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By Laura, Thursday 9th September 2010 11.17am (942 views)
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Architects
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When Brighton quintet, ARCHITECTS, released “Hollow Crown” - their debut album for Century Media Records in January 2009 – the metal/hardcore crossover scene was swept off its collective feet by the sheer ferocity that poured out of the speakers. Universally critically acclaimed and embraced by the band’s ever-growing worldwide fan base, “Hollow Crown” is by far the indisputable jewel of the band’s acclaimed and prolific career to date. Recorded when the band’s average age was just 20, since its release ARCHITECTS have consistently proved their worth where it matters the most – in front of global audiences. Indeed, the release of “Hollow Crown” and their jaw-dropping live show have cemented the band’s reputation as the UK’s premier acts of their generation.
Never intending to keep that reputation confined to the UK, “Hollow Crown” earned the band the opportunity to once again play stages across the globe. Touring their homeland first, both headlining and recently supporting A Day To Remember, ARCHITECTS solidified their dominance in the scene with jaw-dropped performances at the Download and Sonisphere festivals in 2009, as well as Metal Hammer’s own Hammerfest. Then it was time again to pack their passports and fly the British flag around the world: tours and appearances at Australia’s Big Day Out festivals followed, and in America they’ve just completed this summer’s Cool Tour with Cancer Bats, The Acacia Strain and As I Lay Dying.
Ferociously ambitious, “Hollow Crown” is the quintet’s biggest musical evolution to date, offering up a unique assembly of momentously crushing riffs and desperate, urgent fury wrapped coherently around bursts of anthemic melody and progressive timbres, creating a rich, dynamic soundscape that is truly ARCHITECTS’ own. Lyrically, “Hollow Crown” deals with themes of arrogance, obsession and belonging. With the album title itself a comment on those that bask in undeserved glory, tracks such as “Dethroned”, “We’re All Alone” and the feral “Numbers Count For Nothing” are multi-perspective explorations of a hero complex. Meanwhile “Early Grave”, “Follow The Water” and the epic “In Elegance” find their narrator struggling against his own instincts and self-destructive obsessions – a concept which is further pushed to its bleakest on the lyrically twinned “Dead March” and “Left With A Last Minute”, songs which explore the minds of, and relationships between, stalker and victim – the tragic cycles at the story’s centre effectively a metaphor for how so many people live their lives. Dark yet uplifting, dense yet accessible, crushing yet comforting – “Hollow Crown” is an album with so much to offer every fan of modern metal and hardcore. An impressive, bold and artistically immense achievement, “Hollow Crown” has seen ARCHITECTS turned their waves into tsunamis.
Forming in late 2004, their 2006 debut “Nightmares” was a scarily competent showcase of the quintet’s potential, however, it was 2007’s “Ruin” that turned these ripples into waves and saw ARCHITECTS step up from underground leaders into international contenders. In support of its release (via United By Fate/ Distort in the UK and Canada, respectively), ARCHITECTS hit the road across the UK, mainland Europe and Canada alongside the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, As I Lay Dying, and Gallows, gaining momentum and earning new supporters every step of the way.
Now as 2010 starts to draw to a close, ARCHITECTS will celebrate the success of “Hollow Crown” with a special commemorative reissue which features a bonus DVD. Naturally the fiery quintet will hit the road in September and October on a Rock Sound Magazine & Fender-sponsored UK tour (dates below). It will be the band’s final UK shows before they unleash their as-yet-untitled, Steve Evetts (Dillinger Escape Plan)-produced new album in early 2011.
And on the strength of “Hollow Crown” alone, the next level of greatness ARCHITECTS will achieve is going to be stratospheric… Watch this space!
Rock Sound Magazine presents the Fender-Powered Tour:
ARCHITECTS with support from Devil Sold His Soul, Norma Jean & Lower Than Atlantis
30.09.10 Leeds Cockpit
01.10.10 Birmingham Academy 2
02.10.10 Manchester Club Academy
03.10.10 Glasgow Garage
04.10.10 Newcastle Academy 2
06.10.10 Nottingham Rescue Rooms
07.10.10 Norwich Waterfront
08.10.10 London Koko
09.10.10 Bristol O2 Academy
17.10.10 Belfast The Limelight
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