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Reviews
Rocksound
8/10
Talk about making an impression! 'To The Death', the track that
kicks off 'Nightmares', is a neck-snapping blast of technical
noisecore aggression, set to become the soundtrack to a thousand
gig injuries nationwide. That said Architects offer much more
than mere pit fodder, and these eight tracks display a surprising
degree of depth and sophistication, especially for a band so young.
Agitated discordance and twiddly fretboard panic attacks are widespread,
but they are regularly counteracted by subtler passages, such
as the haunting intro to 'This Confession Means Nothing'. Elsewhere,
the soaring climax of 'In The Desert' provides a genuinely affecting
highpoint. And almost as exciting as the music itself is the feeling
that this is only the beginning of something far, far greater.
Go buy.
Mike Kemp
Big
Cheese 4/5
British
noise crew release exemplary debut.
It's scary to think that this is Architects debut, cause if this
is their first effort at the age of 18, imagine how fucking brilliant
they're going to be by the time they hit 21. When so many bands
on the British underground see fit to do nothing more than tag
onto Bring Me The Horizon's recent success, Architects create
intense, chaotic and unsettling metal that's diverse, invigorating
and above all, consistently great. From the math meta of opener
'To The Death' via the Beecher influenced atmospherics of 'You
Don't Walk Away From Dismemberment' to the Dillinger Escape Plan-esque
spazzout that is 'In The Desert', it's obvious that Architects
are a band who aren't afraid to experiment but still manage to
create coherent memorable heavy music that, if there's any justice
in this world, should see them lauded as the new saviours of British
extreme metal.
Nick Mann
Planet
Loud 9/10
In
Brief - Sensational debut from everyone's new favourite band.
There is one word on everyone’s lips at the moment. Architects.
Hailing from Brighton, the same neck of the woods as Johnny Truant,
it’s no surprise to hear that this quintet are kicking up
a shitstorm with their brand of ferocious Brightoncore. Endless
gigging with the likes of Truant and fellow Brit noise boys Bring
Me The Horizon have helped the five-piece fine-tune their sound
into something that, as their debut album shows, is utterly devastating
yet at the same time deliciously beautiful. Treading the fine-line
between total noise and moshtastic metal, the quintet grind and
blast through each track like they’ve got a rocket up jammed
up their arses. Off-kilter shards of metallic riffs spray out
of the speakers while frontman Matt contorts and spits his lyrics
like a man possessed. It isn’t all chaos and carnage though
as, throughout the course of the album, the band without warning
veer off into more ambient, thoughtful passages not only giving
you time to breathe but also time to digest how intelligent this
band actually are. The eight tracks fly by in no time at all despite
their complexity yet they leave you feeling like you’ve
just experienced the best musical journey of your lives. Kids,
bands, promoters all over the UK are creaming their pants over
this lot and, after listening to their debut album, it’s
no wonder. This band are quickly rising to the top of the Brit
Metal league and it won’t be long before the likes of Johnny
Truant and Bring Me The Horizon will be feeling the Architects
breathing down their necks.
Terrorizer
8/10
England
in not a country that holds it's youth in high esteem. Usually
a target group for novel, despotic forms of criminal legislation
and urban planning, no-one expects teenagers to be busy with anything
other than terrorising their estates and breeding uncontrollably.
Hence the "they're only eighteen!" selling point attached
to Architects. While the young tribes of England are credited
with inventing several world-dominating musical genres, when this
Brighton lot explode into the scene with such a technically complex
debut, everybody seems surprised. Yet, regardless of how impressive
their abilities are and if one ignores the age attraction, judging
by the opening track 'To The Death', Architects may beautifully
echo Botch and The Dillinger Escape Plan, yet don't really have
a voice of their own. This gripe goes out the window as soon as
riffs become as irresistibly titanium-plated gigantic as Breather
Resist at their ferocious best, and when the technicality is boosted
by melodic. soaring grandeur not far off Enslaved.
Lords
Of Metal (Holland)
94/100
Despite
their obvious lack of experience (mean age: 18, discography: none),
Architects succeed in producing the first musical highlight of
2006. Their debut album 'Nightmares' should be the perfect soundtrack
to a different metal fan's wet dream (or am I the only one who
hears music in his sleep?). It's impossible to list and analyse
all the different influences of this band, but to give you an
idea, think of the freaky staccato Dillinger riffs, the complex
post hardcore of The Ocean and a modern sound that fits perfectly
in between recent releases of Gojira and (again) The Ocean. These
British lads know exactly when one riff has to make room for the
next, seemingly effortless they switch between breakneck complexities
and more simple structures. A prime example of this last point
is the fantastically built up 'This Confession Means Nothing':
a slow intro takes two long minutes to swell into a mighty climax.
New to me is the combination of extreme metal and feelings. It
does not matter whether a passage is high-paced and aggressive
or slow with almost heartfelt melodies, Architects give it their
all in every single way. Brilliant debut records are an exception
these days and seldom are they surpassed by the releases that
follow. But instead of dwelling any further on those thoughts,
I'd rather push play again …. and again…. and again.
Mass
Movement Magazine
Mark from the label seems to be
picking up a lot of the demented mothers to form the roster of
his label as of late and this one is no exception. Already creating
large waves in the scene, it time for me to finally check out
the fuss over the Brighton quintet’s effort. To start off
with all I can say is these guys know how to play their instruments
and they are only like 18 years old? You would think that playing
with such ferocity, brutality and technicality that notes would
be dropped and songs sloppy. Not a hope in hell as these guys
are slick, fast, melodic, technical, brutal, harsh, nasty and
damn fucking clever. Maybe sounding like a bruised collection
of scars from Dillinger Escape Plan, Botch, Earthtone 9, Will
Haven and maybe hints of Beecher and even Enslaved. Great stuff
and one I shall be rocking out to for some time come yet. Pete.
Pee
Magazine (Australia) 85/100
UK band Architects are another
from the great In At The Deep End Record label and probably the
most complex when it comes to musical style. Immediately drawn
to compare this band to the likes of Psyopus, The Red Chord, Converge,
Norma Jean and bands similar, its not until mid way through this
8-track disc that you realise there is a little more depth and
emotion with Architects than first thought. Where the first few
tracks are reminiscent of the above mentioned bands sound and
style, track 5 ‘This Confession Means Nothing’ is
more to the sound of Isis and Cult Of Luna… dark, brooding
and melodic yet still as brutal as previous tracks. Track 6 ‘In
The Desert’ is a little of both and for me the standout
track with a melodic and memorable second verse. ‘Nightmares’
is a damn brutal and unrelenting compilation of brutal and in
parts serene yet still heavy complex metal. Forming in 2004 these
guys have delivered one of the most addictive releases of this
style as opposed to releases from others alike that tend to irritate
after a while with the over-focus on complexity rather than an
equal two part mix of both. With each member at the age of 18,
expect a hell-ova a lot more from these lads in the future…
New
Noise
(Architects
also for recommendation of the week)
With
the UK’s biggest metal festival just around the corner,
the attention of bands in this very prestigious genre steps up
a gear. So, what a time for one of the most talented exciting
bands to take to the limelight and show us what they’re
made of.
Hailing from Brighton, this five-piece metal-core band serves
up a severe brutal assault whilst pushing their technical intelligence
to the highest level. Architects got their game together back
in 2004, at the young age of 16, inspired by the thriving metal
scene that surrounded them with such scene-leaders as Johnny Truant
at the helm and are now ready to release their debut album.
‘Nightmares’ is a monstrous assault of metal genius.
The creation of track ‘The Darkest Tomb’ feels like
personal and physical laceration to the face, managed by building
a wall of musical steel whilst blowing the metal-core blueprint
right out the window leaving your brains to try and figure out
what just took place. The song flows with structural intelligence
mixing between mind blowing riffs and beat downs, whilst being
underlined with the talent and ability that any guitar masterminded
pin up would be proud to pull off.
Now 18, they have penned a deal with In At The Deep End Records
and release their debut album featuring either of their masterpieces
spread across a pleasing half hour. With tour slots with Johnny
Truant, Napalm Death, God Forbid and other iconic names under
their belts, this release could signal a chance for Architects
to take to the road under their own merits.
With a great CV to their name already, it is surprising they have
not cemented themselves an appearance at this year's Download
festival, but we can still keep our fingers crossed that the big
wigs will sort it out soon and get them on the line up.
With such a cult label supporting them, releasing their debut
album ‘Nightmares’ these kids have a great stepping
stone in front of them and one they could easily exploit to full
advantage. They're going for it, so what are you waiting for?
Live4Metal
Sometimes
it simply doesn’t suffice to label a band under a couple
of genres and be done with it - Architects may play a blend of
noisecore, mathcore and grindcore, but to say this might give
the impression that these Brighton boys are equal to other ‘core’
crossbreeds out there. Comparisons may be drawn to Dillinger Escape
Plan and Sikth, with the ability to melt your mind through riffs
that deny conventions and time signatures alike, but never ignoring
the fact that an atmosphere is an important factor in keeping
the listener interested (and sane for that matter). Don’t
expect any long samples to introduce the songs - this half hour
of pure aural terrorism never lets up, and grabs you by the throat
from the opening
explosion of ‘To The Death’. The chirping guitars
and drumming sound more accurate than a machine, and with production
that sounds as crisp and warped as a faulty Super Mario game,
you can’t really go wrong if this is your kind of thing.
Matt’s vocals didn’t irritate me half as much as some
of the bog-standard screaming out there, but there is no radical
break from the noisecore traditions, and besides, the genre was
never really known for its vocal talent anyway, was it?
Guitars chirping and twisting all over the shop, not forgetting
it’s super-heavy breakdown, ‘To The Death’ sets
the tone for the rest of the album, although it really isn’t
a case of ‘heard one, heard them all’, because ‘You
Can’t Walk Away From Dismemberment’ sees double kick
patterns and spiralling riffs providing a far more progressive
atmosphere. ‘Minesweeper’ includes the short and sharp
riffs flying off at tangents to the main rhythm, descending into
an epic beast of an atmospheric riff to close the song. ‘They’ll
Be Hanging Us Tonight’ contains an awesome patch of clean
vocals, virtually unknown in any of the aforementioned genres,
but their disturbing and warped nature perfectly compliment the
insanity already present. The breakdown in this track leads to
the one breather on the album, a distorted resonance followed
by the gentle start of ‘This Confession Means Nothing’.
By far the most progressive track on Nightmares, this is more
akin to Isis and The Other Side Of The Sky, as heavy as it is
epic and brooding. Never letting you drift away completely, ‘In
The Desert’ brings back the claustrophobic chug-along riffs
and the disturbing vocals, although it does grow somewhat over
the course of the track and ends in gargantuan fashion. ‘A
Portrait For The Deceased’ will please headbangers, with
its Psycho-style ‘ee-ee-ee’s, whilst not omitting
a slightly more epic section for some contrast. The stop-starts
on ‘The Darkest Tomb’ are perfect in their delivery,
and it would be impressive to see the band pull off some of these
on stage, not to mention the ridiculously twiddly guitar work
that closes the album.
Heavy, intricate, epic and downright talented music can be found
on this release, and what’s even more impressive is the
fact that most of the band are only eighteen years old. Forget
all that you know about genres, the only ‘core’ that
will cross your mind as you hear this will be of the ‘blimey’
variety.
UpBeetMusic 4/5
As I write,
UK Metalcore is stronger than ever. It is bands such as Shaped
By Fate, Viatrophy and Architects which underline this. Architects
have recently been signed by In At The Deep-End Records (Suicide
Silence, Sylosis, Send More Paramedics), and their major label
debut Nightmares is highly impressive. I can now only imagine
how good this band can be on the support of this. Brighton five-piece
Architects cite acts such as Deftones and Botch as sources of
influence for their music, but also remind listeners of The Dillinger
Escape Plan, with their relentless soloing and throwing in riffs
right, left and centre wherever possible. At times it really is
quite difficult not to gawp in awe at some of song writing ability
and musicianship in Nightmares. “You Don’t Walk Away
From Dismemberment” enjoyably ascends for what appears like
an age to a fantastic solo at the end. Without just trying to
play as fast as possible here, the solo fits perfectly with the
concluding of the song and creates a fantastically dynamic feel
to the ending of this. The time structures used throughout Nightmares
are mind-boggling; songs are bouncing from one direction to the
next, always keeping the listener interested. The technicality
of the songs, instrumentally speaking, may be prone to irritate
on first glance, but this only grows on you a remarkable amount.
Architects are not the most original band you will find in a while,
but still take a field of alternative music peppered with cliché,
formulaic bands and create an album that pleases and refreshes
by showing real talent.
LeedsMusicScene
5/5
Architects
are a 5 piece tech metal band from Brighton, who specialise in
jarring rhythms, off beat time signatures and foot to the floor,
knockout speed. It would be easy for someone to shove them in
the same tidy little pigeonhole as Johnny Truant, Dillinger Escape
Plan and anyone else remotely technical and challenging, but to
do that would be sacrilege. The album opens with a ferocious blast
of dazzling guitar work and scattered rhythms, all tied together
by vocalist Matt Johnson's shredding, visceral screams. This is
literally the stuff nightmares are made of, discordant, unhinged,
disorientated, flashes of clarity sounding more powerful for the
chaos that surrounds them. A superb example of this comes about
half way through "In The Desert", the albums sixth track.
The song itself is all chugging riffs and pinch harmonics, albeit
at lighting speed. But at exactly 1 minute 58 seconds it descends
into the most amazingly beautiful guitar line with an "I'd
do anything..." refrain that almost brought tears it was
that touching. Not the sort of thing you'd expect from an album
called "Nightmares". The comparisons to Johnny Truant
were bound to come, both are Brighton based bands who have toured
together, both peddling a similar kind of terror, but what sets
Architects apart is the dynamics, the guts not just to chug for
the sake of it. It's that determination that makes Nightmares
an absolute marvel. Oh and they're all still only teenagers. The
metal world better watch its back, then.
Montag
Press
A
record like ‘Nightmares' has all the constituent parts to
attract the modern metal listener, possessing an attractive combination
of distorted yet melodic riffs, howling vocals and double kick
drumming. Shaping a sound like this is not like performing brain-surgery
with a toothpick - countless other bands that you've not heard
of and probably wouldn't want to play exactly like this. How do
Architects separate themselves from the generic metalcore masses?
Easy. They play very competently without being overly technical,
they employ darker lyrics without being death, they groove but
never in a stoner manner and they write hook-filled metal without
being populist. Architects are definitely not one trick ponies.
They are capable of far more than generic mosh-metal and this
distinguishes them from many of their contemporaries in the aural
punch-up for coveted Scuzz airspace. The album progresses from
the first four tracks of rock-out to a latter half that draws
more influence from Isis or Tool than it does Pantera and Slayer.
‘This Confession Means Nothing' is certainly a master class
in atmospherics, and ‘A Portrait For The Deceased' is the
definition of an anthem, with its sustaining guitars and repeated
vocal hook. An impressive, and recommended debut.
Raw
Nerve
If
you like the artwork on the Johnny Truant releases you will like
this, as it follows on a similar theme. Musically this is much
harsher, dissonant, broken up. Think Botch, Dillinger Escape Plan
(and that's not just another loose Dillinger comparison, the twiddly
guitars do remind a lot, even in production, of the 'Under the
running board' and 'Calculating Infinity' releases), Into The
Moat, Thirty Called Arson (I hope you guys know these, they're
awesome!). This is performed ridiculously tight, and Architects
seem a few streets ahead of most of the other bands in the heavier
end of the metal-core world already with this, their first full
release, clocking in at 30 minutes for its 8 songs.
Creeping in more as the CD progresses is a distinct melodious
streak but still with plenty of big chug sections and tons of
widdling guitars, and 'They'll be hanging us tonight' has some
fine hypnotic-tech-groove note sprees to prove it, before the
brilliantly smooth electro calmer 'This confession means nothing'
takes us in a different direction. Nice work. All in all a very
good experience and Architects show off a large amount of maturity
in this release considering their relative inexperience (and average
age of 18). Expect big things.
Die
Shellsuit Die Zine
By
golly, they’re only eighteen. It’s hard to see why
promotional companies see the youth of bands as being such a selling
point. Yes, it means that in a couple of years time the band may
well be capable of bigger and better things but for right now
I’m not looking for excuses as to a band’s untapped
potential. Hell, in a couple of years, odds are that Architects
wont be together as the band they are now so let’s put aside
the future and concentrate on the matter in hand. Nightmares is
very much metal of the most contemporary kind. It’s driving
from the moment it starts to the moment it finishes, fuelled by
big mid to fast paced riffing and growling of the guttural kind.
Bits of it sound quite like the modern day Norma Jean, which has
to be a good thing. As with Norma Jean, Architects also know where
and when to throw in slower, more groove oriented parts to keep
things memorable and dynamic. There are stabs at actual tuneful
singing and beat down style slower sections thrown in at the appropriate
times and it works well to hold the momentum of the album. The
overall formula for the group’s songs may be nothing startlingly
new or original but the band have enough class and flair to see
past their peers and the feeling of the songs never slips into
pastiche or derivation. It’s a quality product, no doubting,
and fans of the present breed of heaviest metal bands should keep
an ear to the ground in case Architects come touring in a shithole
near you. I can’t imagine these songs failing in a live
environment. No need to worry about the age thing then. It hasn’t
affected the band’s vision or integrity and they certainly
aren’t using it as an excuse!
Metal
Rage
This
is something that you couldn’t find in my CD collection.
Until this day. Cause I received the debut album of Architects.
Formed in Brighton, England in 2004 ….and the guys are only
eighteen years old. Eight songs will give you exactly 30 minutes
of something that is brutal, complex, heavy metal, noise and hardcore
with a slice of melody. They couldn’t give their selves
a better band name than this. Imagine The Dillinger Escape Plan
with peaces of less complex stuff but more melodic metal parts
and you got the Architects. I don’t know how to describe
this kind of music but I can imagine where the term/genre ‘noise’
made its entrance. I can also understand that a lot of people
can’t take this longer than one minute. But I still wouldn’t
describe it as noise. It’s major complex and even I, as
a drummer, cannot find clear patterns of rhythms. At least, for
three quarters of the album. And this is why I can dig this band.
They use these melodic, ‘listenable’ parts in it.
That just give you the few, but very needed seconds, to take a
breath and protect you from mental damage. You Don’t Walk
Away From Dismemberment (second song on the album) ends with a
solo on a melodic metal-core riff. That’s the first, but
not the last, time that they step back from that ‘Dillinger’
style. Too bad he uses nothing but screams. I think it would be
great to have some singing parts in it. This Confession Means
Nothing (nr 5) is an easy listening song. Besides the screaming,
very ‘accessible’. Smart that they put this in the
middle so you can recover from the brutal parts. I thought that,
once I heard the first 4 songs, I could fill in the rest of the
album. But they still keep it interesting with those ‘listenable’
parts. They combine it very well. Still, I’d rather see
the balance between the melodic metal parts and the brutal noisy
complex parts a bit different. Yes, it’s very impressive
that they can play it this tight and well controlled.
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