Single Slam – The Eagle Flies Alone by Arch Enemy (Will To Power)

The Eagle Flies Alone is the latest single released by Swedish melodic metallers,  Arch Enemy. It will feature on their new album, Will to Power, which is due out on the 8th of September this year via Century Media Records. Will to Power will be the band’s 10th studio album to date since they formed back in 1996.

Will to Power will also be the band’s 2nd studio album with Alissa White-Gluz as lead vocalist. She took over after the departure of Angela Gossow, the band’s singer from 2000 to 2014. Will to Power will also be the first to feature Jeff Loomis (Nevermore) on guitars, replacing Nick Cordle.

Joining Jeff and Alissa we have founding member Michael Amott on guitars and Sharlee D’Angelo on the bass. Finally we have Daniel Erlandsson on the drums.

The Eagle Flies Alone is the second single released from the new album, after The World is Yours and is around 5 minutes long. It starts with a gentle guitar melody before all the instruments kick in for a nice chunky riff. There is a nice tempo to the track so far. Alissa comes in with her death metal growls and yells and sounds good. The lyrics aren’t particularly good though, with generic anti social/anti establishment lines like “I go my own way” and “I swim against the stream”. There is nothing wrong with them but they aren’t very inventive or fresh.

The chorus is okay vocally but has a sweet guitar line and fast tempo drum rhythm. Most of the track seems to be the chorus’ 4 lines repeated. The first verse is there but the second is really short and then it is just chorus after chorus. After the two verses and a ton of choruses we move into the instrumental section. Starting off with a slower melody, like the intro, it builds into a thumping drum and heavy, distorted riff. This chugs along for a little while before diving into a solo which I do like.

It is pretty short and while I like it, it isn’t mind blowing. It is just good and that is a little disappointing considering the guitar talent in the band. The solo ends and we get back to those choruses….again. These play out until the end until, with 40 seconds still to go the track fades back into a gentle melody until the end.

Despite a few negatives, The Eagle Flies Alone is not a bad track at all. There is lots of nice guitar riffage and a few stand out lines. The solo isn’t bad and the vocals are fine too. It is nice to see Arch Enemy go through a song without any real clean singing too. The stand out sound on the track probably comes from Erlandsson on the drums though. There are some really nice beats and tempos in the verses and some blazing kick speed on show in the choruses. Unfortunately some of these positives get lost a little behind bland lyrics, short, unimaginative verses and an overly repeated chorus.

Check out The Eagle Flies Alone for yourself here. You can preorder Will to Power still now at Century Media. You can also pick it up, this single and more from Arch Enemy from the links below. Check out Arch Enemy on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for more on them and their releases. Be sure to give them a like or follow while you are there.

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