arch enemy + chthonic + amnesty international

Heavy metal, aside from a few select subgenres, tends to be anti-political. But there are, of course, many exceptions to that stance - some admirable, some less so. In another mark to chalk up to the admirable side, Arch Enemy has gone explicitly pro-human rights on their latest North American tour, inviting Amnesty International along for the ride.

According to Century Media, many of Arch Enemy's upcoming tour stops will feature Amnesty International booths, where reps from the organization will be handing out information and seeking signatures of support. Apparently Arch Enemy's Taiwanese tour mates Chthonic are in full support of the move as well as championing Amnesty International's humanitarian goals.

Bravewords.com (among other sites) has the full press release and list of upcoming Arch Enemy and company tour dates, including a night in Toronto on September 14.

the cbc notices that women can rock...

In my usual quick scan of the news headlines today I noticed a photo of Arch Enemy's Angela Gossow. The main CBC news page was not the first place I'd expect to see it a shot of Gossow's war-painted and screaming face. So of course I had to read the accompanying article, She raaah!: Women are doing it for themselves in the world of heavy metal.

A bit simplistic (but how could you capture the complexities of females in a 1000-word news story?) and sort of undermines the work of earlier and other women metal musicians (how about mentioning some guitarists, bassists, or drummers who've been slugging it or shredding in mostly male bands?), but not bad on the whole. Good to see Binks made an effort to get several perspectives, insider as well as scholarly. Worth a read, anyway.