Arch Enemy guitar mastermind Michael Amott confessed to Guitar World he was afraid Jeff Loomis wouldn’t accept the offer to join the band in 2014, saying:
“I always tell Jeff he’s overqualified for the gig. [Laughs] [metalwani_content_ad]
“But having a high-profile guitar player join was really great for us.
“He plays amazing stuff almost without effort, and I’m still sitting here struggling to figure out how to hold a guitar pick.”
Amott added:
“I feel lucky just to have Jeff playing solos on the record. I know he is such a high-profile guitar player and his role in Arch Enemy is not what people might expect.
“I’ve always written most of the music in this band and that’s what I do. Right now, he is more about playing guitar solos and he seems to really get that.”
Loomis chimed in:
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“Being a big fan of Arch Enemy and knowing most of their catalog already, and all their songs, I was really blown away when Michael asked me to be in the band again.
“It was definitely a no-brainer. I said yes immediately because I loved their music and they seemed to be getting bigger. I was like, ‘Yeah, man. Let’s do it!’
“Everything happened so fast, it was crazy. By the time I felt somewhat confident with the material, I was already on a plane to France.”
Vocalist Alissa White-Gluz said:
“Once Jeff came into the band you could definitely feel a shift from gray clouds to blue sky. He’s so chill and polite and he’s such a nice dude. And he’s so humble, even though he’s crazy-talented.”
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Jeff then once again mentioned having to adapt to the band’s “six-strings only” policy, saying:
“The only thing that was a little weird was that when I played six-string guitar in the past I was used to A440 tuning, and the tuning for Arch Enemy goes down to C standard, which is two whole steps down.”
