Her name is Angela, but she screams like a devil.

Arch Enemy was one step away from being totally great. All they needed was a proper vocalist that could match what the rest of the band was doing. With the inclusion of Angela Gossow, Arch Enemy has found the final piece. Tall, slender and attractive, Gossow is no mere window dressing, she's the real deal. In fact, she's far more brutal than most male vocalists in her style.

It also turns out that she's a very pleasant person, as I found out during my phone conversation with her as she popped her gum and laughed her warm, friendly laugh. Gossow is a sure fire metal supporter, and she also likes ugly guys. - Roberto Martinelli

Maelstrom: You've got a long line of interviews to do. Ten hours in two days!

Angela Gossow: pfffffff....ya, ya, I know. I'm a very happy person. (laugh) You're the second one, so it's still nice. I don't know who the poor guy at the end will be. Moshed Magazine's interview is gonna be with a pissed off vocalist. Hahahaha!

Maelstrom: But you're used to doing this. You've been in bands before.

Angela Gossow: Yeah. Actually.

Maelstrom: When I was in Chicago, there was this rumor that you blew out your throat, and that you had to have surgery and that you would never sing again. You were supposed to go to Wacken in 2001 but you couldn't make it. What happened?

Angela Gossow: We just didn't want to go to Wacken. We just preferred spending the summer in Sweden. Hahahahaha! No, no. I had nodules. Soft ones. And I had a bad throat infection. I was two weeks sick and I lost my voice two weeks before Wacken. I went to the doctor and he said, "you have nodules. You should care about this, anyway." In the end we decided to cancel everything. I went back to Germany. Nodules, soft ones, you can't have surgery for. You just have to do exercises and they go away.

Maelstrom: What are nodules?

Angela Gossow: Swelling on the vocal chords. It's when you have wrong technique. You get hoarser and hoarser, and you just get a hemorrhage if you continue screaming on them.

Maelstrom: Did you tell the doctor what you do, and did he say: "Oh my God! Don't do that again!" (laugh)

Angela Gossow: (laugh) Ya, ya. Ya, ya. No, but I mean, really, the screaming isn't really good for the chords, obviously, but there are lots of different reasons why you can get nodules. Many opera singers have them. This high singing is really bad, too. Many people who talk a lot have them.

Maelstrom: What part of Germany are you from?

Angela Gossow: The middle. Cologne. River Rhein.

Maelstrom: How did you become part of Arch Enemy?

Angela Gossow: Hmmm....yeah. I just paid a big sum, and...hahaha. No.

Maelstrom: Was it worth it?

Angela Gossow: It's like in a football club. You pay a big sum and then you can get in.

Maelstrom: Rather, they should pay you a big sum.

Angela Gossow: Ya, ya, exactly. No, I did an interview with them in '99, 'cause I was working for a little heavy metal magazine back then, so I got a contact. Yeah, I just told them that I've been screaming too, and I gave them a tape. Obviously they kept this tape until they fired their old vocalist, and then they asked me. They asked some others, but I guess I did a good performance in the rehearsal room (laugh), so I got the job.

Maelstrom: I'm glad they got you, 'cause you totally kill the last guy.

Angela Gossow: Yeah? Hahahaha.

Maelstrom: Yeah, you're way better. I like Arch Enemy's music a lot, but that was always the big thing: "I don't like really like this guy's vocals." But when you came in, it was like, "finally!"

Angela Gossow: Thank you very much.

Maelstrom: You're welcome. Now if you become part of Children of Bodom, I'd be really, really happy.

Angela Gossow: (laugh)

Maelstrom: How did you become interested in this kind of music and vocals?

Angela Gossow: Hmmm...good question. I started listening to this kind of music when I was 15. I discovered it through a radio station. I didn't rally know that this was labeled heavy metal or death metal. I liked the raw brutality, basically. I though this fit my rebellious self. I was a girl and I really liked skating and lots of male things. I guess I've got lots of aggression hahaha! A dominant male side, somehow. I really liked this music, and I liked the kind of intensity in the scene, too: people sticking together, people going to shows together, and partying together. I mean, I really like this music, or else I would have stopped listening to it when I was 20 or so.

Maelstrom: I have lots of curiosity about how you as a seemingly feminine, attractive woman, is involved in a scene that's mostly male and very aggressive and...

Angela Gossow: Ugly. (laugh)

Maelstrom: ...yes, very ugly. It's not the most beautiful people who are into this stuff.

Angela Gossow: No, but I like ugly men, so...

Maelstrom: Do ya? Hahahahahah!

Angela Gossow: Basic instinct, you know. (laugh)

Maelstrom: Are you saying that to sell records? (laugh)

Angela Gossow: I mean, what is ugly, you know? I mean a beautiful man is gay, isn't he? Yeah?

Maelstrom: Yeah, I guess so. (laugh)

Angela Gossow: I mean, I didn't say I like huge bellies and fat guys, but I've never been into beautiful guys. I've always liked long-haired guys and kind of big... Well, I've never been into beautiful guys.

Maelstrom: How old are you now, Angela?

Angela Gossow: Hahahaha. Did you think if you asked this fast that I would answer this fast? Hahahaha! It's like, "Yeah, I got you!" Yeah, I'm 27.

Maelstrom: Most people, and certainly most women, can't even begin to listen to music with vocals like yours.

Angela Gossow: Yeah, I know.

Maelstrom: What is it about what you do that interests you? Most people can't even deal with this kind of stuff, and then we have you, who looks pretty normal, who is really into it.

Angela Gossow: I mean, this is why I got into this music: I really like the vocals! I'm totally into vocalists. I loved Morbid Angel because David Vincent was a really good vocalist. I really loved Death because Chuck Shuldiner is great, or was great, in what he was doing. I love Carcass because of the sick vocals.

Maelstrom: Do you go for the black metal vocals, too, or not as much?

Angela Gossow: It depends. At first it was great when the growler could growl as deep as possible, but it gets a bit boring nowadays, 'cause everybody's super deep all the time. I like the vocalists who still have their own voice. It's not pitch-shifted. It's their voice. I mean, I can still make out David Vincent out of 10,000 death growlers that have no style.

Maelstrom: Your vocal style is very coherent considering what you're doing with your voice. I think that's really great. Is there a secret to what you do? Or is it like, go for it and don't care?

Angela Gossow: No, I do care! Because I have nodules, you know? (laugh) I know what I'm doing. I got a technical explanation from my vocal coach. I can't really explain it in English. Some people can't do it. You use some kind of weird muscles in your throat. Many women don't really know how to use this.

Maelstrom: Why is it "many women"?

Angela Gossow: I don't know. Maybe they just don't dare to scream very loud.

Maelstrom: Have you heard of a band called Thorr's Hammer, from Seattle? They only put out an EP?

Angela Gossow: Thorr's Hammer? Ya, ya, of course. With Runhild!

Maelstrom: Yeah, Runhild! What do you think of her vocals? I would think they'd be right up your alley.

Angela Gossow: Yeah, she was really cool. I think that if she had continued, she would have gotten better. It was kind of raw. It was kind of stuff I did too, 10 years ago. I guess it's kind of simple stuff what they play.

Maelstrom: Absolutely. Very simple.

Angela Gossow: I don't, they just vanished.

Maelstrom: They became Burning Witch.

Angela Gossow: Ok. But she left, didn't she?

Maelstrom: Right. She only did that EP, and that's it.

Angela Gossow: But why did she left?

Maelstrom: Don't know. I thought maybe you'd have some insight.

Angela Gossow: Maybe she had nodules! (laugh)

Maelstrom: (laugh) Maybe!

Angela Gossow: She was trying to get her voice really low all the time. That's really bad (laugh) for vocal chords. But, I mean, she was one of the first. She was playing bass and doing these vocals. This is cool.

Maelstrom: That's something I've noticed about the metal scene: why do you think that women in metal primarily sing, play bass, or do keyboards, but there's hardly any drummers or guitarists?

Angela Gossow: Well, bass is more of a male instrument. You need kind of strong hands. So you would rather think they'd play guitar... I don't know.

Maelstrom: I think it's fantastic that you're not only in metal, but you're a big metal fan. A lot of people, I think they say, "I'm not really into death metal, but I'm in a death metal band."

Angela Gossow: Yeah, like "I only listen to stoner rock, but I play death metal."

Maelstrom: I'm always impressed by how well Scandinavians and Germans, and Northern Europeans speak English. It's really, really natural when you talk! That's pretty great!

Angela Gossow: Yeah. Well, first of all, I just talk English anyway, because I can't speak one word of Swedish. I can understand a lot, but I can't really bother learning this weird language. And Chris and Michael (Amott, Arch Enemy's guitarists) are half British. We have been in America several times, with this "dude!" and "this really kicks ass, man!" Hahahahaha! It's kind of funny, the American slang! I read a lot of books in English, 'cause you can't afford to buy German books in Sweden. I think in Germany, you learn English to the 13th grade, so you have this basis. I don't want to sound German on a record, you know? I really hate Scorpions: he still has this really German accent. Ha! I don't know why they can't learn this language properly.

Maelstrom: I'll tell you, I've been really into lately this sort of weird, creepy, spoken German word in the middle of my records, like on Bethlehem and Dornenreich. So it'd be a sell with me.

Angela Gossow: Yeah, yeah. I know Bethlehem. They live very close to Cologne. I was hanging out with the guys. They're not very popular.

Maelstrom: They're not?

Angela Gossow: They're pretty disgusting. But you don't want to know. They stink; they're not ugly. They stink. I don't know nowadays. I think they changed the vocalist. He was the worst of them all. I think they advanced, a lot of them, since eight years ago. When I got to know them, they were living in their rehearsal room and were smelling. They hadn't had a shower for 10 days or so.

Maelstrom: That's rough.

Angela Gossow: It's pretty disgusting. We were laughing about that when they weren't making any music. But now they're successful. This ...Alexander Welt or whatever it is called (Bethlehem's latest album) sounds really cool. I was kind of surprised at this kind of weird stuff and lyrics that they do.

Maelstrom: I couldn't really tell you.

Angela Gossow: Yeah, they are still weird and I'm German, you know? Hahaha. I can't really understand them too, and I'm German! They're much better nowadays than they used to be eight years ago. We've played several shows with them and with Mistress.

Maelstrom: We were talking a little bit about being in this aggressive, male-dominated scene. But you're in it day in and day out. Like, you go to these shows and perform. The audience is super into it and it's really aggressive. The music revolves around anger. Does that wear on you after a while?

Angela Gossow: Yeah, but I really don't hang out with fans. As a vocalist going through a tour, you should never get out after a show and just talk where people are smoking around. You'll ruin your voice in no time. I talked to Corpsegrinder (of Cannibal Corpse) and he's the same. He's a big man and he's got a really resistant voice, but he said that he has to go after the show, too, or else he fucks up his voice. Basically, the band is not so much in touch with all these aggressive people out there. Especially when you're touring on a bus and you have to reach the next location in the right time. I mean, I never go out alone at festivals. I've always got someone with me; some company from the band. I mean, I'm not really afraid of people. I've noticed that the so-called brutal and aggressive metal fans are very cute and shy as soon as a woman enters the room, anyway. Most of them are gentlemen. The problem is when they get drunk. I don't really like being mixed in with really drunk people because they can get aggressive and they don't really notice it. Their grip is really hard when they touch you, and this kind of stuff. I'll be slapped on my shoulder and I'll feel bones breaking. But you shouldn't be allowed out in Cologne in a normal scene, too, because people rape you. If you're a woman, you should never go alone.

Maelstrom: Are there a lot of women in metal in Europe?

Angela Gossow: Yeah. A lot of good looking women, too.

Maelstrom: Yeah, I noticed that. Fantastic.

Angela Gossow: OK, you want to move now, right? Hahaha.

Maelstrom: Yeah, not for that. Thanks. Haha. I'll find women outside of metal. A series of photos was taken of you to promote the new Arch Enemy album portraying you in various sexually suggestive poses. Why do you think it was necessary to try to sell yourself using a sexual angle?

Angela Gossow: Because I'm sexual.

Maelstrom: I mean, you don't see pictures of Mike Amott in his undies.

Angela Gossow: These are my clothes. I wear them outside, too. I like short shorts. I like high boots. I work out a lot. Why should I hide this body I'm working for?

Maelstrom: I think (the pictures) will sell records.

Angela Gossow: Yeah, I mean, anything that will help.

Maelstrom: I think that's what it's there for. Guys will say, "Wow! She's hot!" and buy the record.

Angela Gossow: But who's actually buying the record to get a good picture? You can just download it, then. I don't believe people buy a record just because the singer is good looking. I would never do this. If someone is so stupid, it's his own fault.

Maelstrom: I mean, Angela, pop music is based entirely on sex appeal.

Angela Gossow: Yeah, but (pop music fans) aren't fans; they just eat what they get. I think the metal music fan is very picky about what he is playing in his stereo. I mean, I am. Totally. I like some Britney Spears songs, for example, but it's not because of her looks. I think she has a good producer who knows what people want. But really good pop music is not all about looks.

Maelstrom: There's a big difference between the way the female vocalist of Sinister portrayed herself and how you did.

Angela Gossow: Yeah. She's like in a big, black t-shirt and she looks like a guy.

Maelstrom: I think she's pretty, but the way she came across is a lot different.

Angela Gossow: I know, but Sinister is a different band. They play very brutal death metal and they all look like this. Look at the Arch Enemy guys. Their pants are tighter than mine on stage. Their shirts are tighter. This band is a bit more rock and roll, so we care more about looks.

Maelstrom: You know, I don't think that what you play is death metal.

Angela Gossow: Yeah, I don't think so too. Sinister is totally different music. I would be the singer of Sinister, I guess I would dress like her too. Just not to lose credibility. But I've got the freedom in Arch Enemy to dress a bit more like a rock chick. A bit more sexual aggressive.

Maelstrom: And that's fun for you?

Angela Gossow: Yeah, I use this opportunity. Absolutely. But I guess the Sinister woman would look weird dressing up like me playing the kind of music that band does.

Maelstrom: Have you been to Japan yet?

Angela Gossow: Yeah, yeah.

Maelstrom: I used to live there. I understand it's your biggest fan base. What's it like there? Do they still give you gifts?

Angela Gossow: Yeah. Pffffff.....

Maelstrom: A bunch of stupid shit that you have to bring home? (laugh)

Angela Gossow: Yeah, exactly. Some of this stuff we left behind, but some of this stuff we brought. I've got three cosmetics bags, now. I store lots of stuff in them. (The Japanese) are totally cute. They're totally shy, too, you know?

Maelstrom: Did the band warn you, like, "Look, we're going to Japan now."

Angela Gossow: Yeah, they did. I mean, you really enjoy this. Nowhere else does anybody like you this much for being a musician than there. We were kings and queens. Me and Sharlee (D'Angelo, bass) were the queens, and the rest were the kings. Haha!

Maelstrom: What do your parents and family think about your musical career?

Angela Gossow: My mom has got a huge, framed Arch Enemy poster in her kitchen. She always knows everywhere we go. We're like, "we're going to Bern now," and she says, "Yeah, I already know. I saw it on the internet." And she says, "I bought the new Metal Hammer. You are in there! It's an interview. It's really cool! Shall I read it to you?" They're totally proud.

Maelstrom: That's fantastic. How wonderful for you. What's next for Arch Enemy?...You're coming to tour! I'm gonna see you guys in July!

Angela Gossow: Yeah, exactly! We're off with Opeth to the UK to do a few shows. Then we're going to play some festivals, and then we come (to the US) with Nile.

Maelstrom: I'll be screaming and waving. I mean, you won't recognize me.

Angela Gossow: I hope we can hear you screaming in the front row!

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