Who is Angela Gossow?
Angela Nathalie Gossow was born on 5 November 1974, in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, then West Germany, and is a singer, best known for being a part of the Swedish death metal band Arch Enemy as their former lead vocalist. She’s also worked with other bands during her career, including Mistress and Asmodina.
The Net Worth of Angela Gossow
As of early-2020, Angela Gossow’s net worth is estimated to be over $6 million, earned mainly through her success with Arch Enemy. Following her singing career, she’s been more focused on projects such as managing other bands, business projects, and voice acting.
Early Life Career Beginnings
Angela grew up in Cologne alongside three siblings, and lived a mostly quiet life. Things changed during her teenage years when her parents divorced, and the family underwent a sudden lack of finance as their business went bankrupt. She was mostly sickly during this time, suffering from anorexia, a condition that leads to a significant loss of weight led by a desire to be thin, despite already having normal or less than normal weight.
She left home due to the many troubles, and found solace with the metal band Asmodina. Over the years, she developed her skills as a death metal vocalist, learning the death growl and screaming using false cords.
She had the range to be able to handle such tasks, and over the years she was inspired by many other metal bands, including Morbid Angel, Megadeth, Death, and Obituary. She continued with her education in the meantime, and after completing her studies tried a career in advertising, having been a marketing trainee while learning economics in college. Eventually, Asmodina was disbanded, and she formed a new band with herself as the lead singer, naming it Mistress.
Arch Enemy
In 2000, lead singer Johan Liiva was removed from Arch Enemy, prompting the band to look for a new lead vocalist.
She handed over a demo of her performing in a club, but it was of poor quality so the band had to invite her for an audition to check the quality of her voice. The audition proved fruitful, as Gossow stood above every other contender, so the band welcomed her as their lead vocalist. She started her work with them recording the album “Wages of Sin”.
Consistent recording and performing with Arch Enemy took a toll on her voice, and she stopped growling for some time after being diagnosed with nodules, taking vocal rest and then working with a vocal coach to help protect her throat while screaming, also taking piano lessons.
She stayed with Arch Enemy for 14 years, until in 2014 announcing that she was taking a step down as the vocalist of the band, as she wanted to spend more time with family while also focusing on other interests. She was replaced by Alissa White-Gluz whom Gossow chose, but has remained as the band’s business manager.
Business Endeavors and Other Projects
With her extensive experience working in bands and her time with Arch Enemy, Angela learned more about the ins and outs of the business aspect of music. This helped her as she became a front liner for the band’s various business endeavors, which she also saw as an opportunity to earn more money rather than just getting paid for singing.
Her connections also led her to partner with other bands as their manager, including Obscura, Spiritual Beggars, and Amaranthe.
Apart from business, she also ventured to other projects, most notably voice acting, portraying the character Lavona Succuboso in the show “Metalocalypse” which ran on Adult Swim. She also participated in a few death metal-related videos, such as “The Zen of Screaming 2” which was a project by her friend Melissa Cross. Her vocal ability and unusual talent for death metal screaming has led her to be featured in numerous publications, including “Burrn!” in which she was named as a shining star.
Recent Projects
While she hasn’t been involved in any significant music projects in the last few years, she has expressed an interest in returning to making music once more, though not in the same capacity as she used to, due to her age and other responsibilities. She once worked alongside Astarte, contributing vocals for the song “Black at Heart”. In 2018, she expressed an interest in a new project with Arch Enemy, focusing more on extreme metal. However, the band still has a contract with Alissa and she would not want to interfere with their projects until all of their tours and releases are done.
Since making that statement, she has not yet taken steps towards this project, more concerned about how the world is not yet in a calm state.
In 2020, she made her return to performing, contributing guest vocals for the band Amaranthe for the single “Do or Die”. She has performed the song on stage and was also present in the music video, making it her first music project since 2012, during the end of her run with Arch Enemy; the latter, on the other hand, hasn’t released a new project since 2017, only a compilation album in 2019.
Personal Life
Angela had a well-known relationship with guitarist and bandmate Michael Amott; the two married in 2003 and stayed together for 13 years before divorcing in 2016, two years after she stepped down from the band.
It is not known if they have any children, but she has made statements about family a couple of times indicating that they may have.
She has expressed many times that she is an atheist, and that belief may have been rooted in bad experiences with her family who were strict Christians. She often reflects her points of view in the lyrics of her songs. She is a strong supporter of environmental efforts, and is against right-wing politics. She is also a vegan, deciding to change her diet for environment and ethical reasons. She is a supporter of the legalization of cannabis, admitting that she vapes the recreational drug to help with an asthma condition.