You could waste a lot of time, breath and adjectives trying to pinpoint what Architects sound like. You could take forever musing on the specific influences of every musical nuance while struggling to tuck the quintet into a neat, convenient pigeonhole. You could even spend your time intellectualising why the band are good, spouting hyperbole and meaningless genre tags. Or, you could deal with the simple, primal fact that Architects just blew your goddamn mind.
And yeah, they're only 18. Formed in Brighton, England in 2004, Architects have spent their short time together focused on the things that really matter for an upcoming band: the music, the songs, the killer riffs - choosing to steer well clear of image-centric posturing, hair extensions and online pouting. Drawn together by a love of heavy metal, noise and hardcore, Architects have already made a considerable name for themselves on the UK underground. Racking up shows alongside the likes of Nile, God Forbid, Napalm Death, Johnny Truant and Beecher, the quintet have left punters nationwide gobsmacked and practically frothing at the mouth with their jaw dropping technical proficiency and undeniable songwriting stones.
But now, with the completion of debut album 'Nightmares', the hour has arrived for Architects to take the next step. Brutal, complex and utterly uncompromising, 'Nightmares' is a little short of a masterclass in modern metal. 'Nightmares' driving grooves, jarring discordance and bursts of haunting, epic mood will delight and devastate, involve and indulge, compel and astound, its arrival marking the beginning of something truly special. So forget your rhetoric and let Architects lead you into their gloriously unsettling world. Architects Band Page www.myspace.com/architectsuk
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
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.
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.
