ARCH ENEMY has parted ways with its singer of the past 11 years, Alissa White-Gluz. No reason was given for her departure.
Earlier today (Sunday, November 23),the veteran extreme metallers released the following statement via social media: “ARCH ENEMY have parted ways with singer Alissa White-Gluz. We’re thankful for the time and music we’ve shared and wish her all the best.
“Wherever there is an ending, there is also a beginning.
“See you in 2026.”
Alissa added in a separate statement on her Facebook page: “After 12 years in ARCH ENEMY, we have parted ways. I am forever thankful to the thousands of amazing fans I have met along the way. Thank you, Beastlings!
“I can’t wait to share what I have been working on with you all (with some big surprises in store). Stay tuned for big news in 2026 and see you very soon.”
White-Gluz, former vocalist of Canadian extreme metallers THE AGONIST, joined ARCH ENEMY in 2014 as the replacement for Angela Gossow. Angela, who joined ARCH ENEMY in 2000 and made her debut on the now-classic “Wages Of Sin” (2001),stepped down as frontwoman and is now focusing on management, while Alissa took her place.
ARCH ENEMY recorded three albums with vocalist Johan Liiva — “Black Earth” (1996),“Stigmata” (1998) and “Burning Bridges” (1999) — before Liiva was replaced by German singer Gossow.
ARCH ENEMY released four studio albums with White-Gluz on vocals: “War Eternal” (2014),“Will To Power” (2017),“Deceivers” (2022) and “Blood Dynasty” (2025).
Throughout her career, the now-40-year-old Alissa has consistently used her music as a vehicle for social change, addressing pressing issues such as environmental conservation, veganism, and the ethical treatment of animals.
Back in 2016, it was announced that White-Gluz had signed a deal with Napalm Records for the release of her debut solo album. The following year, she said that her solo LP would feature collaborations with a member of KAMELOT and at least one of her now-former bandmates in ARCH ENEMY.
The now-former-ARCH ENEMY frontwoman said that the idea for a solo project came about as a suggestion from Gossow, who has been managing ARCH ENEMY‘s career for more than a decade and also oversaw Alissa‘s personal affairs.
As for the musical direction of her solo material, Alissa told the “Vox&Hops” podcast in a March 2022 interview: “It doesn’t really sound like ARCH ENEMY, actually. It’s still me, so it’s gonna sound a little bit like ARCH ENEMY, but it’s kind of different. I feel like it’s kind of an amalgam of that really interesting place that you’re at when you’re a beginner musician, because although I’m not a beginner vocalist or songwriter, I am a beginner guitarist — I’m very bad at guitar. So when I’m writing songs on guitar, I have an approach that is probably totally wrong, and that’s what, I think, makes it cool. It’s different — it’s an unorthodox approach. I mean, I can still play it, but it’s not my main instrument, so when I’m writing riffs on a guitar, I’m writing like a vocalist writing riffs on a guitar. Some could argue that that’s kind of how Michael [Amott, ARCH ENEMY] writes too, actually, because his riffs are so ‘sing-songy.’ But, yeah, so I wrote a bunch with Jeff [Loomis, ex-ARCH ENEMY and current NEVERMORE guitarist] and I wrote a bunch with a lot of other people, actually, which I don’t wanna spoil and announce them all now. But there’s clean singing, there’s growling, of course, and other interesting vocal techniques with the note screaming and some operatic stuff. It’s a heavy album. I don’t know what genre to call it. It’s totally self-produced in that sense. It’s honest. It’s exactly what I just felt like writing for this. So there’s some prog elements, there’s some rock and roll elements, there’s a lot of metal in it, obviously. But, yeah, I’m really happy with it. So I hope that other people like it too, basically.”
In a February 2020 interview with Metal Hammer, White-Gluz was full of praise for her then-ARCH ENEMY bandmates, saying: “It’s a really good environment on tour with ARCH ENEMY: we all hang out and get along well. It’s not like we just hired some guy to do sound or lights. We roll like a family. I go hiking with my guitar tech, canoeing with my front-of-house engineer, bike riding with my monitor guy whenever we can. We discuss things every day on how we can improve our show, I talk to our lighting guy about what colors he’s feeling for each song. I say I’m thinking of making a jacket in a certain color and ask how it would look on stage with this light setup. We really go into detail and I love every aspect of it.”
ARCH ENEMY‘s latest studio album, the aforementioned “Blood Dynasty”, was originally released in March of this year via Century Media Records. The “Blood Dynasty (Deluxe Edition)” was made available October 10, and it came with three bonus tracks, one of which, “Lachrymatory”, was previously unreleased.
ARCH ENEMY played the final show of its European “Blood Dynasty” 2025 tour with AMORPHIS, ELUVEITIE and GATECREEPER on November 15 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
