In preparation for their current tour with Cradle of Filth and as a tour promotion in Japan, Arch Enemy have released this short EP. The disappointment for fans of the band is that it does not contain any original music from the band. Sure, the title track is taken directly from Anthems of Rebellion but is it worth the purchase?

The main highlights of this disc are the live and cover songs. The live tracks are "Burning Angel" "We Will Rise" and "Heart of Darkness" all recorded earlier this year in Paris. Anyone who has seen the band live will tell you that they are particularly capable of reproducing their music well live. These live tracks really do not challenge that perception at all. Most noticeable is Angela’s live voice on these tracks. Since we really have not heard any officially released Angela live songs, this is the first impression that she makes assaulting us live. What is quizzical here is that she actually manages to sound (at least to me) like Johan Liiva at times. Between songs, her normal stage speaking voice is so deep that I may have to give those Angela is a transsexual rumors a second thought. Regardless, the tracks sound crystal clear and come through perfectly for live. A few touch-ups may be present in some of the solos but overall it seems like a true live recording.

Rounding out the end of the album are three covers. "Symphony of Destruction" (which everyone and their brother seems to be covering nowadays) is the first. Angela has some annoying warble vocal effects on this track and it gets annoying fast. There is no way that you could call this a fitting tribute to Mustaine’s snarl. Musically the cover is quite identical except for the vocals. While it may be a standard cover, the vocals really did nothing for me and they could have picked a different song with better results, I surmise. The next cover makes up for the mistake of attempting Megadeth. Manowar’s "Kill With Power" gets the treatment next and the results are much more positive. Angela sounds great and the music is thunderous. Daniel Erlandsson destroys the drum kit on this track in ways that Scott Columbus wishes he could. The solo is reproduced amazingly well and it is a cover that does its source material justice. The same can be said about the third and final cover. Carcass’ "Incarnated Solvent Abuse" gets deconstructed. While it should be no surprise that Michael Amott would pick a Carcass song that was recorded during his tenure in the band, this version is quite good. The production quality is much higher than the original (the same can be said of the Manowar cover as well) and Angela brings more vocal style to the material than Jeff Walker who sometimes would just grunt and grumble through songs.

For your computer, there is a video track of "We Will Rise." This one is for fans only pretty much. If you really want to hear the covers, pick it up. As for the lives, I am sure Arch Enemy will be doing another live soon so I would wait for that.