A Melodic Death Metal Marathon With Arch Enemy at Sentrum Scene
- Kenneth Sporsheim
- Nov 15, 2025
- 4 min read
Sentrum Scene 12th November 2025
IMAGES: KENNETH SPORSHEIM / WORDS THOMAS KIRKEBY
Swedish/Canadian melodic death metal giants Arch Enemy are currently touring across Europe, bringing along a formidable trio of support acts: Finland’s Amorphis, Switzerland’s Eluveitie, and US heavy metal outfit Gatekeeper. With bands arriving from every corner of the metal world, the sold-out Sentrum Scene in Oslo was treated to a truly international evening of darkness, distortion and November-appropriate intensity.
This review focuses on Amorphis and Arch Enemy, but the earlier acts deserve a mention. Gatekeeper kicked off the night with grit and power, shaking life into the crowd as people were still streaming in. Eluveitie followed with all their trademark charm – a mix of folk, melody and metal no one else quite delivers. Halfway through “The Call of the Mountain,” the sound vanished completely, leaving only the drums. Instead of faltering, the band carried on, and the audience clapped them all the way to the end. A brilliant moment, and a brilliant set.
With four bands on the bill, the evening took on a festival-like rhythm. Changeovers were tight, and the stage crew ran the night with impressive smoothness.
Amorphis entered to “Bones”, the opening track from their latest album Borderland – a bold move considering the album has only been out for six weeks. But it worked. Their instantly recognisable sonic signature was all there: Santeri Kallio’s shimmering keyboards and Tomi Joutsen’s unmistakable vocal blend of warmth and growl.
Despite their long career, the band had only limited time, meaning some fans inevitably missed personal favourites. Still, the set was a strong career-spanning snapshot featuring “Silver Bride,” “Wrong Direction,” “This Moon,” “Dancing Shadows,” “Death of a King,” and “Black Winter Day,” before closing with the modern fan-favourite “The Bee.”
As good as the earlier performances were, there was no doubt who the headliner was. The band has risen to even greater popularity since Alissa White-Gluz took over vocal, and an unusually large number of women were present in the audience for this type of show. Alissa has clearly become an icon far beyond merely being a charismatic vocalist, and many fans showed up with hair and/or beards dyed in her trademark electric blue.
The band hit the stage to Ozzy Osbourne’s Bark at the Moon before launching straight into Deceiver, Deceiver. The crowd was instantly hooked, and when Ravenous rolled in, the first major circle pit of the night erupted. It caught a few returning-from-the-bar attendees off guard, sending drinks flying and unintentionally dragging a couple of women into the chaos. Fortunately, the people around them reacted fast, forming a protective barrier and pulling them out unharmed.
After Dream Stealer and the title track from this year’s album Blood Dynasty, the band moved into War Eternal, one of the strongest songs of their modern era. The crowd agreed, and the front barricade security suddenly found themselves in full-on workout mode as crowd surfers started pouring in.
Where War Eternal showed the band at its most melodic, My Apocalypse brought the room straight back into heavier territory. Once again it became clear why Alissa is often described as the perfect figurehead for the band’s modern incarnation – disciplined, commanding, and completely in control. During the song’s softer passage she had the entire venue waving phone lights in unison. A simple gesture, but undeniably effective.
Illuminate the Path and Liars & Thieves from Blood Dynasty triggered the biggest circle pit of the night, turning the entire front section into a zone of pure chaos where no one was safe from being pulled in.
Alissa soon addressed the audience, thanking the other bands on the tour and asking who had seen Arch Enemy before. As hands shot up, she worked her way up to “two? three? four? five?” before finding someone who claimed to be on their sixth show. She promised the band would return to Oslo – and the crowd loudly promised to be there.
Next up was The Eagle Flies Alone from Will to Power, another huge favourite. First Day in Hell, Sunset Over the Empire, and Avalanche followed before the band briefly left the stage.
The encore began with Snow Bound, prompting another wave of crowd surfing. It's hard to tell whether people genuinely wanted to surf or simply saw it as a safe exit strategy from the unforgiving circle pit, but the security team was kept constantly busy.
Alissa handed out high-fives and even voiced real concern when one person dropped straight to the floor after slipping through the hands of the crowd. She quickly turned to thank the security staff for their relentless effort.
The marathon of melodic death metal finally came to a close with Fields of Desolation. As the last notes faded, a very satisfied audience drifted out into the cold Oslo night.
It truly was a fantastic metal celebration at Sentrum Scene. Still, a few things could have been different. Much of Arch Enemy’s melodic detail disappeared in a wall of sound, leaving the mix muddy at times. With the vocals being non-melodic, the guitars carry most of the tuneful elements, and when they get buried, the songs lose clarity.
One person I spoke to blamed overly loud drums — and that might well have been the culprit.
Another personal impression, which I might be alone in, is that Alissa felt a bit rehearsed in her interactions with the crowd. This was my first time seeing the band — any of the bands tonight, actually — but the spontaneity and warmth I felt from Eluveitie didn’t quite translate here. Still, despite these minor reservations, it was an excellent metal marathon in Oslo, and the crowd clearly loved every minute of it.
SETLIST:
1/ Deceiver
2/ Ravenous
3/ Dream Stealer
4/ Blood Dynasty
5/ War Eternal
6/ My Acopalypse
7/ Illuminate the Path
8/ Liars & Thieves
9/ The Eagle Flies Alone
10/ First Day in Hell
11/ Sunset over the Empire
12/ No Gods, No Masters
13/ Avalanche
14/ Snow Bound
15/ Nemesis
16/ Fields of Desolation
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