Anytime a band changes a singer/front person, it’s a pretty big deal. On February 19, 2026, Arch Enemy has officially confirmed that Lauren Hart (Once Human, Divine Heresy) will be their new singer. Let’s take a look…….
When you think about it, this band really was a pioneer for having a female that could do death metal vocals. I mean they were the first band with a female death metal vocalist that I was into. Of course you have the fake fans that only appreciated this band because they had a woman fronting the band and to me those are fake fans who don’t matter. But all that aside, it was a surprise to everybody when Angela Gossow decided to step down and immediately, announce her replacement Alissa White-Gluz (ex-The Agonist).
I remember when the first album with Alissa dropped and while it felt new, there was definitely something lacking. The issue I had with their live performances is that not only was it gimmicky but it was pretty much the same exact set list. To be fair though it’s not just this band that is guilty of that. What I liked about Angela fronting the band was that they played a good amount of songs from her era as well as songs from the Johan Liiva (their original singer) era. Perhaps Alissa was unable to pull off those songs??
My hope is now that they have Lauren Hart, they’ll maybe try to go back to how they were when Angela was in the band. I have listened to her other band Once Human and she does sound a lot like Angela. I remember listening to Once Human and thinking “ yeah she could definitely pull off Arch Enemy songs.” In fact, Angela has been quoted as saying that Lauren is “Angela reincarnated.” I do think it would’ve been interesting if they had their original singer, rejoin the band or get another bad ass male singer. I mean, let’s face it, the days of them having that edge are long gone especially when you have newer bands like Bloodhunter, Crypta, and Nervosa. The new single that they have just released “To The Last Breath,” sounds like it could be something from that era and is actually pretty good. My hope is when they play live they’ll play more of their older material because they have quite a few albums with songs that need to be played. I remain pleasantly but cautiously optimistic.
Sinister Reviews 