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In an interview on The Jasta Show podcast, Arch Enemy vocalist Alissa White-Gluz spoke for the first time about her departure from The Agonist, which happened in 2014. The reason for her departure from the band was never truly clarified, and Alissa had previously stated in an interview that she didn't intend to leave her other band, which she co-founded in 2004, when she replaced Angela Gossow in Arch Enemy. However, on the day she announced her joining the new band, The Agonist announced their new vocalist, Vicky Psarakis.
Now Alissa has spoken about the details of her departure, characterizing The Agonist's actions as "the biggest betrayal she has ever felt in her life ." See her statement:
"It was 2013 and Angela [Gossow] and Michael [Amott] from Arch Enemy asked me if I wanted to join, and I asked 'can I do this and continue in my band?' And they said yes, that they wanted me to be happy, so if I wanted I could schedule myself to continue in both bands and remain satisfied (...) Because that band was like a child to me. I built the band, chose the name, I designed the logo, directed the photo shoots... You know, the band was mine."
“I remember being happy and proud of the situation and where my life was going, and one morning the guys from The Agonist show up at my door saying, ‘We need a meeting.’ So I said, ‘Okay, let’s talk about what’s going on.’ And never in a million years did I think I was going to be kicked out of my own band. They basically told me that one of the guys was giving me an ultimatum, ‘Either she leaves or I leave.’”.
And I was in panic mode. I thought, 'I'll write to the band's manager, let's sort this out.' I still thought I could resolve it. Then when they left, I tried to log into my email, I couldn't. I tried my Facebook, I couldn't log into. I tried to log into Twitter, I couldn't. I tried to log into YouTube, I couldn't. And these were accounts that I created, and I had given access to some of the guys because I was busy touring with Kamelot and couldn't post as much. I was so busy, I didn't realize it.
And I spoke to the manager and he said, 'Well, you quit.' And I said, 'No? I didn't quit, this is my band, I would never leave this band.'"
“So when I finally got into my email, I saw a chain of emails between the record label and the guys in the band where they had found someone to replace me on vocals. And now I had a name, but I had no idea who this person was. I never saw her, never spoke to her. And I think it would have been a professional courtesy if she had come to say, 'Just to talk, is that okay with you? Because I'm going to take over what you created, everything you fought to achieve. Is that okay with you?' But that never happened.”
"Basically, I saw it happen. Then I realized they were lying to my face the whole time on a European tour. I was excitedly talking to them about the next album, and now I know they secretly had someone else.".
When asked if she would be open to trying to resolve the situation with The Agonist, Alissa replied: “No. I will never speak to them again. Never! It was the biggest betrayal that ever happened to me. They stole so much from me. It wasn’t right.”