Album Review: Architects - 'Hollow Crown'

1 April 2009 | 11:42 am | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Very Impressive second release boasting no weak links.

More Architects More Architects

Being a fan of the debut album Ruin I was interested to see where Architects would go with their second time round recording a full length.  Only needing one spin through it immediately became clear that there has been a marked improvement in the past two years.  The band has furthered themselves as musicians and  The sound quality on Hollow Crown has definitely had the once over and sounds a lot more polished than the first time round with UK producers Ben Humphreys and John Mitchell.


Since their inception in 2004, the young lads from the UK have managed to play download not once but twice as well as a recent headline tour with the mighty Misery Signals in the UK.  Boasting an aggressive tour schedule with a two solid releases now there is no reason why Architects can’t take the world by storm (which hopefully includes a trip down under!).  While being comparable to Bring Me the Horizon, Architects really more on musicianship as opposed to silly song titles and a heartthrob frontman.

 

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Clean vocals play a more major role than on Ruins making an appearance on most of the songs.  This can sometimes be bad thing, but thankfully in this instance it doesn’t become boring as batshit like it can on countless other metalcore releases.  “Follow the water” is an excellent example of how well it can work when used sparingly with the group vocals overlaying towards the end helping pronounce the chorus.  

 

One of the things I really enjoyed with hollow crown was how varied the mixture was.  It has become more and more common to reuse the same breakdown throughout the entire song or simply rehash certain riffs to tie finish up when writers block kicks in.    Having said this, it is easy to see why “Borrowed” was one of my favourite tracks.  The break down is precise and conservative without having its effect drawn out and sucked dry.  Plus, the drummer must be an absolute guru to keep his timing while indulging in several technical fills.  The admirable drum work can also be heard during “Numbers count for nothing”  

A misery signals-ish “Left with a last minute” appears late in the mix before Hollow crown is finished off with the title track “Hollow Crown”.  A softer ballad dominated by some of the softer vocals on the album apparently is about Vocalist Sam Carter missing the girlfriend while on tour.  Naw.

Just buy the release; I’ve dribbled enough shit above to get the point across.

1) Early Grave

2)  Dethroned

3)  Numbers Count for Nothing

4)  Follow the Water

5)  In Elegance

6)  We're All Alone

7)  Borrowed Time

8)  Every Last Breath

9)  One of These Days

10)  Dead March 

11) Left with a Last Minute

12) Hollow Crown