Christopher Amott
Encyclopedia
Christopher Amott is a Swedish
guitarist
and vocalist, younger brother of Michael Amott
and founding member of the Swedish metal bands Arch Enemy
and Armageddon
.
, Christopher began studying the guitar at 14, playing in local bands, and eventually attending music college at age 18. With aggressive, fast vibrato, speedy alternate-picking, and fluid lead lines, Christopher's memorable playing style was crafted after such players as John Sykes
, Yngwie Malmsteen, Uli Jon Roth, John Norum
, and Michael Schenker
.
While attending music school in 1996, Michael asked Christopher to record solos for his new melodic death metal
project Arch Enemy
. The Black Earth
album was released in Japan in 1996, and was an instant hit, receiving regular airplay on Japanese MTV. The band were invited to play Japan in 1997, and it was there that Christopher secured a deal for his Armageddon
side project. The project began as a melodic death metal band, similar in style to Arch Enemy, but with a more conceptual feel to the lyrics. Armageddon released their first album Crossing the Rubicon on W.A.R. records in 1997. The album featured Peter Wildoer and Martin Bengtsson, who would also go on to record Stigmata with Arch Enemy in 1998. The Stigmata album was again a success in Japan, and was the first Arch Enemy album to be released in the USA, on Century Media records.
With Arch Enemy gaining ground worldwide, Amott would go on to release Burning Bridges and Burning Japan Live 1999
, both in 1999, then take a break until the latter part of 2000, when Armageddon released their second album Embrace the Mystery on Toy's Factory
records in Japan. This time featuring a "melodic" singer, and more of an overall power metal
feel, the album was a drastic shift from the straight ahead melodic death metal
of Crossing the Rubicon, and marked Christopher's desire to branch out of the "extreme metal" genre. As well in 2000 he did the guitar solo on "Suburban Me" on the album Clayman
with In Flames
.
In 2001, Arch Enemy were joined by new singer Angela Gossow
, and the band reached new heights in worldwide popularity with the release of Wages of Sin
. After completing an extensive world tour with Arch Enemy, Amott returned to his Armageddon project, and released Three in 2002 on Toy's Factory records in Japan. This time featuring Christopher on lead vocals, the album was almost purley a power metal
effort, focusing on the melodic singing and guitar work of Amott.
Arch Enemy released Anthems of Rebellion
in 2003, and again embarked on a world tour. In 2005, the band entered the studio to record Doomsday Machine
, but immediately after the recording, Amott left Arch Enemy. Christopher later stated that he "wasn't feeling creative musically" in Arch Enemy, and that he "just wasn't into (the band) anymore."
Amott spent the next two years teaching music in Sweden, as well as attending a university. It is currently unknown if he will return to his Armageddon project, but he says that he still "plays guitar constantly, several hours a day", but also says that "If I do some kind of record it won't be metal" But of course he has changed his mind with that (with rejoining Arch Enemy afterwards).
In March 2007 Christopher announced his return to Arch Enemy as a permanent member. He re-joined the band near the end of the songwriting process for Rise of the Tyrant
. In an interview in January 2010 Chrisopher revealed that he would be releasing a solo album early in the year entitled "Follow Your Heart".
, Japan. His custom 'Dellinger-CA' guitar (black model production discontinued, white model in production) has two Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickups in the neck and middle position, and a Caparison bridge humbucker.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and vocalist, younger brother of Michael Amott
Michael Amott
Michael Amott is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, founding member of the bands Arch Enemy, Spiritual Beggars, and Carnage, as well as a member of the death metal band Carcass. He is the older brother of Christopher Amott...
and founding member of the Swedish metal bands Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy (band)
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup, from Halmstad, formed in 1996. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, and Eucharist to name a few. It was founded by Carcass guitarist Michael Amott along with Johan...
and Armageddon
Armageddon (band)
Armageddon was a Swedish heavy metal band, led by Christopher Amott of Arch Enemy. Originally conceived as a melodic death metal band with metalcore influences, the group's later efforts fall into the power metal category...
.
Biography
Inspired by his older brother Michael Amott's band CarcassCarcass (band)
Carcass are an extreme metal band from England, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reunion was enacted in 2008 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons....
, Christopher began studying the guitar at 14, playing in local bands, and eventually attending music college at age 18. With aggressive, fast vibrato, speedy alternate-picking, and fluid lead lines, Christopher's memorable playing style was crafted after such players as John Sykes
John Sykes
John James Sykes , is an English rock guitarist, who has played with Streetfighter, Tygers of Pan Tang, John Sloman's Badlands, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, and Blue Murder, in addition to having a notable solo career....
, Yngwie Malmsteen, Uli Jon Roth, John Norum
John Norum
John Norum is a rock music guitarist and founder of the Swedish band Europe . Concurrent to his role with Europe, he also maintains a side solo project...
, and Michael Schenker
Michael Schenker
Michael Schenker is a German rock guitarist, best known for his tenure in UFO, in addition to his solo band. He first rose to fame as a founding member of the Scorpions, then achieved fame in the mid 1970s as the lead guitar player for UFO. Since leaving UFO in 1978, he has been leading the...
.
While attending music school in 1996, Michael asked Christopher to record solos for his new melodic death metal
Melodic death metal
Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
project Arch Enemy
Arch Enemy (band)
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup, from Halmstad, formed in 1996. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, and Eucharist to name a few. It was founded by Carcass guitarist Michael Amott along with Johan...
. The Black Earth
Black Earth (Arch Enemy)
Black Earth is the first album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. The album was reissued on April 24, 2007 on Regain Records, featuring "Losing Faith", two Iron Maiden covers and the video for "Bury Me an Angel"....
album was released in Japan in 1996, and was an instant hit, receiving regular airplay on Japanese MTV. The band were invited to play Japan in 1997, and it was there that Christopher secured a deal for his Armageddon
Armageddon (band)
Armageddon was a Swedish heavy metal band, led by Christopher Amott of Arch Enemy. Originally conceived as a melodic death metal band with metalcore influences, the group's later efforts fall into the power metal category...
side project. The project began as a melodic death metal band, similar in style to Arch Enemy, but with a more conceptual feel to the lyrics. Armageddon released their first album Crossing the Rubicon on W.A.R. records in 1997. The album featured Peter Wildoer and Martin Bengtsson, who would also go on to record Stigmata with Arch Enemy in 1998. The Stigmata album was again a success in Japan, and was the first Arch Enemy album to be released in the USA, on Century Media records.
With Arch Enemy gaining ground worldwide, Amott would go on to release Burning Bridges and Burning Japan Live 1999
Burning Japan Live 1999
-Reception:Burning Japan Live 1999 received mixed reviews by critics. Metal Rules's El Cid criticized mainly the crowd writing that "the Japanese crowd doesn't help much in this matter, no offense to anyone but it does seem like everyone is just sitting down listening and doing nothing else during...
, both in 1999, then take a break until the latter part of 2000, when Armageddon released their second album Embrace the Mystery on Toy's Factory
Toy's Factory
is a Japanese record label founded in 1990 as a VAP subsidiary, based in Japan. It has since become an independent company.-Sub-Labels:* bellissima!* Carnage* Deep Blue* Idyllic* Kimi* Meme Tokyo* -Artists:*Aobozu*Armageddon*Bump of Chicken...
records in Japan. This time featuring a "melodic" singer, and more of an overall power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
feel, the album was a drastic shift from the straight ahead melodic death metal
Melodic death metal
Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
of Crossing the Rubicon, and marked Christopher's desire to branch out of the "extreme metal" genre. As well in 2000 he did the guitar solo on "Suburban Me" on the album Clayman
Clayman
Clayman is the fifth album by Swedish melodic death metal band, In Flames. The album was released by Nuclear Blast in 2000. Most of the lyrics deal with depression and internal struggles...
with In Flames
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. Since the band's inception in 1993, they have released ten studio albums and one live DVD...
.
In 2001, Arch Enemy were joined by new singer Angela Gossow
Angela Gossow
Angela Nathalie Gossow is the lead vocalist for the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. Her previous bands include Asmodina and Mistress. She is considered to be one of the few successful female metal singers to use growling as her primary singing style...
, and the band reached new heights in worldwide popularity with the release of Wages of Sin
Wages of Sin
Wages of Sin is the fourth studio album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. It is the first Arch Enemy album to feature the vocals of Angela Gossow...
. After completing an extensive world tour with Arch Enemy, Amott returned to his Armageddon project, and released Three in 2002 on Toy's Factory records in Japan. This time featuring Christopher on lead vocals, the album was almost purley a power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
effort, focusing on the melodic singing and guitar work of Amott.
Arch Enemy released Anthems of Rebellion
Anthems of Rebellion
-Release:At its time of release, Anthems of Rebellion gave Century Media its then highest first-week Soundscan sales in the United States, and later became one of the top ten best-selling albums under the record label. -Bonus disc:...
in 2003, and again embarked on a world tour. In 2005, the band entered the studio to record Doomsday Machine
Doomsday Machine (album)
* The end of the lyrics to "Skeleton Dance" recite the death poem of Ōta Dōkan. The beginning of "Skeleton Dance" contains backmasked messages containing the phrases "The world on his shoulders" and "Bleeding forever" among others....
, but immediately after the recording, Amott left Arch Enemy. Christopher later stated that he "wasn't feeling creative musically" in Arch Enemy, and that he "just wasn't into (the band) anymore."
Amott spent the next two years teaching music in Sweden, as well as attending a university. It is currently unknown if he will return to his Armageddon project, but he says that he still "plays guitar constantly, several hours a day", but also says that "If I do some kind of record it won't be metal" But of course he has changed his mind with that (with rejoining Arch Enemy afterwards).
In March 2007 Christopher announced his return to Arch Enemy as a permanent member. He re-joined the band near the end of the songwriting process for Rise of the Tyrant
Rise of the Tyrant
Rise of the Tyrant is the seventh album by the melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, produced by Fredrik Nordström, and was released on September 24, 2007.Vocalist Angela Gossow told the band's website that: Guitarist Michael Amott described it as:...
. In an interview in January 2010 Chrisopher revealed that he would be releasing a solo album early in the year entitled "Follow Your Heart".
Equipment
Christopher Amott is endorsed by Caparison GuitarsCaparison Guitars
Caparison Guitars is a Japan-based manufacturer of custom shop electric guitars.-History:The Caparison Guitar company was established in 1995 by former Jackson/Charvel Japan designer Itaru Kanno and was owned by Kyowa Shokai, a company that made contracts with factories to produce guitars for them...
, Japan. His custom 'Dellinger-CA' guitar (black model production discontinued, white model in production) has two Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickups in the neck and middle position, and a Caparison bridge humbucker.
- Caparison Dellinger Christopher Amott Signature model (with the Arch Enemy logo as the guitar graphic, in black, silver, and white)
- Caparison TAT Iceberg (1997–2002)
- Caparison Horus (seen on video 'The Immortal')
- ESP GuitarsESP Guitars, located in North Hollywood, California, is an American-based, Japanese-owned manufacturer of electric guitars and basses.- History :In 1975, Hisatake Shibuya opened a shop called Electric Sound Products in Tokyo. It provided custom replacement parts for guitars. In 1976, ESP gained a reputation...
Custom Horizon model (seen in Live Apocalypse DVD) - D'Addario Strings (11-58 custom set)
- Rocktron Hush
- Boss TU-2 Tuner
- Boss Digital Delay DD-3
- PeaveyPeavey ElectronicsPeavey Electronics Corporation is one of the largest audio equipment manufacturers in the world, headquartered in Meridian, Mississippi in the United States.- History :...
JSX Amps - Randall RM100 head
Arch Enemy
- Black Earth (1996)
- StigmataStigmataStigmata are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus, such as the hands and feet...
(1998) - Burning Bridges (1999)
- Burning Japan Live 1999Burning Japan Live 1999-Reception:Burning Japan Live 1999 received mixed reviews by critics. Metal Rules's El Cid criticized mainly the crowd writing that "the Japanese crowd doesn't help much in this matter, no offense to anyone but it does seem like everyone is just sitting down listening and doing nothing else during...
(1999) - Wages of SinWages of SinWages of Sin is the fourth studio album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. It is the first Arch Enemy album to feature the vocals of Angela Gossow...
(2001) - Burning Angel (2002)
- Anthems of RebellionAnthems of Rebellion-Release:At its time of release, Anthems of Rebellion gave Century Media its then highest first-week Soundscan sales in the United States, and later became one of the top ten best-selling albums under the record label. -Bonus disc:...
(2003) - Dead Eyes See No FutureDead Eyes See No FutureDead Eyes See No Future is an EP by melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. It was released on November 2, 2004 through Century Media Records.The title track is taken from Arch Enemy's Anthems of Rebellion album....
(2004, EP) - Doomsday MachineDoomsday Machine (album)* The end of the lyrics to "Skeleton Dance" recite the death poem of Ōta Dōkan. The beginning of "Skeleton Dance" contains backmasked messages containing the phrases "The world on his shoulders" and "Bleeding forever" among others....
(2005) - Live ApocalypseLive ApocalypseLive Apocalypse is a double DVD by Arch Enemy, released in 2006. It's the bands first DVD release and contains a full concert and several extras. It was released on July 24 in Europe, July 26 in Japan, and August 8 in the US.-Disc one:-Disc two:...
(2006, 2-disc DVD) - Rise of the TyrantRise of the TyrantRise of the Tyrant is the seventh album by the melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, produced by Fredrik Nordström, and was released on September 24, 2007.Vocalist Angela Gossow told the band's website that: Guitarist Michael Amott described it as:...
(2007) - Tyrants of the Rising SunTyrants of the Rising SunTyrants of the Rising Sun is a DVD+CD set of Arch Enemy, released in Europe on November 24, 2008 and in North America on November 25, 2008 via Century Media...
(2008) - The Root of All EvilThe Root of All Evil (album)-Limited Edition bonus tracks:-Japan bonus tracks:The Japanese release of the album includes the above mentioned live tracks plus an additional two tracks.-Release Dates:* Germany / Austria / Switzerland / Italy / Benelux: September 25, 2009....
(2009) - Khaos Legions (2011)
Armageddon
- Crossing the Rubicon (1997)
- Embrace the Mystery (2000)
- Three (2002)