In a new interview with Germany’s Metal Hammer magazine, Alissa White-Gluz was asked how difficult it was for her to announce her departure from ARCH ENEMY last November after an 11-year tenure with the extreme metal titans. She responded: “It was definitely difficult but change is always a wild mix of fear and excitement. When you spend that many years with something, it becomes a huge part of your life and identity. So making that announcement wasn’t something I took lightly. I had devoted an enormous amount of my creative energy to the project for more than half of my career.”
She continued: “I really love music and art, I can’t bear to treat it like just another day at the office. That’s why I put so much extra care and intention into every lyric, performance, recording, and visual that I do. I felt a real responsibility to handle the announcement with respect for the fans, for the music, and for myself. Just getting straight to the point felt like the only way to honor my past while also stepping confidently into what comes next.”
Regarding the reaction to her exit from ARCH ENEMY, Alissa said: “The fans’ and industry peers’ responses honestly blew me away. There was so much love, encouragement, and genuine support, more than ever before, and it felt incredibly energizing. What really stood out to me was how strongly people connected to the idea of my growth and evolution. It made me feel deeply grateful and also very motivated. It reinforced that the connection we’ve built is strong, and that it naturally carries forward. That is something I have always been focused on in my career: stepping outside of my comfort zone and outside of the box so that I can have artistic freedom without being typecast. That support gave me a lot of confidence and excitement about the future, because I really do believe that art and artists are meant to evolve.”
Alissa also touched upon “The Room Where She Died”, the recently released first single from her upcoming debut solo album. The music for “The Room Where She Died” was written by KAMELOT keyboardist Oliver Palotai, while Alissa performed, recorded and wrote all the vocals for the track. White-Gluz also came up with the script for “The Room Where She Died”‘s accompanying music video, which was created by Serbian video production company iCODE Team. Asked why now is the right time for her to release her debut solo album after first signing with Napalm Records as a solo artist back in 2016, Alissa said: “The intention was always there, but I never wanted to rush something that personal or force it into the wrong moment. I knew this project needed the right headspace, focus, and creative freedom to really come alive. Now feels right because there’s real momentum. I have clarity, excitement, and the space to fully commit to it, and everything is aligning creatively. I know what I want to express, I know how I want it to sound and feel, and I’m genuinely energized by the process. This album feels like a natural evolution, something I’ve been building toward for a long time, and that makes this moment feel both exciting and right.”
White-Gluz also revealed that she is working with “two amazingly talented guitarists, Alyssa Day and Dani Sophia” on new material. “So far the music we are making together is exactly what I have always wanted,” she explained. “I feel like they both have such unique playing styles that complement each other to make our collaborative work super heavy, energetic, catchy and evocative at the same time. I really couldn’t be happier and more honored to be working alongside such talented and inspiring musicians. Fans will not have to wait long at all to hear and see what we have been up to.”
Alissa previously talked about “The Room Where She Died” a couple of months ago in an interview with Extreme Vocal Institute ‘s “Behind The Screams” podcast, produced and hosted by vocal coach David Benites. Alissa said at the time: “The script for that video, I wrote it with Oliver, the guitar player who is playing with me in the song. We co-wrote that song, we co-wrote the video script, and it was a time where we were really, really inspired. I could feel that we were really in the zone together, we really had a good flow. And we actually wrote a bunch of songs together, not just this one. And we just thought, like, ‘What would represent this moment of this song?’
“Honestly, whenever I’m writing songs in general, I like to envision, how is that gonna be on stage? How is that gonna be in a music video?” she explained. “‘Cause I’m an MTV child, or MusiquePlus, as it’s called in Quebec. But I love music videos. I love the art of telling a story visually to accompany a song. It’s almost like — rather than having music be a soundtrack to a visual story, you can have a music video be an accompaniment to the song. So the visuals are highlighting the song rather than the other way around.”
Circling back to the “The Room Where She Died” video shoot, Alissa added: “That day was very long, a very full day. It involved all sorts of costume changes and actors coming in and out. And I was suspended on a harness floating in the air. It was a lot, but it was so much fun and it was so satisfying because we really presented a full script of how we wanted it to go. And I actually just recently shared the script on my Patreon with my members there, just so that they could see, like, this was the goal and this is the result. And maybe [they can] get a little bit more insight into how music videos go, because music videos, I’ve had so many different experiences, some in my earlier career where I just walked in and I was, like, ‘What’s the plan?’ And they were, like, ‘We don’t know. We’re just gonna film stuff and then see where it goes.’ All the way to this type where I was, like, ‘I really wanna tell a story with this, so let’s make sure we can.’ And it’s hard to tell a story in only a few minutes. So you have to be selective and edit down what you wanna show.”
After Benites noted that “The Room Where She Died” features her playing the guitar, which is not something fans are accustomed to seeing from Alissa, she said: ”I’ve been playing guitar just to write songs, just to write the basics of songs. I am by no means a good guitar player. My instrument is vocals, for sure, but at least having the basics of guitar and piano allows me to write, it allows me to at least accompany myself enough to write. And then what I have been doing for this album, which I completely love, is collaborating with a lot of friends and a lot of other musicians that I respect and love and just seeing where it goes. Kind of like I was saying with the music video directors earlier, but just — I think in January I have, like, four or five different sessions lined up with friends, and even friends of friends that people in the industry, they’re, like, ‘Oh, you would work so well with her and with him.’ And so I just have sessions lined up where we’re just gonna jam and see if we can come up with some cool stuff. And I’m really excited to just have that be the kind of groundwork for my career moving forward, is just, like, make good music with good people and just enjoy it.”
Alissa went on to say that learning to play the guitar has been a “very humbling” experience. “I will say — maybe this is a similar thing for all guitarists, but I kind of took off quite well at first, and I was, like, ‘Yeah, I’m getting this,’ and then plateaued so hard and I was, like, ‘That’s it? That’s as good as I get?'” she laughed. “You have to break through that if you really, really wanna accelerate. But I think I’ll leave the virtuoso guitar playing to a lot of amazing friends that I have who are already at that level, and I’ll just keep mine as a tool for songwriting.”
Elsewhere during the chat, White-Gluz talked about the challenges facing artists in today’s music industry, saying: “That’s, I think, the myth of ‘making it’. You never make it. That doesn’t happen. You just work, and if you’re lucky, you work more, and if you’re lucky, you work with good people, and if you’re lucky, you can make a living off of it. But all of that’s ephemeral, and you have to just sort of keep focused and keep grinding and also take care of yourself, of course. But there’s no moment — there may have been in the ’80s, when record sales were really a thing, where a band could break out, sell millions of copies, and then it’s, like, ‘You guys are all set for life. You don’t have to work another day in your life.’ But, of course, you do because you love music. But that’s not the way it is anymore. And this industry is really tough — really, really tough. So I think that’s why it’s even more important for people who are making music to be making music because they love making music. That has to be the ‘why’.”
On November 23, 2025, ARCH ENEMY announced it had split with White-Gluz, writing on social media: “ARCH ENEMY have parted ways with singer Alissa White-Gluz. We’re thankful for the time and music we’ve shared and wish her all the best.
“Wherever there is an ending, there is also a beginning.
“See you in 2026.”
Alissa added in a separate statement on her Facebook page: “After 12 years in ARCH ENEMY, we have parted ways. I am forever thankful to the thousands of amazing fans I have met along the way. Thank you, Beastlings!
“I can’t wait to share what I have been working on with you all (with some big surprises in store). Stay tuned for big news in 2026 and see you very soon.”
White-Gluz, former vocalist of Canadian extreme metallers THE AGONIST, joined ARCH ENEMY in 2014 as the replacement for Angela Gossow. Angela, who joined ARCH ENEMY in 2000 and made her debut on the now-classic “Wages Of Sin” (2001),stepped down as frontwoman and is now focusing on management, while Alissa took her place.
ARCH ENEMY released four studio albums with White-Gluz on vocals: “War Eternal” (2014),”Will To Power” (2017),”Deceivers” (2022) and “Blood Dynasty” (2025).
Throughout her career, the now-40-year-old Alissa has consistently used her music as a vehicle for social change, addressing pressing issues such as environmental conservation, veganism, and the ethical treatment of animals.
During a March 2022 appearance on the “Vox&Hops” podcast, White-Gluz spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for her long-in-the-works debut solo album. She said: “What happened was it was announced [in September 2016] that I signed [with Napalm Records] for a solo album. All I did was sign to do one, but I think a lot of people interpreted that I had an album that I was ready to put out. So, basically, when the news came out about this solo album, the only thing that happened at that point was that I just agreed to do one. And then I was on tour for, like, three hundred days of the year up until 2020. And so now it’s done, because now I’ve actually been home long enough to write the songs and get them done. And it’s awesome and I love it.”
As for the musical direction of her solo material, Alissa said: “It doesn’t really sound like ARCH ENEMY, actually. It’s still me, so it’s gonna sound a little bit like ARCH ENEMY, but it’s kind of different. I feel like it’s kind of an amalgam of that really interesting place that you’re at when you’re a beginner musician, because although I’m not a beginner vocalist or songwriter, I am a beginner guitarist — I’m very bad at guitar. So when I’m writing songs on guitar, I have an approach that is probably totally wrong, and that’s what, I think, makes it cool. It’s different — it’s an unorthodox approach. I mean, I can still play it, but it’s not my main instrument, so when I’m writing riffs on a guitar, I’m writing like a vocalist writing riffs on a guitar. Some could argue that that’s kind of how Michael [Amott, ARCH ENEMY] writes too, actually, because his riffs are so ‘sing-songy.’ But, yeah, so I wrote a bunch with Jeff [Loomis, now-former-ARCH ENEMY guitarist] and I wrote a bunch with a lot of other people, actually, which I don’t wanna spoil and announce them all now. But there’s clean singing, there’s growling, of course, and other interesting vocal techniques with the note screaming and some operatic stuff. It’s a heavy album. I don’t know what genre to call it. It’s totally self-produced in that sense. It’s honest. It’s exactly what I just felt like writing for this. So there’s some prog elements, there’s some rock and roll elements, there’s a lot of metal in it, obviously. But, yeah, I’m really happy with it. So I hope that other people like it too, basically.”
Back in 2017, Alissa said that her debut solo album would feature collaborations with a member of KAMELOT and at least one of her now-former bandmates in ARCH ENEMY.
The now-ex-ARCH ENEMY frontwoman said that the idea for a solo project came about as a suggestion from Gossow, who had been managing ARCH ENEMY’s career for more than a decade and also oversaw Alissa’s personal affairs.
“[Angela] was, like, ‘Well, you need something. You need something that you can do, because I know you’re a workaholic and you’re not gonna be able to just sit there like this waiting for the next ARCH ENEMY tour,'” Alissa told France’s Duke TV. “And she’s totally right — I needed something else to be able to work on. And also, I have a lot of ideas that maybe don’t sound like ARCH ENEMY and it would be kind of silly to just force them into ARCH ENEMY.”
According to White-Gluz, her debut solo album will be released under the ALISSA banner because she wanted to “keep it simple” and “make it very clear who it is and what it is.” In order to make the disc, Alissa “did a huge life overhaul,” which included building a studio and investing a lot of time and money into learning how to engineer and record, program drums and improving at playing guitar. “Of course, on the album itself we’re gonna have real musicians playing all of these things, but in terms of just getting the style down and the songwriting, it’s something that I need to start on my own,” she explained to Duke TV.
At the time of the Duke TV interview, half of Alissa’s solo effort had been written, and it contained some musical surprises. “It doesn’t really sound like ARCH ENEMY — it’s pretty different — but I think it’s pretty cool,” she said. “For example, a song that I’m writing with Oliver from KAMELOT doesn’t sound like KAMELOT and it doesn’t sound like ARCH ENEMY, but it’s members of both.”
Loomis, who joined ARCH ENEMY in late 2014 and left in December 2023, didn’t have any of his songwriting ideas included on the latter band’s “Will To Power” and “Deceivers” albums, but will apparently play a prominent role on Alissa’s upcoming disc.
“Jeff didn’t write with Michael, because Michael was already writing so well with Daniel [Erlandsson, ARCH ENEMY drummer] that we just actually had too many ideas,” White-Gluz told France’s Loud TV in a separate interview. “But all of Jeff’s ideas are really good and I’ve heard them and they’re gonna be released, so people will hear them… Jeff is gonna be one of my collaborators on my solo project, because how can you say no to that? [Laughs]”
ARCH ENEMY played its final show with White-Gluz at the closing concert of the band’s European “Blood Dynasty” 2025 tour with AMORPHIS, ELUVEITIE and GATECREEPER on November 15, 2025 in Düsseldorf, Germany.