One thing that sets ARCHITECTS (UK)’s new album Daybreaker apart from the others right off the bat is the upgraded level of technical riffs. It still has that old school hardcore meets modern metalcore edge, but with a dose of SiKth added in. “Alpha Omega” is a prime example in this, with the composition of how the riffs are arranged and played. This entire album is a huge step up in terms of song writing. The experimentation that must have took place for these recording sessions must have been a lot of fun.
The melodic parts are better than before. Sam’s clean vocals are much more in tune on the new album, but his screams seem a bit lacking on the first few songs. “Daybreak” is a better example of his screams than the first few, sounding as though they come out more naturally without much exertion force. To scream like that makes everything sound much better. The music is straight metalcore until you get to two thirds of the way in, which goes off into a slightly atmospheric transition that is unlike anything they’ve really done before.
This album really isn’t my cup of tea, but I can see all of the good things this album represents. But overall, this album is balls to the wall metalcore with a few moments of outside elements that completely throws off the balance of the aggression, such as the track “Even If You Win, You’re Still A Rat.” Give it a listen and check them out. If you’re into metalcore, then this is the album for you.
Well, BRING ME THE HORIZON kicked off their headlining tour a couple nights ago and tonight they will be taking over Los Angeles. Like them or not, they are currently one of the biggest bands in all of the metal scene and I’m sure they will do well on this tour. Especially since they are bringing PARKWAY DRIVE and ARCHITECTS UK with them. As a fan of 90s-inspired poppy hardcore, I do quite enjoy ARCHITECTS UK and urge you to get your ass out to see them on this trek! DEEZ NUTZ and WHILE SHE SLEEPS are also on the bill, two bands that I do not care about but I imagine the kids do!
This will be a huge tour this fall, so if you’re 16, maybe you can catch this tour and find a girlfriend for yourself. Otherwise, just go for ARCHITECTS UK!
9/2 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
9/3 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
9/5 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
9/6 Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
9/7 Vancouver, BC, CA @ Commodore Ballroom
9/9 Edmonton, AB, CA @ Edmonton Events Centre
9/10 Calgary, AB, CA @ Macewan Hall
9/11 Saskatoon, SK, CA @ Odeon Events Centre
9/12 Winnipeg, MB, CA @ Burton Cummings
9/13 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
9/14 Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
9/15 Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore
9/16 Toronto, ON, CA @ Molson Amphitheatre
9/17 Montreal, QC, CA @ Metropolis
9/19 Boston, MA @ House of Blues
9/20 Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights
9/21 New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom
9/22 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
9/23 Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore
9/24 Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
9/25 Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle
9/26 Memphis, TN @ New Daily Theater
9/27 Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
9/28 Houston, TX @ House of Blues
9/29 San Antonio, TX @ Backstage Live
9/30 Lubbock, TX @ The Pavilion
10/1 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
10/2 Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
10/3 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
Above is the new cover for DUFF MCKAGAN’S LOADED for their upcoming release on Eagle Rock Entertainment. Looks a little ‘BTK’ for my tastes, but it will be interesting to see how the record performs now that LOADED has become Duff’s main priority! More exciting will be the Super Bowl this weekend though – I personally hate the Steelers but I’m no Green Bay fan either so I’m going to watch for a good game and even better commercials.
Another new addition to Metal Army for the new year! Each month, we’ll be picking the best releases of that month as a means to turn you on to new releases NOW instead of December when we do our best-of-the-year recap extravaganza. Easy rules, 5 albums each month! Here is what you should be listening to from January!
MITOCHONDRION – ‘Parasignosis’
This fucking monster is finally available for the masses! I’ve been sitting on it since December and it’s one of the sickest death metal albums I’ve ever witnessed. Bleak, atmospheric and heavier than anything you’ve heard since the last PORTAL record came out! This is a must-have for any fans of death metal, especially the obscure shit. Get it now!
BRUCE LAMONT – ‘Feral Songs For The Epic Decline’
I mean, this one seems like a no-brainer! It’s BRUCE LAMONT and, quite frankly, we love everything that this guy has touched over the years: YAKUZA, BLOODIEST and CIRCLE OF ANIMALS, just to name a few. Now, the progressive mastermind is back with a solo-offering that is one of the most haunting and beautiful records I’ve heard in recent memory. Definitely pick up this record ASAP!
ARCHITECTS UK – ‘The Here and Now’
This is a record that doesn’t normally fit with a lot of the metal we cover on the blog. However, that shows you how good it must be if we’re digging it! Growing up, I was a fan of Snapcase and this sounds like a better produced, better writing Snapcase if I’ve ever heard one. The band does go into some cleanly sung emo harmonies at times, but it balances well with the music and the quick time changes and pure fury of Sam Carter’s voice make this a top selection for January!
GHOST – ‘Opus Eponymous’
Yes, this is another record that I’ve had for a few months now. I actually got it when Rise Above released in Europe last year, however Metal Blade just released this in the States so now all of you can get it to. GHOST sounds like what I’m guessing Black Sabbath would sound like in 2011 – it’s dark, doomy music but there’s an overall great rock’n'roll harmony to the music. It’s really awesome stuff and I can see this band crossing a lot of barriers and becoming one of the next ‘hipster elite’ bands this year. The lyrics are vehemently satanist and the music kills! Get it!
DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT – ‘Hatred For Mankind’
This is another addition to the list with a little bit of dispute around it. I’ve actually had this record for over a year – it came out quite some time ago on Mordgrimm Records in the UK and finally Prosthetic came to the rescue and picked these guys up for a US release of the album. It sounds like what you might expect if Justin Broadrick, Steve Austin and Jimmy Bower started a black metal band. That’s to say that it’s visceral, muddy and chilling to the core. One of the most evil releases I have ever heard! It’s a must have, plain and simple!
Despite kicking black metal stalwart SATANIC WARMASTER to the curb, the event has brought forth a pretty impressive lineup of bands this year. The thing that baffles me though, is that the lineup is so cool until you get to the main stages and see the pure embarrassment that ends each night. I’ll break it down like this…
Awesome Bands: Architects (UK), The Cult, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Morbid Angel, Meshuggah, Coroner, The Haunted, Opeth, Anathema, Orphaned Land, Turisas, Atheist, Mayhem, Gorguts, Unleashed, Dodheimsgard, Bolt Thrower, Triptykon, 1349, Septic Flesh, Lock Up, Exhumed, Morgoth, Tsjuder, Corrosion of Conformity, Eyehategod, Converge, Terror, Comeback Kid, Deez Nuts, Kyuss, Goatsnake, Electric Wizard, Kylesa, BuzzOv-en, Knut, Red Fang, The Gates of Slumber, Ancestors, Morne
Leave it at that and you’ve got an awesome festival!
Watchable Bands: Iggy and the Stooges, Rob Zombie, Valient Thorr, Cavalera Conspiracy, Doro, Firewind, Angel Witch, Suicide Silence, Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, Municipal Waste, Therion, Pain of Salvation, Audrey Horne, Belphegor, Vader, Krisiun, Malevolent Creation, Skyforger, Skeletonwitch, Grave, Hail of Bullets, Monster Magnent, The Melvins, Clutch, In Solitude, Bad Brains, DRI, Times of Grace, Shai Huluud, Hawkwind, Grand Magus, Black Dahlia Murder
I don’t care about these, but I’ll watch who I can without feeling disappointed if I miss one.
Who Cares: Scorpions, Apocalyptica, Black Label Society, Hammerfall, The Exploited, Dagoba, The Dwarves, Svart Crown, Total Fuckin Destruction, Korpiklaani, Cradle of Filth, Your Demise, Nasty
I get why they’re on the bill, I just don’t care that they’re on the bill.
What the fuck?: Disturbed, Alter Bridge, Trust, UFO, Blackrain, Crucified Barbara, Mr. Big, SUP, Maximum The Horomone, Klone, Mekong Delta, Lyzanxia, Arkona, Impureza, The Young Gods, Karma to Burn, Masters of Reality, Church of Misery, Kruger, My Sleeping Karma, Hangman’s Chair, US Bombs, Raw Power, Arma Gathas
I don’t get why they’re on the bill and I don’t give a fuck that they’re there either. Seriously??? Disturbed, Alter Bridge and Mr. Big??? WHAT THE FUCK???
So, apparently the Big Four is now coming to America, but don’t worry all you fans on the east coast or the middle of the country, you won’t ever know they’re here. Don’t get me wrong, the bands are great but how can you play ONE fucking show on the continent that you’re all from? Plus, who gives a fuck about the Big Four in 2011? I’m just not excited at this point. They’ve already played several times together in Europe. I was already sent a copy of this performance on HD DVD. I’ve already seen it. Two out of the four are past their prime when it comes to a live show and the other two are not at the top of their game either. Therefore, I have taken the liberty to create a few BIG 4 scenarios that I would actually get excited for.
Big 4 Hip Metal Bands:
Nachtmystium
Agalloch
Deathspell Omega
Krallice
Big 4 Crusty Metal Bands:
Trap Them
Early Graves (RIP Makh)
KEN mode
Black Breath
Big 4 Obscure Death Metal Bands:
Portal
Grave Miasma
Vasaeleth
Mitochondrion
Big 4 Djent:
Periphery
TesseracT
Monuments
Cloudkicker
Big 4 Beardos:
Mastodon
Baroness
Torche
Intronaut
Big 4 Warped Tour:
A Day To Remember
Bring Me The Horizon
The Devil Wears Prada
Architects UK
Big 4 Winds of Plague Keyboardists
Kristen Randall
Alana Potocnik
Lisa Marx
Matt Feinman LOL
Big 4 Imaginary Bands
Stillwater
Josie and the Pussycats
The Lone Rangers
The Shitty Beatles
I would be infinitely more excited for these than anything the Big 4 have to offer. However, somehow I imagine I’ll end up hearing about it from here until a year after it happens….
ARCHITECTS UK released the cover for their new record ‘The Here and Now’ today, which is scheduled for a January 25th release via Century Media. Man, I love that cover! There’s something about the old map that I just love looking at. Not to mention that this is going to be one of the best melodic hardcore records of the year. This one is HIGHLY suggested, kids, get hip!
I love an old-school hardcore sing along and Brighton’s best, ARCHITECTS UK, showed off just that at a recent live show. You should also head over to their official MySpace to hear the new single “Day In/Day Out” and stay tuned for a new full length from the band coming in February via Century Media!
There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let’s Keep It A Secret. (Epitaph)
Dig if you will this picture. It’s tea-time for the British metalcore scene. ARCHITECTS UK are present – intellectualist post-hardcore kids with a sneering sense of humor. Pop Metallers BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE made it down from Wales whilst BRING ME THE HORIZON have just pulled up a chair. They’ve finally gotten their tablemates’ respect for two years of hard work touring their last record Suicide Season. Suicide Season was an unexpectedly intense and cathartic humdinger of an album that dashed preconceptions that BMTH were fairly unremarkable gaggle of style-over-substance teens buffeted by frontman Oli Sykes’ pretty boy looks and marketing saavy.
OK, the Bring Me Boys have finally proven themselves too legit to quit. They’ve also made a record that finally states “Oi mates! Here we are!”. Actually, I can’t quite see them putting it like that but TIAHBISITIAHLKIAS isn’t afraid to show the world what they’ve been concocting and why they’ve been connecting with everyone from Warp Tour Teens to Cred-Metallers.
Opener “Crucify Me” makes no bones about putting it all on display. It’s true-to-form catharsis with a bit of electronics and some vocals tossed in by Britcore-loving hottie LIGHTS. Yes, LIGHTS. The SHERYL CROWE of the Alternative Press scene: she who has also done acoustic covers of Architects and Gallows songs. Lights also makes a showing on “Don’t Go”, a track that pushes things into power-violence-ballad-schmaltz. It’s a good tune actually – pretty boys with their hearts on their sleeves n’ all.
There Is A Hell…definitely blurs a bit song to song. Fredrick Nordstrom’s production doesn’t so much concern itself with subtleties as it does beating your skull in – occasionally to the music’s detriment. Riffs are tight and wiry. “Blacklist” unabashedly twists the notion of auto-tune on its end and actually makes for something rather original.
This sounds like an album made by five band members perpetually drowning in a digital ocean. Y’know the deal. Their pain is art. Their art is pain. Art is suffering. It’s all up there and on display. Regardless of whatever mode they’re operating in – even on the shoegazing epic “Blessed With A Curse” — BRING ME THE HORIZON continue to up their ever evolving ante . Where they’ll take it next is anyone’s guess. (Epitaph)
