Raising The Flag For Home Grown Talent
For too long metalcore has been a genre that’s been almost out of the UK’s grasp. Bands have attempted to conquer it, some have even put up a good fight, but it’s been a stronghold of American acts that have led the pack. Until now. Finally there’s a light on the horizon, a brutally raw, intensely aggressive light that’s not going out without a fight as Brighton’s Architects (Architects UK for those across the pond), serve up their sophomore album, a loud, raucous chunk of screaming ferociousness that appears intent to take no prisoners as it sets out to make Architects a name you wont dismiss easily.
With their line up tweaked by the addition of lead singer Sam Carter, Architects’ latest offering, ‘Hollow Crown’ is a relentless ride through dynamic tracks that pack a hefty punch. Managing to side step the usual pitfalls that befall metalcore bands, ‘Hollow Crown’ fails to regurgitate material, continually providing new intricate riffs to go head to head with Carter’s visceral wails whilst complex drum beats thunder threateningly, never staying still long enough to even hint at becoming boring. Immediately striking with a brash attack of aggression gripping to an adrenaline pumped delivery, ‘Early Grave’ gets things under way with brutal brilliance, bringing equal amounts of complexity to the raw anger that pulsates throughout the track as Carter screams and spits venom from each line. Like a man possessed, Carter attempts to flay your ear drums to pieces as he shreds his own vocal chords to ribbons, injecting a flourish of frenzied energy into everything he does. From the machine gun drums that thunder an introduction in ‘Numbers Count For Nothing’ to the gang shouts that rip their way through the rampaging riffs of ‘One Of These Days’, Architects deliver vigorously uncompromising tracks, rammed with threats and spit drenched hostility to leave you a quivering, yet content wreck just in time for the band to rotate 180 on us and close with the emotionally intoxicating ‘Hollow Crown’. Gone are the visceral screams, gone are the racing riffs and bone rattling drums; the Brighton lads turn things down from the incessant 11 the rest of the album has been galloping at, showing their softer side as gentility briefly raises its head, ushered aside by a short bout of pain addled wails amongst melodic soundscapes that bring the band’s second album to a breathtakingly epic conclusion.
That said, ‘Hollow Crown’ is not a complete masterpiece; the band are not breaking the mould with this album, instead the Brighton five piece play very much to their strengths and it works extremely well for them. This is an album that is delivered with passion, that thrashes and kicks with grit and determination and it is this that makes it so captivating. Raw and energetic, ‘Hollow Crown’ captures all you could ever desire from a metalcore band and simply smuggles in a special something to guarantee heads are banging with unadulterated glee.
Intelligent, brash and brazenly brutal, ‘Hollow Crown’ is an exhaustingly satisfying slice of home grown metalcore.