Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Sabrina Ramdoyal
Arch Enemy vs Kiko Loureiro: the plagiarism that’s heating up the scene
A week earlier, former Megadeth guitarist Kiko Loureiro drew attention to the apparent parallels between his 2024 song “Talking Dreams” and the Swedish melodic death metal group Arch Enemy‘s February 19, 2026 single “To The Last Breath“, as per theprp. In that first post, which is shown below, Loureiro used a video that combined the two tracks to express his worries.
Michael Amott, the guitarist for Arch Enemy, responded to Loureiro’s amusing social media jab about the parallels.
Thank you brother @kikoloureiro – it seems I should pay more attention to your solo work! See you at @bangersopenair!
Angela Gossow, the longstanding manager and former vocalist of Arch Enemy, also commented on the song on social media, but her comments were more combative.
To be honest, I’d never heard Kiko‘s music before. So, three notes are the same? Well, I guess that happens quite often in music. I’ve heard many Arch Enemy notes in other songs, but I would never accuse the other band of plagiarism… on the contrary, I would probably feel honored to inspire others.
It’s sad to read a post like this from a guitarist we all respected. What’s the point of it? If you really think you have a case, get in touch and discuss it professionally, don’t make a post like this. Respectfully, the management team, who are used to dealing with this type of allegation and prefer to handle things carefully.
Loureiro has now sued the band for copyright infringement over the song, seemingly taking Gossow’s remarks to heart. in the video that is provided below. By disseminating the remarks below and an early demo version of the song, which they claim was recorded two years before Loureiro‘s composition was released, Arch Enemy seems to have set out to win the court of public opinion first.
In light of a recent copyright infringement accusation against Arch Enemy made by Brazilian YouTuber/guitarist Kiko Loureiro and his lawyer, we feel it best to present clear evidence proving this to be a false claim. In this video you can see and hear the early demos in 2022 which led to becoming “To The Last Breath”.
Anyone familiar with our creative process knows that we document extensively. Demos, drafts, and iterations are part of how we build our sound, and in this case, that documentation unquestionably establishes the timeline.
A statement from Michael Amott below:
“Hey Kiko, sorry to disappoint you and your lawyer, but as you can see and hear, I had the melody back in 2022 already, 2 years before you released your song. Any similarities are purely coincidental. Enjoy the video and good luck with your music, I will continue to not listen to it. Cheers!”