Artist: Architects
Album: The Here and Now
Label: Century Media Records
Release Date: Jan. 25
Grade: A-
Hailing all the way from Brighton, UK, Architects have returned with The Here and Now; an album that's as heavy as it is beautiful.
This is Architects' fifth studio album and they've yet to show any sign of slowing down. In a fading genre, The Here and Now breathes new life into the band's music.
Less than 20 seconds into the album it becomes abundantly clear that Architects is driven by a burning passion for the melodic hardcore tunes that the quintet so lovingly crafts. From the intensity of drummer Dan Searle's performance to the blood-pumping screams of frontman Sam Carter, every aspect of The Here and Now is guaranteed to make longstanding fans of the genre stand up and take notice.
The album opens up with the song "Day In Day Out" and manages to set the tone for the rest of the record. By blending heavy basslines and guttural belts with near pitch perfect vocals, the band manages to switch back and forth between the heavy and melodic in an impressive and awe-inspiring fashion.
The album pushes onward through the next three songs, each radiating more energy through your headphones than the last. By the end of the fourth track, "BTN," The Here and Now begins to flirt with the danger of becoming redundant but manages to save itself at the last possible second.
The fifth track on the album, "An Open Letter To Myself," marks the halfway point on The Here and Now and grants listeners a brief respite. Soft guitar chords and heartfelt vocals characterize the majority of this number, but don't make up its entirety.
Just when you find yourself drawn into the tranquility of "An Open Letter To Myself," Carter lets out a bellowing shout and the instrumentals pick up in unison, prepping you for the latter half of the album.
With the exception of "Heartburn," the rest of the album leads an onslaught of expertly crafted metalcore capable of impressing even the most jaded in the scene.
The Here and Now is a wake-up call for those declaring the death of the genre. Not since Comeback Kid's Wake the Dead has an album exemplified melodic hardcore so expertly.
E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com
