Arch Enemy raises standard on 'Bridges'

In the album's first track, "The Immortal," the group goes straight for your jugular areas with precise heavy riffing intermingled with intricate melody lines. The focused attack does not let up as the rest of the album follows in similar fashion. A breather finally arrives in the form of the title track, also the album's last track, a slow moody number, complete with a piano and weeping cello.

The band's guitarists, Christopher and Michael Ammot, have grown into a frightening axe-wielding tag team.

Their respective playing styles have become more pronounced and they both manage to avoid the over-the-top soloing excess they demonstrated on Arch Enemy's first album.

Two tracks that stick out rather oddly are "Silverwing" and "Angelclaw."

Both seem a little out of place as they possess too many "pop" melodies which come across as paired strangely with singer Johan Liiva's Napalm Death-like vocal delivery.

Despite those two numbers, "Burning Bridges" is an enjoyable piece of work worthy of belonging in any metal head's collection.

09-28-99