Arch Enemy take death metal back to the '80s with galloping, lead-heavy new track, House of Mirrors

Hot on the heels of their latest single, and first new music in four years, Deceiver, Deceiver, Swedish death metallers Arch Enemy have issued a new track, House of Mirrors.

Doubling down on the momentum of Deceiver, Deceiver, the new track commences with a series of enveloping harmonized leads from electric guitar duo Michael Amott and Jeff Loomis, before bassist Sharlee D'Angelo, drummer Daniel Erlandsson and vocalist Alissa White-Gluz enter the fray with '80s-inspired, galloping double-kick-driven rhythms and powerful guttural screams.

True to form, Amott and Loomis carve out space for their own respective solos, with the former serving up nimble two-handed tapping lines and the latter letting loose with a series of wah-touched pinpoint bends and rapid-fire alternate-picked lines. Check it out below.

“Musically, this is an idea that has been bouncing around in my head for a while, and finally it got finished,” says Amott. “It all started with the guitar motif that kicks off the track, which naturally leads to the galloping '80s-metal feel of the verses. As is always the case with us, we had quite a few different arrangements and demos of this song until it was, dare I say, fuckin' perfect!”

Adds White-Gluz, “House of Mirrors is a song that twists its way into the human psyche. I wrote the lyrics during a dark time of strict, dystopian lockdown, and I think people will be able to relate to that feeling of being totally alone – but never truly alone – when you are surrounded only by past and future versions of yourself as company.”

Despite two songs being released in quick succession, we've yet to hear word on any new full-length material from Arch Enemy. 

While the band issued a covers album – Covered in Blood – in 2019, featuring new renditions of Judas Priest's Breaking the Law, Iron Maiden's Aces High and Megadeth's Symphony of Destruction, their last original LP was 2017's Will to Power.