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I had never heard anything by Arch Enemy prior to listening to 2022's Deceivers. I always assumed they were a gothic, core-type band with a female vocalist employing harsh singing as part of the gimmick. I stand before you, the band most of all, corrected. I can't speak to their prior albums, but Deceivers is an excellent slab of melodic death metal. There's no core, no goth, nothing but pounding heavy metal with satisfyingly harsh yet understandable vocals. I find the first few songs to be far and away the best on the album. "Handshake with Hell" has it all, from bludgeoning riff work, a nice mix of clean and harsh singing and a sweet solo. "Deceiver Deceiver" and "The Watcher" are nearly as good, just perfect blends of heaviness and melody. The rest is a tad on the generic side with one song sounding a lot like the next, though, to be fair, they are all very good, just not as good as the opening few salvos. Slotting firmly in the melodic death metal camp, Arch Enemy are obviously not for fans of brutal, guttural, technical, etc. death metal, but if you are someone looking to find out what the fuss over melodic death is about, this album is a perfect place to start your journey.