ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott recently spoke with Peter Hodgson at IHeartGuitarBlog.com, and opened up about the just-announced departure of his brother Christopher. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

IHGB: Obviously the hot topic at the moment is Chris’s departure from the band. What’s the story?

Amott: "Well, Chris informed us in October last year that he wanted to leave the band. Again (laughs). He’s been out of the band, in 2005, 2006, 2007. The first time he quit the band it was more of a shock. But this time it didn’t really have that impact on us. We were half expecting it. He just hasn’t been that happy playing in Arch Enemy for a while, and music is supposed to be fun. The rest of us love it and live for it, and if one guy doesn’t then that kind of affects the whole atmosphere in the camp. So this is really for the best. And we found a new, really great guitar player. He’s in a band called Arsis and they supported us in America in 2010. I just kind of checked out the dude on that run. I saw him first and thought, 'Shit, he really looks like Chris did ten years ago. That’s uncanny.' Then I started watching the shows and I really liked his guitar playing and stage presence and everything. And then I just kind of put him in the back of my mind, I guess. I just pulled that name out when this situation arose late last year."

IHGB: So you’ve been rehearsing together already?

Amott: "Yeah. He was over here in January rehearsing. At first he sent us a bunch of videos I’d asked him to record of himself playing our songs. I thought he was going to send two or three songs but he sent over, I don’t know, 20 songs. He picked our entire current setlist and went through them all. He had pretty much everything note-perfect, so it was like, okay, this isn’t going to be that much of a big job for us, to rehearse with somebody, break them in, show them all the fine little details of what we do. He was just very much on top of it, really. Which is great, obviously. That’s what you want. Less work for us. We can just get straight into it. And he was great. He came over and started playing with us, and obviously that’s a totally different thing, and it sounded great. The first thing we did on the first day he got here was to run through the whole live setlist and it sounded great. He nailed stuff, didn’t miss any cues. It was great. At that point I felt about five tonnes of stress come off my shoulders!"

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Christopher Amott has issued the following statement regarding his departure from Arch Enemy after nearly five years since rejoining the band:

"I have left Arch Enemy to pursue my solo career. I'm gonna continue to be very active in music, working with all kinds of styles - this does not rule out metal. I have just recorded a new solo album, set to be released in April."

Arch Enemy has welcomed 26 year old American guitarist Nick Cordle (seen above) on board as they continue their touring activity following the release of their recent Khaos Legions (2011) album.

Christopher's brother and founding Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott comments: ”Nick was my first choice as he ticks all the right boxes for Arch Enemy with his musicality and technicality as well as his personality and dedication. Looking forward to having him join us stage, the rehearsals have shown we have a devastating twin axe attack going on!”

Nick Cordle was raised in a musical family in Virginia by parents who teach classical piano and was immersed in 19th century piano music as a child. Rachmaninoff, Brahms, and Liszt are his early memories. There were piano and violin lessons from a very early age but a rebellious streak led to the guitar at the age of 10, and within a few years he discovered the classic thrash metal albums by MEGADETH, METALLICA, and SLAYER. This was his first real musical passion and gateway into extreme music.

Nick studied jazz and music theory at the University of Virginia from 2003 to 2007 but remains self taught in the ways of ”shred” and metal. Shortly thereafter, he joined American death metal band ARSIS playing bass and guitar over a three year period performing with them on various European tours and countless gigs across the US, Canada, and Mexico as well as performing and writing on their most recent album Starve For The Devil (2010).

Arch Enemy tour dates (more to follow):

March

23 - Festival Mediterranéen de la guitar - Tunis, Tunisia
25 - Colos-Saal - Aschaffenburg, Germany

April

13 - Shibuya Ax - Tokyo, Japan
14 - Yokohama Blitz - Japan
16 - Diamond Hall - Nagoya, Japan
17 - Big Cat - Osaka, Japan
24 - Chin Woo Stadium (Hall) - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
26 - Diablo Open Air 2012 - Singapore
28 - Pulp Summer Slam 12 - Manila, Philippines
30 - Manning Bar - Sydney, Australia
31 - Billboard The Venue - Melbourne, Australia

June

28 - Peace and Love Festival - Borlänge, Sweden
30 - Dokk'em Open Air - Dokkum, Netherlands

July

13 - Bang Your Head Festival - Balingen, Germany
14 - Rock Harz Open Air - Ballenstedt, Germany
15 - Masters Of Rock - Vizovice, Czech Republic
18 - Hegyalja Fesztival - Tokaj Rakamaz, Hungary
20 - Devilside - Oberhausen, Germany

August

4 - Vagos Open Air - Vagos, Portugal

October

20 - Metal Female Voices Fest - Wieze, Belgium
21 - Le Bataclan - Paris, France
23 - Totem - Pamplona, Spain
25 - Capitol - Santiago de Compostela, Spain
26 - La Riviera - Madrid, Spain
27 - Razzmatazz 2 - Barcelona, Spain