Angela Gossow

Angela Gossow
Angela Gossow in 2008
Background information
Birth name Angela Nathalie Gossow
Born (1974-11-05) 5 November 1974
Origin Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
Genres
Occupation(s)
Instruments
Years active 1991–2014
Labels Century Media
Associated acts
Website angelagossow.com

Angela Nathalie Gossow (born 5 November 1974) is a German vocalist, best known as the former lead vocalist for the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. Her other previous bands include Asmodina and Mistress. She is considered to be one of the few successful female metal singers to use growling as her primary singing style.

Early life

Angela Gossow was born to Orthodox Christian parents in Cologne, Germany, and had three siblings. She was 17 when her parents divorced. Further financial troubles came in when their business went bankrupt. Being anorexic and bulimic further added to her woes.[1] It was at this time that she decided to move out of home and join the metal band Asmodina. After graduation she joined an advertising company as a trainee, specializing in marketing. She simultaneously began studying economics. In 1997, the band Asmodina split and Gossow formed another band: Mistress.

Musical career

Gossow is among a small number of women to front as a death metal vocalist. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range, with a death growl.[2] Her main influences are Jeff Walker of Carcass, David Vincent of Morbid Angel, Chuck Billy of Testament, John Tardy of Obituary, Chuck Schuldiner of Death, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, and Rob Halford of Judas Priest.[3]

Arch Enemy

Angela Gossow (2007) in São Paulo, Brazil

Gossow joined Arch Enemy in November 2000, after the removal of lead singer Johan Liiva.[4] She had previously interviewed guitarist Michael Amott for a German webzine. While interviewing Amott, Gossow gave him a demo that she described as a "poor quality" video of a performance at a club. After firing Liiva in 2000, the band called in Gossow for an audition. Amott later said that "she wiped the floor with all the other contenders." She then proceeded to record Wages of Sin with Arch Enemy.

On the eve of a 2002 tour, Gossow was diagnosed with nodules, which almost stopped her from growling. However, after some vocal therapy, she was able to recover her voice and she proceeded to begin taking piano and screaming lessons from renowned coach Melissa Cross. She continues to work in close conjunction with her.

On 17 March 2014, it was announced that Gossow was stepping down as Arch Enemy vocalist in order to pursue other interests and spend more time with her family. Gossow chose Alissa White-Gluz from Canadian metal band The Agonist as her replacement, and will remain business manager for the band.[5]

Other work

Gossow provides the voice for the recurring character Lavona Succuboso in the animated television show Metalocalypse. According to an interview with Musiikki TV at the Frostbite Festival 2009, Gossow did guest vocals on the Astarte album Demonized, on the song "Black at Heart".

Gossow features on Melissa Cross's 2nd DVD release The Zen of Screaming 2[6] released by Melissa Cross. Apart from being on the cover pages of many leading magazines, she was also voted the "best singer" and "shining star" at the Burrn! magazine awards in 2002.[7] Since 2008 she is the manager for and Spiritual Beggars.[8]

Gossow recently expressed interest in starting a new extreme metal project in 2018 after Arch Enemy’s touring cycle for Will to Power, stating "Yes, I want to make a new extreme metal project, but this will happen after Arch Enemy and work with Alissa [White-Gluz] will be concluded and the whole world will sail in calmer waters. I suppose this will be in 2018, when we concluded the first series of tours and all the rest. I will do so when the time comes."[9]

Personal life and beliefs

Angela Gossow has been outspoken and articulate about her views, generally reflecting them in the lyrics of her songs.[10][11] She is an atheist and politically considers herself a liberal-green anarchist, but votes "to make sure the right-wing doesn't get her vote."[11][12][13] Gossow is a vegan for health, ethical and environmental reasons.[13] She vapes cannabis and credits it for a significant improvement in her asthma, and has supported its legalisation.[14][15] Gossow is a teetotaler and non-smoker.[16][17]

Gossow dated fellow band member Michael Amott for several years, at one point becoming engaged to him, but the couple are no longer together.[18][19] After the revelation of her relationship, Gossow was forced to deal with accusations from fans that she had only gotten the job due to her relationship with Amott. In an interview with Blistering Metal News, both Amott and Gossow denied this, with Gossow saying "[i]t is NOT easy being a woman. I am glad I NEVER had groupies. Otherwise they all would open their mouths now and talk shit. Weird, but I never heard any of [bassist Sharlee D'Angelo's] friends talk disrespectful about him, spreading some gossip. Seems to be a man's thing. OK, we both [Mike and I] will NEVER talk about anything personal again. That wasn't a good idea. And no, I didn't get the job due to this [being involved in a relationship with Mike] — I almost lost the gig in AE because of this."[20]

Discography

With Asmodina

  • Your Hidden Fear (Demo, 1991)
  • The Story of the True Human Personality (Demo, 1994)
  • Promo 1996 (Demo, 1996)
  • Inferno (1997)

With Mistress

  • Mistress (Demo, 1998)
  • Worship the Temptress (Demo, 1999)
  • Party in Hell (Demo, 2000)

With Arch Enemy

Guest appearances

References

  1. ↑ "Angelagossow Dot Com – Resist.Rebel.Reclaim". Angelagossow.com. 17 October 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  2. ↑ "Arch Enemy – Interview with Angela Gossow – Enslain Magazine". Ladyenslain.net. 20 June 2009. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "Angela Gossow || Official Site and Blog » FAQ's". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 15 September 2008. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  4. ↑ "Ragnarök Radio Interview with Angela Gossow". Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
  5. ↑ "Angela Gossow Steps Down from ARCH ENEMY". Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Welcome to the Melissa Cross Vocal Studio :: Vocal Training, Vocal Coaching and Voice Lessons on DVD". Melissacross.com. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  7. ↑ "BLABBERMOUTH.NET – ARCH ENEMY Clean Up At Burrn! Magazine Awards". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  8. ↑ "Arch Enemy's Angela Gossow: "I'm the boss" | GlobalCommentGlobalComment". Globalcomment.com. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  9. ↑ "Angela Gossow (Ex-Arch Enemy) Wants To Launch A New Extreme Metal Project". metalanarchy.com. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  10. ↑ Rose, Rustyn (21 May 2011). "Arch Enemy: The Gospel According To Gossow – 'There Is No God'". Metalholic Magazine. Archived from the original on 21 August 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  11. 1 2 "ARCH ENEMY Frontwoman: My Life Is Dedicated To Keeping My Voice And The Band Strong". blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  12. ↑ "FAQ Religion". Angelagossow.com. Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
  13. 1 2 "Angela's Story". Angelagossow.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  14. ↑ Arch Enemy Singer Angela Gossow Calls for Marijuana Legalization. Loudwire. Published 27 January 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  15. ↑ Arch Enemy: 'Legalize Weed!'. Ultimate Guitar. Published 27 January 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  16. ↑ "Arch Enemy's Angela Gossow Talks Atheism, Veganism, And More In Interview With Maximum Rock". Metal Underground. 22 October 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  17. ↑ "CoC speaks with Arch Enemy's resident Valkyrie, Angela Gossow". Chronicles of Chaos. 20 March 2009. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  18. ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/arch-enemy-s-angela-gossow-mike-amott-and-i-are-getting-married/
  19. ↑ http://www.metalinsider.net/interviews/interview-michael-amott-opens-up-about-the-next-stage-of-arch-enemy
  20. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 March 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Angela Gossow – Guest/Session". Metal-Archives. 8 April 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2012.
  22. ↑ "Arch Enemy frontwoman to guest on Never album". Blabbermouth.net. 27 February 2009. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
Preceded by
Johan Liiva		 Vocalist for Arch Enemy
2000–2014		 Succeeded by
Alissa White-Gluz
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