The Finnish metal band’s second album deals with the concept of trust.
“Fear” is the first video and single off Arched Fire’s second album Trust Betrayal, to be released in spring of 2023. The “b-side” song “Trigger” is a Motörhead cover originally recorded for Antichrist magazine’s tribute album.
“’Fear’ is one of those songs that just happen,” says Ari Väntänen, their rhythm guitar player. “I had some riffs that I asked Kristian (Herkman, the vocalist) to record. As it turned out, the song was right there, just waiting to be born. We came up with the chorus part while recording the verses and the bridges. Kristian probably wrote the vocal parts while driving home from my place. And after the guys arranged their own parts, ‘Fear’ started to sound like us. Like Arched Fire.”
Besides the aforementioned two, the band consists of Aslak Purojärvi (drums), Mika Rytilahti (bass), and Janne Särkelä (lead & rhythm guitar). Musically, Arched Fire is where heavy metal meets speed metal.
Mixing rock groove and metal riffage, “Fear” represents a lighter side of the dark theme on the Trust Betrayalalbum. It’s about how a general lack of trust can make things difficult.
“Don’t be afraid to live! Do things before it’s too late! And be careful because everything tries to kill you and death is horrible!” says the singer/lyricist Kristian Herkman with a sneer.
The prologue of the band took place in 1989–1990 when a bunch of school kids formed Arched Fire in Finnish Lapland. Thirty years later they got back together and recorded their acclaimed first album Remote Control, out on Wormholedeath Records in 2021.
The band’s second full-length effort Trust Betrayal, out in 2023, takes their old-school metal game to a whole new level.
Ari Väntänen 