| CD REVIEW Architects |
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Band : Architects No idea just when this British band operating from the coastal town of Brighton (under London) was started, but one of the things I know (besides the fact that they were originally called Counting The Days) is that in spite of their youth, the members have an extensive musical background (more about that later) and brought their 2006 debut album Nightmares (released through the In At The Deep End imprint) with a line-up including lead singer Matt Johnson. That debut album immediately propelled the youngsters into the league of bands-to-watch-out-for! I remember one Belgian journalist who wrote (and I've gone back in my archive to give you the correct translation of his actual words): "...So, thought you were hip by listening to the likes of Dillinger Escape Plan, Beecher and Lamb Of God? Forget it, Architects is the new shit! Everything Metal should encompass anno 2006, is to be found back on this disc: counter-measure rhythms, Jazzy riffs, epic passages, breaks you can't believe, a degree of groove which would even make the biggest stiff have trouble to sit still on, and a singer with an incredible maturity for his age, and a production which is as fat as a can of 10 year-old wax..."! Before long, the guys had done support slots for the likes of Napalm Death, God Forbid, and Nile. However, following tours as support act in support of their debut album came yet another lengthy UK tour as support to SikTh and Dead Man In Reno, and the singer found out that the heavy touring life was didn't suit him too well. So during their first headlining tour in January 2007 the band (the line-up of which further includes guitarists Tim Hillier-Brook, Tom Searle, basist Ali Dean, and Tom's twin brother Dan on the drums) announced that Matt would soon be replaced by Sam Carter (introduced to the band by their merch guy, whom was playing with Sam in Monument). Time for some antecedents: Sam and Ali used to play together in a band called Fractures; Sam also played drums for UK Hardcore act Nervous Wreck and Indie band This City; Sam, together with Ali and Tom, also make up the line-up for UK Punk sensation Punx. As for Architects, they did their first gig outside of the Brighton area at the Ghostfest '05 (some 220 kms from their homestead in the town of Gaydon, between Birmingham and Oxford), and the first tour they did was with none other than Beecher. The band has played a number of independant UK festivals, and also participated to the prestigious Download Festival in 2007. They have also recently completed a European and a Canadian tour. Sophomore album Ruin was actually already released on June 26, 2007 by the United By Fate imprint in the UK (and the guys even got a release for that album in Canada done through the Distort label)...and now this is where the fact of having a somewhat exceedingly large archive comes in handy, because thanks to review clipping at the time I'm able to give you the following infos... In short, it turns out the band's debut was seen as very much akin to the works of Dillinger Escape Plan and Botch, and with Sam being quite a different kind of singer (more of a Hardcore shouter than the Metalcore screamer that was Matt), Ruin díd get very positive reviews, but was seen as a diversion from the debut. Personally, I am charmed by the highly tecnical and only-just-not Math Metal musical antics of the band! Most of the time, the guys go through their songs at full pace, but they dó throw in some breakdowns and slower passages, and the music falls from one catchy melody into another, so the listener is enticed to listen to the album from the beginning to the end of the album...and then put on the album again for another session. Actually, it's a vicious chain without end if you aske me...but one I was fond of being caught in. In reality, Sam is not shouting constantly, because in two songs he brings some truly nice clean vocals as well (I'll leave it to you to uncover whére on the album that happens). For an added touch of diversity the boys also bring the somewhat Ambient instrumental "Sail This Ship Alone". For your audio sampling of the band's material, check out the 2 songs off Ruin and the one off Nightmares, plus the new version (with Sam as singer) of the Nightmares track "To The Death" at myspace.com/architectsuk! Now, the reason for the re-issue of this 2007 album, as you might've guessed from the info in the heading, is that the boys signed a deal with Century Media earlier this year. They'll be heading for the Outhouse Studios in Reading come July 4 (where they stay until the end of the month) to do the recordings for their third album to be released early next year, but in the meantime the guys will finally see their Ruin album released worldwide (America release following on August 7). The actual re-issue is to be an enhanced version as compared to the one issued through United By Fate, with bonuses including audio track "Broken Clocks", videos for "Always" and "Buried At Sea" (both audio tracks off Ruin), and an additional "Architects 2007-2008 Tour Film". Meanwhile however, the guys also released a split EP with British act Dead Swans in January (release which was followed by yet another extensive UK tour), and earlier that same month the guys decided to stage a practical joke which backfired somewhat. Whilst on a Eurotour with Bring Me The Horizon, the guys filmed a staged fight between Sam and BMTH frontman Oli Sykes (the "fight" so-called due to Sam disrespecting Oli's nan, and in the "script" Sam beat the shit out of Oli) and uploaded the thing on YouTube. Soon after, the "joke" was enhanced when a picture of Oli (a staged one with Oli putting ketchup on his eye to make it look swollen and convince people that he'd been beaten up) was put on the net. Both the picture and video met with mixed and extreme reaction, going from Architects fans praising Sam to some BMTH fans sending him death threats. Later, in an interview for Kerrang! both bands commented on how everything was just meant as a laugh, and how "stupidly" it was received. Well, that's youth for you: they start up a silly joke, and don't even think about the possible consequences, or the extreme feelings they might create. But, silly youth or not...the band's music is simply excellent, and one I won't do without anymore! In fact, as we got sent a UBF promo copy, I intend to go out to the store to buy the new and enhanced version of the album (while at the same time trying to get myself a copy of the band's debut album). Oh, before I forget: after two festivals (one in Hungary on July 31, and one in Germany on Aug. 2) and an extra solo gig in Germany, the guys kick off on a small tour (which will see the band play in Belgium on the 6th and 7th in Ham and Gent respectively) with The Blackout Argument throughout most of the month. In November the guys partake in the Never Say Die! Tour in alliance with Parkway Drive, Unearth, Despiced Icon, and more (with individual extrra bands being added according to the location) for a European tour which will go through Germany, Luxembourg, Holland, the UK, Belgium (Hof Ter Lo, Nov. 9), France, Switzerland, and Denmark (for more details, check the band's MySpace). 98/100 Tony. |