Christopher Amott

Christopher Amott
Background information
Birth name Christopher Amott
Also known as Chris Amott
Born (1977-11-23) 23 November 1977
Origin Halmstad, Sweden
Genres Melodic death metal, power metal, thrash metal
Occupation(s) Guitarist, musician, songwriter
Instruments Guitar, vocals, bass, keyboards
Years active 1996–present
Labels Century Media
Associated acts Arch Enemy, Armageddon
Notable instruments
Caparison Guitars 'Dellinger-CA'

Christopher Amott (born 23 November 1977) is a Swedish guitarist and vocalist, younger brother of Michael Amott and founding member of the Swedish metal bands Arch Enemy and Armageddon.

Biography

Born in Halmstad, Sweden, inspired by his older brother Michael Amott's band Carcass, 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. 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 Christopher revealed that he would be releasing a solo album early in the year entitled "Follow Your Heart".[1]

On 5 March 2012 Amott once again quit Arch Enemy. He cited his desire to pursue his solo career further as a main reason. He was replaced with Arsis guitarist Nick Cordle.

In April 2012, Amott moved to New York City, United States.[2] After obtaining a green card in the beginning of 2013, he stated that he intends to record a new Armageddon record, which was planned to be released by summer 2013.[2] Amott also collaborated with Japanese pop/metal band Babymetal, providing guitars for an alternate version of their major label debut single, "Ijime, Dame, Zettai" nicknamed the "Nemesis" version (possibly named after the Arch Enemy song of the same name).[3]

In 2014, Amott began recording for the new Armageddon album with a new lineup consisting of himself, vocalist Matt Hallquist, guitarist Joey Concepcion, bassist Sara Claudius, and drummer Márton Veress.[4] Their new album, entitled "Captivity & Devourment", is set to be released in January 2015 on Listenable Records.[5] For the band's current tour they enlisted Meridian Dawn/ex-Nightrage vocalist Antony Hämäläinen as their replacement for the recently departed Matt Hallquist.[6]

During Arch Enemy's North American tour in support of their album War Eternal, guitarist Nick Cordle reportedly left the band. Amott temporarily re-joined the band for the remainder of the tour, while famed guitarist Jeff Loomis (formerly of Nevermore) was announced as the official replacement and joined the band for their European tour with Kreator and subsequent events.[7]

On 10 October 2015 as part of Japan's Loud Park Festival, Arch Enemy vocalist Alissa White-Gluz invited special guests Amott and Johan Liiva to the stage, reuniting the Burning Bridges lineup. They would go on to perform "Bury Me an Angel" and "The Immortal", before being joined by White-Gluz and Jeff Loomis to perform "Fields of Desolation" together.

Equipment

Christopher Amott is a former endorser of Caparison Guitars, Japan. His custom 'Dellinger-CA' guitar (black model production discontinued, white model in production) had two Seymour Duncan Hot Rails pickups in the neck and middle position, and a Caparison bridge humbucker.

More recently Christopher has had a new custom model designed Dellinger-CA VW (Vintage White) featuring his newly endorsed DiMarzio pickup selection. He used the LiquiFire in the bridge position, the TrueVelvet in the Middle position and the Air Norton S in the neck position.[8]

For tunings, Christopher primarily uses C Standard on Arch Enemy's releases and has since their album Wages of Sin. Prior to that, he tuned to B Standard. A number of songs also used dropped tunings. His main band Armageddon, as well as his solo work feature mostly E Standard or half-step down E standard tuning on their releases.

As of October 2012 Chris no longer endorses Caparison Guitars, he now uses Charvel Guitars and is an official Charvel Artist.

He also plays Jackson Guitars. He plays a Jackson Custom Shop Soloist loaded with a Floyd Rose Tremolo system, a DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge and a DiMarzio Air Norton in the neck position.

Guitars

Amplifiers and cabinets

Effects

Other

Discography

Arch Enemy

Armageddon

Solo

References

  1. ↑ "MySpace-blog | van Armageddon". Blogs.myspace.com. Retrieved 2010-05-12.
  2. 1 2 Sam Radojcin (18 January 2013). "Ex Arch Enemy Guitarist: 'I Needed To Step Away To Find Out What It Was I Really Wanted'". Blabbermouth.net.
  3. ↑ "「イジメ、ダメ、ゼッタイ」ジャケット写真＆収録曲の全貌を発表DEATH！！". babymetal.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2014-11-22.
  4. ↑ "Armageddon official Facebook page – info". Retrieved 2014-11-22.
  5. ↑ "Armageddon reveals "Captivoty & Devourment" album details". Retrieved 2014-11-22.
  6. ↑ "CHRISTOPHER AMOTT's ARMAGEDDON Taps Ex-NIGHTRAGE Singer ANTONY HÄMÄLÄINEN For U.S. Tour". Retrieved 2014-11-22.
  7. ↑ "Wow: ARCH ENEMY Announce New Guitarist Jeff Loomis". MetalInjection.net. Retrieved 2014-11-22.
  8. ↑ "Caparison Guitars – Caparison Dellinger-CA VW [Christopher Amott]". Caparisonguitarcompany.com. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  9. ↑ "ARCH ENEMY Guitarist CHRISTOPHER AMOTT Releases Solo Album". Blabbermouth.net. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  10. ↑ "Ex-ARCH ENEMY Guitarist CHRISTOPHER AMOTT Reveals New Solo Album Title, Cover Artwork". Blabbermouth.net. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-05.
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