A week ago ex-Megadeth, etc. guitarist Kiko Loureiro pointed out the perceived similarities between his 2024 track “Talking Dreams” and “To The Last Breath“, the February 19th, 2026 single from Swedish melodic death metal outfit Arch Enemy. That initial post can be seen below and found Loureiro showcasing his concerns via a video editing the two tracks together:
Loureiro‘s friendly poke about the similarities on social media was met with a playful comment by Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott on social media, with the latter offering, “Thank you brother @kikoloureiro – it seems I should pay more attention to your solo work! See you at @bangersopenair!”
Arch Enemy‘s former vocalist and longtime manager Angela Gossow also weighed in on the song via social media, but was more confrontational, stating:
“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.”
It would appear that Loureiro took Gossow‘s comments to heart and has since filed a copyright infringement claim against the band over the track. In a video shared below. Arch Enemy appear to have set out to win the court of public opinion first, sharing the below statements and early demo recording of the song which they say predates the release of Loureiro‘s composition by two years.
“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!”