For the most part, Metalcore is a genre with an air of defiance and empowering; normally a genre that is anthemic and uplifting with a positive message throughout. On latest album album All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us (Epitaph), serious credit has to be given to Brits Architects as they break this notion and offer an album with a towering message of bleakness and the need for us to stand up for change, in one of the boldest releases in the genre to date.

What is immediately striking about AOGHAU is how genuinely angry it sounds. Far from the faux rage of many of their peers, Architects have genuine reasons to be pissed off. As vegans and environmental activists, much of the album’s focus is on humanities destruction of the planet, and the sentiment of it is undoubtedly clear and real. Frontman Sam Carter in particular gives his most impassioned displays ever and very rarely drops from a full throttle roar, which amplifies the tone even further. The guitar work of course is very prominent and has a much darker tone than the genre is renowned for, whilst keys, rather than dominate, increase the atmosphere with subtle usage.

Aside from the soundscapes and textures, there are other signs that Architects are going for greater ambition than many of their peers, namely the 8 plus minute closer ‘Memento Mori’ which interjects the album’s trademark heaviness with passages of brooding, near ambience before erupting once again in sheer, white hot fury. In a genre that for all its greatness can prove stagnant at times, these signs and moves put Architects in a class of their own when it comes to vision in the genre, and thus have not only exceeded all their own greatness, but have further proven why they are one of the shining lights in the style, and for British metal itself.

9.0/10

CHRIS TIPPELL

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