ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott and bassist Sharlee D'Angelo are featured in a new interview with Russia's Headbanger.ru webzine. An excerpt from the discussion is available below.

Q: As a bonus track (on new album The Root Of All Evil) you recorded a cover version of 'Wings Of Tomorrow', and it’s the second song by EUROPE which you are doing. Was Europe a big influence on you in your early days?

Michael: "They were all around in the '80s, they were like a household name when I grew up. Their guitar player, John Norum, was an early influence. Actually I heard him before I heard Gary Moore. They were on TV. It’s almost like growing up in Russia, I guess – you had those Russian guitar heroes, and he was like the Swedish one. There was Yngwie Malmsteen and another one was John Norum."

Sharlee: "There weren’t many Swedish bands that had record deals, there might be one or two..."

Michael: "So in 1982 or 1983 when they put the first record out, we were very young teenagers, 12-14 years old, just hearing this stuff, so John Norum was an obvious influence, just like Gary Moore, Michael Schenker and Ritchie Blackmore. I just thought he was amazing, and I really like their first couple of records. I like their new stuff too. It’s just a fun band to cover!"

Sharlee: "Most bands playing so-called extreme metal wouldn’t even touch anything like that. But it’s more fun to do that."

Michael: "I was listening to the 'Wings Of Tomorrow' album a couple of years ago, and I thought that this song could really work for Arch Enemy."

Go to this location for the complete interview. It is available in Russian here.