerous charts across Europe as well as being their eighth chart appearance in Japan. Lead vocalist Angela Gossom left the band in March 2014 and took over the role as manager instead. Long term guitarist Nick Cordle also left the band in 2014 during the North American tour which was in support of the release of 'War Eternal'.

Their name is derived from the 1947 unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, often referred to as Black Dahlia, one of the most prolific crimes of the 20th century. This seems to match the melodic death metal that the boys create which is inspired by groups such as Judas Priest, At the Gates, Darkane, Metallica, Darkthrone, Morbid Angel, The Haunted and Iron Maiden. The quintet met in 2000 and cemented the line up of TBDM by January 2001. The group released their demo 'What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse' along with a four-track EP, 'A Cold-Blooded Epitaph', the latter of which the group released on Lovelost Records. After playing high profile slots at the likes of Milwaukee Metal Fest, The Black Dahlia Murder signed to Metal Blade Records in 2003.

It took the band a while to gain the commercial recognition to match the cult following they were receiving whilst touring around the States. Their debut album 'Unhallowed' which was engineered by the Walls of Jericho's Mike Hasty failed to chart in the US. However the follow-up 'Miasma' made it into the Billboard top 200 and sat at #5 on the US indie charts which was a huge improvement and was met positively by critics.

The next release 'Nocturnal' broke into the US top 100 which was a huge success for the death metal group, they announced they would be touring the US with Cannibal Corpse to promote their new album Nocturnal and celebrate the 25th anniversary of Metal Blade Records, they invited fellow record mates The Red Chord, Aeon, The Absence, and Goatwhore along too. The next three releases all continued the successes of this release, with the 2011 LP 'Ritual' remaining the bands highest peak at #31 in the US. Despite several line up changes, the band's sound has remained a solid constant and they have toured tirelessly, playing prolific events including Hevy Festival, Vans' Warped Tour and Mayhem Festival.