Album: Architects - The Sky, The Earth & All Between

Brighton metallers Architects have weathered through various tribulations in their almost twenty-year career. Formed by twins Dan and Tom Searle, after various line-up changes and a devasting, personal loss, the band now consist of long-time vocalist Sam Carter, Dan on drums, rounded out by Ali Dean on bass and Adam Christianson on guitar.

Their path hasn't been straightforward, as the band themselves admit it wasn't until four albums in that they started to achieve wider renown. But they are now one of the foremost UK metalcore bands - that genre which blends the thrash of metal with the ferocity of hardcore punk.

With Tom's passing in 2016 following his battle with cancer, the band lost their primary songwriter; their sound, and lyrics sung by Carter, had largely derived from Tom. The band channelled their grief into 2018’s Holy Hell which continued the sound of their previous two albums.

Other bands may have opted to stay safely within those confines - complex, intricate riffs on guitars downtuned low enough they could lay deep sea cables, and contemplate heavy themes of grief, loss, mortality.

Instead, on their previous two albums - 2021’s For Those That Wish To Exist, and previous the classic symptoms of a broken spirit - they took the opportunity to push the definition of what Architects can sound like. But where the former was a compelling blend of metalcore with orchestral touches, the latter’s pared down though consistent sound proved quite divisive amongst their following.

Which brings into view album eleven, The Sky, The Earth & All Between. Here, they continue to play with expectations of what they can sound like, illustrated on first single from way back in 2023, “Seeing Red”, a frenzied knowing response to those who only like the band when they’re a certain type of ‘heavy’.

The band draw upon every iota of their catalogue, and the result is an album of their essence condensed and distilled into an impactful, attesting concoction of modern Metal. From the graceful-come-thrashing opener “Elegy”, the industrialised “Judgement Day” and until the atmospheric closing “Chandelier”, the band prove any and all naysayers wrong. If this is only the beginning of the next chapter of Architects and their sound, it will be one that’s hard to put down.

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