Architects-Daybreaker
Architects have without a doubt built up a catalogue of some of the finest British metal songs of the past five years. Last year's The Here And Now opus however brought with it a divide that hadn't really been apparent towards the band up to that point, its strong focus on melody attracting some and completely alienating others. Despite its possession of some genuine tunes it left the band at an awkward crossroads and where they were to go next was decidedly unclear.
It's to absolutely everyone's relief then that Daybreaker is utterly fucking brilliant, an album that sees the band regain a focus with a cast-iron will and that which embodies an enveloping middle-ground between the brutality of 2009's much-loved breakthrough Hollow Crown and the huge melody of THAN albeit using it more subtly. Returning to work with HC producer John Mitchell, the quintet regain a real joy and energy that may have been slightly lost beforehand and that's evident in all eleven tracks comprised. Opener proper Alpha Omega is huge in scope and crushes with a twisting feel that recalls much-missed metallers Sikth while wrapping itself slowly round your ears with its drowning hooks and melodies, frontman Sam Carter sounds truly ferocious again and the guitar work that's all over the album all sits assuredly amongst the best that guitarist and chief songwriter Tom Searle has ever written. Lead single These Colours Don't Run is modern metal at its best, its flooring "you fucking pigs" breakdown sure to destroy venues and clubs for the foreseeable future while the softer more introspective Truth, Be Told conveys a dense and immersive softer shade to the album without losing any weight or ferocity.
It's a record that keeps on raging too, the snarling Even If You Win, You're Still A Rat crushes with a bruising appearance from Bring Me The Horizon's Oli Sykes, Outsider Heart has an addictive bounce to its head-splitting riff and startling "I close my eyes and take a deep breath" opening before killer 2011-included single Devil's Island brings in the latter quarter of the album with all the razor-sharp impression it had when first heard. However, although perhaps not at first apparent, the overarching gem of the record can be found in closing track Unbeliever, an epic, building and moving commentary on the life that goes on around us day by day and its message to believe in that which affects you and forms you rather than anything distant or removed, Carter's scream of "life is so sad, take a moment to believe" as the track explodes half-way through bringing us into a wavering and breathtaking outro standing tall as the most affecting moment on the album.
On Daybreaker Architects have not only got their heaviness and power back but they've also got their confidence back in spades and it's all displayed in a genuinely great record that deserves to be opened up, explored and listened to in the things it has to say. This is modern metal of the highest quality, give it the time it deserves.