Kingcrimsonprog Ruin is the second studio album by the British band Architects. It was released in 2007 and was the first album to feature bassist Alex Dean and singer Sam Carter, who replaced Tim Lucas and Matt Johnson respectively.

The musical direction on Ruin is a lot harder, noisier, more angular and generally more extreme than the albums which would follow it, while at the same time not just as extreme and complicated as what preceded it, in part due to Sam Carter’s UK Hardcore Scene influenced vocal style and use of clean vocals.

There are moments of melody, moments of aggression, a reasonable amount of blast beats and a lot of interlocking rhythmic patterns forming the basis of songs. The songs in question all fit together well and although some tracks can feel a little similar at times the album is a decent length, so doesn’t begin to drag or overstay its welcome. The musical consistency, lack of filler and respectable production make Ruin a pretty stand up album all around.

Album highlights include the single ‘Buried At Sea,’ the interesting album closer ‘Save Me,’ and the enjoyable ‘Heartless’ which is mixes crushing rhythmic metal with a soulful Post Hardcore sounding lead that almost foreshadows the direction that the band would later take on The Here And Now in part, while still staying fairly true to their Botch, Sikth and Dillinger Escape Plan influenced past.

Overall, Ruin is a good album and if you like Architects you really ought to get yourself a copy. If The Here And Now is the only album that you’ve heard by them then it may take a bit of getting used to as it is a lot, lot heavier, but the level of musicianship is still high and you should become accustomed after a few listens.

Kingcrimsonprog The Here and Now is the fourth studio album from British metal band Architects. Stylistically the album marks somewhat of a departure for the band and features much less of the mathematical style that they made their name with, in favour of a cleaner, altogether more post-hardcore influence.

At first I wasn’t completely sold on the idea of a very heavy, very technical band changing their sound to be cleaner, simpler and more radio friendly. The strength of the music shines through however and no matter what type of music the band deliver, it is simply excellent quality music. Better still it grows and grows with each listen.

Standout moments include ‘BTN,’ and ‘Red Eyes,’ both of which perfectly exemplify the new style the band have adopted with this album. The absolute highlight for me is closing track ‘Year In Year Out/Up and Away,’ which features an excellent vocal cameo from Dillenger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato.

Overall, this is a terrific record and you shouldn’t let the fact that they used to be a lot heavier and more complicated get in the way of you enjoying it. Judged on its own merits The Here and Now is a very strong album indeed, and if you are into this band or genre you need to check it out.

Kingcrimsonprog Architect’s third studio album, 2009’s Hollow Crown, sits at an unusual crossroads in the band’s career and yet has the honour of being the breakthrough gateway through which the band gained a large share of its fanbase.

The album is largely a departure from their heavier, more technical records, which the band have since described as ‘Dillinger Escape Plan Worship Records,’ and yet is nowhere near as accessible as the album which followed it, 2011’s The Hear And Now.

Hollow Crown walks the path between both style, featuring clean vocals prominently, few blasts and relatively straightforward songwriting when compared to the older albums, yet there are still a fair number of complex and intricate sections, plenty of very harsh vocals and a much more metal guitar tone than the album which followed it. Hollow Crown is in fact constantly winning praise for its guitar tone, which has been described as perfect on numerous occasions.

The album is of a consistent quality; there is no filler and no weak tracks to spoil the experience. My personal favourite tracks are ‘Follow The Water,’ and ‘Every Last Breath,’ but you can’t really go wrong with any of them.

Overall, Hollow Crown is a good album and even if you liked their old stuff this shouldn’t be too commercial for your tastes and conversely, if you liked their new album but hate mathcore and extreme metal, Hollow Crown shouldn’t be too far out or too extreme for your tastes.

DeathOfSeasons What is England's problem? Any time a slightly decent band emerges from there their media will hype them as the greatest thing since sliced bread. You've got Bring Me the Horizon, Lostprophets, Gallows and now Architects, who specialise in standard Metalcore mixed with Gallows aggression and some nice little tech bits similar to those of Dillinger Escape Plan that last for roughly twenty seconds before returning to the standard Metalcore structure. Is it anything amazing? No, not really, August Burns Red have been doing the technical Metalcore thing for years now. So what's so good about Architects then? After all, they are the current Metalcore band of the moment.

Well when Hollow Crown begins you could be forgiven for thinking the hype is deserved. The album begins with "Early Grave", which begins with a massive riff and aggressive screams, before progressing with Meshuggah-lite parts and gang vocals! However, with Architects all good things must come to and end, and "Early Grave" is no exception. After repeating the same structure a few times the clean vocals come in and that's exactly where the song falls completely falls apart. To be blunt Sam Carter has a horrible singing voice, and it's painfully obvious. Just five seconds ago he was tearing up his vocals chords with his screams, and then he's singing like he's fronting some local Pop Punk band. Well maybe the next song will fair better.

It doesn't. On "Dethroned" onwards, Architects turn into some Dillinger Escape Plan worship band with a bunch of Poison the Well influence. Things pick up on "Numbers Count for Nothing", with some excellent drumming, though the vocals only continue to get worse and the multiple breakdowns really bring the song down towards the end. "Follow the Water" sounds exactly like something taken from obZen by Meshuggah with added -core vocals. After the first four tracks the album goes into auto-pilot, recycling the different sides of Architects over and over again for the last thirty minutes of the album.

For a band who are apparently taking Metalcore into unexplored territory with their "Progressive nature", Architects sure do repeat themselves. A lot. Let me breakdown almost every song for you: Opening slightly technical riffing followed by a faster riff and drumming. Then you repeat the first riff, throw in a breakdown and then you get a quick breather from the "intensity" followed by the melodic part complete with clean vocals. Now this happens on the majority of the tracks here and almost all of the riffs with the exception of those found in "Early Grave" are completely interchangeable. The only variation will be the lack of clean vocals in a track or a Groove Metal based part popping up half way through a song.

Not all is bad though. Sam Carter's screams bear a lot in common with those of Frank Carter for the first few tracks, and the drumming can be quite varied at times, which goes well with some of the few excellent riffs here.

But in the long run Architects are just yet another in a long line of Metalcore and Deathcore bands who have been hyped as the next big thing, despite doing nothing to really separate them from the rest of the Metalcore pack. You want progressive and technical Metalcore? Go listen to Reflux, a band who Architects desperately want to be.

Download: Early Grave

For fans of: Reflux, Poison the Well

(Originally written for Rate Your Music)