Arch Enemy
Hello, Christopher, thank you for doing an interview with Livegamers. Now, you recently returned to Arch Enemy.
– That’s right.
Was life boring without Arch Enemy or did your brother Michael convince you to return? How does it feel to be back?
– It feels good. I went through some different stuff. I’ve been in the band for 10 years and I just basicly got tired of it. I have nothing to compare to because I have never done anything than played the guitar, so I wanted to try something else, but then I really missed being on stage so… I decided to come back.
Tell us something about your new album Rise of the Tyrant.
– Well… umm, that’s a funny question… it’s only a record. Go and buy it!
Are there any differences compared to previous albums?
– Well, we returned to work with the producer who was producing the first three albums, but basicly we produced it ourself. He was the engineer. I think it sounds a bit rawer than the previous ones.
Metal music is making its way into the game industry. The best known music game series is the Guitar Hero trilogy. Have you had the possibility to test Guitar Hero?
– Yeah, I don’t like it at all. I find it extremely boring so I don’t know what the big deal is. Maybe it is because I play for real. I’ve only tried it once and I wasn’t very good at it so… I mean it’s a great idea and everything, but I am more into regular games.
I play the guitar myself and I actually found it hard to play Guitar Hero because it does not always go according to the music…
– Yeah, because you start listening. You should just look at the screen instead of listening.
There has been a lot of metal music in Guitar Hero games, for example in Guitar Hero II you can play Shadows Fall, and in Guitar Hero III In Flames, Disturbed, and Slipknot. When do we get to play Arch Enemy’s songs in a Guitar Hero game?
– Yeah, we have had an offer. We are definitely going to be in it.
That’s great, because some modders have already been importing your songs on PS2 and Xbox 360.
– I know, yeah. I heard something about the deal, and managed to hear that we are definitely going to be in it.
Do you ever play any games on your spare time?
– I have a Playstation…. I am not that much of a gamer. I recently got really into one game and I played it for a long time. I really liked that game, Shadow of colossus. That was a really cool game.
Are you more into those first-person shooters, or more of a strategy, or even s racing-game player?
– No, I don’t like car games… I like Grand Theft Auto. That’s the ultimate game for me.
Do you have any game consoles on your tour bus?
– Not on this one. We have different tour buses all the time. Sometimes there are consoles and sometimes not.
What games do you play on your tour bus if there is a console?
– Years ago we used to play the first GTA with Daniel, but we didn’t have a memory card, so we had to start all over from the beginning every time. [Laughs.]. But I used to play a lot of computer games when I was a kid. C64 and so on…
Where would you see gaming in the future?
– Yeah, it seems more and more like mimicing real life. Making games like Sims and Second Life. I think there is a game called Second Life… So it seems to go into that direction. It seems like the grapihcs can’t get any better so… I am not into Second Life and that sort of thing, though… I don’t know… I try to live in the reality.
Name your all-time top 3 games.
Last Ninja 2 (Commodore 64)
Shadow of the Colossus (Playstation 2)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2, Xbox 360, PC)
Thank you for this interview, Christopher, and have a nice gig!
– Thank you! You know, I have never done an interview like this before so… it was cool.