Before there was Angela Gossow, before there was Alissa White-Gluz, Arch Enemy was fronted by Johan Liiva for their first three albums. Liiva left the band in 2000 and went on to sing for bands like Hearse and Nonexist over the years. Though if you were paying attention, you saw that Liiva and Arch Enemy‘s 1999 lineup reunited as Black Earth (also the name of their final album together in 1999) for a few years.
Black Earth featured Liiva, former Arch Enemy guitarist Christopher Amott and current Arch Enemy members guitarist Christopher Amott, bassist Sharlee D’Angelo, and drummer Daniel Erlandsson. Black Earth played a whopping 18 shows in Japan only between 2016 and 2019, some of which was captured on their live album 20 Years of Dark Insanity: Japan Tour 2016.
Though the real gem here is Black Earth‘s 2019 compilation Path Of The Immortal. The compilation largely featured remastered versions of Arch Enemy songs from their first three albums, as well as two brand new Liiva-fronted tracks – “Burn On The Flame” and “The Immortal”. And they were good! They’re not available on streaming services and Path Of The Immortal (and the live album) were only released in Japan, so coming across Black Earth is a bit of a rarity.
Black Earth‘s social media posts since 2019 have been mostly sales on their store and the occasional “remember when?” with no other signs of life. Which makes sense – Arch Enemy is a recording and touring machine that plays some very big venues, and it would be strange to have Black Earth running around between it all. Though a Black Earth show here and there would be awesome, or at least a proper reissue of the live album and Path Of The Immortal.
Anyway, enjoy the majesty that was Black Earth above and below.
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