ARCHITECTS: The Sky, The Earth & All Between (METALCORE): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Architects is one of those bands that's hard to categorize. The metalcore label has been attached to them for want of a better one, as the band takes relatively eclectic paths. Not only do Architect never manage to get everyone to agree with them, but they sometimes go so far as to offend their fans, who don't always understand the choices they've made. I'd better warn you right away that this album is unlikely to reconcile anyone, and that's just as well, because it reinforces the authenticity of a band who don't make music to please everyone, but to deliver a sincere message.

The first track, 'Elegy', gets you into the swing of things straight away, and is a perfect illustration of what's to come on “The Sky, the Earth & All Between”: alternating sweetness (even mawkishness) and brutality. The Architects recipe is back, with a complex, solid rhythmic structure built to allow for any desired alternation of genres and atmospheres. Nevertheless, Architects sometimes flirt with schizophrenia, as they take great pleasure in blurring the lines, at times giving the impression of listening to a commercial rock album made for the FM airwaves, before surprising us with a violent reversal into a metalcore register.

If Architects was a character, it would undoubtedly be a narcissistic pervert. The comparison may seem daring, but it only serves to illustrate the constant alternation of caresses and sweet words with jostling and provocation. Images aside, the excellent 'Whiplash' was made available by the band before the album was released. So it's with great pleasure that we find it housed at number two, as the track's energy would wake the dead. The follow-up, 'Blackhole', is a feat of drumming, with band founder Dan Searle machine-gunning a jerky rhythm with surgical precision.

However, euphoria is quickly tempered by 'Everything Ends', which falls into the category of the aforementioned mawkishness. While this track allows you to catch your breath, its commercial air is likely to put many off. Fortunately, 'Brain Dead' sets the record straight with its hardcore punk structure and ornamentation, lending credence to the band's metalcore label. Landmines' is a little nugget not to be missed under any circumstances, with its catchy riff sure to get everyone nodding, as is the start of 'Evil Eyes', with vocals straight from Sam Carter's gut. Alas, Architects can't help themselves, and at one point the song moves on to a rather facile chorus. However, to the band's credit, not a single track on the album is completely commercial, each one veering at one point or another into a certain violence that wouldn't play well on the radio.

“The Sky, The Earth & All Between” is a well-crafted album that demonstrates the expertise of a band that likes to take its time when composing. The tracks are original, and if the alternation of styles can sometimes be disconcerting, the whole is a fine success which, let's hope for these southern English natives, will meet with the success it deserves. - Official website

ARCHITECTS

THE SKY, THE EARTH & ALL BETWEEN

EPITAPH RECORDS

METALCORE