During a new interview with “Moshpit Passion” conducted at the Rock am Ring 2026 festival in Nürburgring, Germany, powerhouse vocalist Alissa White-Gluz opened up about the personal lessons she has gathered from her years in the heavy metal scene, particularly looking back at her decade-long tenure fronting Arch Enemy. Now actively fronting both DragonForce and her newly launched project Blue Medusa, the singer discussed the critical importance of self-preservation and trusting one’s own intuition.
When asked what she has learned about herself, the metal community, and managing expectations over the past few years, White-Gluz emphasized that musicians must remember they are human beings first, rather than sacrificing their entire personal lives for the sake of an endless touring cycle.
“I think I’ve learned that I’m very resilient, and that it’s very important to trust your instinct when it comes to situations and people. Because if you smother that instinct, you may end up regretting it. I feel like all of us have this sort of intuition to know when something is safe or not. And sometimes we don’t listen to it because we’re just, like, ‘Well, I have to do this, I have to do that, be professional.’ But I think it’s important to listen to that. I also think that most musicians have this thing in their head, and I do too, that whatever you need to do for the music is what you have to do. If it means not eating, not having a family, not finishing your education, like, you gotta do it. You gotta get in the van. And I was like that for so long, and I still am to a certain point, but I really think it’s important that there’s a balance and that people realize that other things are important too. Like, your family is important. Your health is important. Your life is important. You are a human being. You’re not just a product put out on a machine to make music. You’re a human. And time with your family is something you can’t get back later. There will always be more tours, but time with your family is not something that you can get back. I missed all my grandparents’ funerals. I missed all my friends’ weddings. I missed the birth of my nieces, nephews — I just missed all of that because I was always gone. And you can’t get it back. So I think it’s important to remember that even though music is our lives, and it’s so important, you have to respect yourself on a human level also,” she explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
The 40-year-old vocalist previously fronted Canadian extreme metal band The Agonist before officially joining Arch Enemy in 2014, taking over the role from Angela Gossow. Gossow, who originally joined the band in 2000 and made her celebrated debut on the classic Wages Of Sin (2001), stepped down from performing to focus entirely on band management.
White-Gluz went on to record four studio albums with the group: War Eternal (2014), Will To Power (2017), Deceivers (2022), and Blood Dynasty (2025). Throughout her extensive career, she has consistently utilized her platform to champion social change, addressing issues such as animal rights, veganism, and environmental conservation. Arch Enemy played their final show with White-Gluz on November 15, 2025, in Düsseldorf, Germany, concluding their European Blood Dynasty tour alongside Amorphis, Eluveitie, and Gatecreeper.
Moving forward into 2026, White-Gluz is channeling her energy into multiple high-profile collaborative efforts. Her addition to the melodic speed metal force DragonForce was announced in early May, and she made her live stage debut with the band shortly after on May 9 at the Welcome To Rockville festival.
When asked earlier by “Local Band Smokeout“ if her 2025 guest appearance on an alternate version of the DragonForce track “Burning Heart” was the catalyst that ultimately led to her becoming a full-fledged member, White-Gluz explained the organic progression behind the scenes.
“Kind of. I think we all kind of agreed that we got a really good vibe from working together, and that the music could be really cool to combine everything that DragonForce is known for and what I’m known for, and play on our strengths. And I think we just weren’t sure if we could really do it. And I think in life you’re never really ready to do something; you just have to do it and then figure it out. And so we were, like, ‘You know what? It’s now or never. Let’s just do it. Let’s just jump into this and make it happen.’ And so we did. And so we’ve been working, yeah, for a while, actually, just to get prepared to be able to perform these shows together, and also working on new music,” she responded at the time.
What began as a one-off collaboration soon turned into something much larger, as both sides began developing new material and testing ideas in the studio.
According to Alissa, the chemistry became especially clear once the band started working face-to-face on writing and arrangements: “[It’s been] really good. You never know… ‘Cause you can practice your stuff on your own and write independently and it could be fine, but when we actually started playing together in the same room, playing properly, rehearsing, writing, working on lyrics, working on chord structures, parts, arrangements, concepts, titles and stuff like that, we worked on stuff and then we listened back and we were, like, ‘This sounds really good.’ I think we were… We were pretty confident, but then listening back to it, we were, like, ‘Ooh, okay. We’re really on to something here.’ So it was great.”
In tandem with her duties in DragonForce, White-Gluz is also fronting her newly launched band, Blue Medusa. The group’s lineup features guitarists Alyssa Day (Mindscar, Absentia) and Dani Sophia (ex-Till Lindemann). For their upcoming live performances, the core trio will be joined by bassist Alicia Vigil (DragonForce, Vigil Of War) and drummer Delaney Jaster (Stitched Up Heart). Blue Medusa is scheduled to hit the stage at several major independent U.S. festivals later this year, including high-profile appearances at Louder Than Life and Aftershock.
