• Rating:
I had lost track of Architects after "Daybreaker," an album that, as far as I'm concerned, is nothing short of epochal in its genre—beautiful, layered, with excellent production, and containing genuine "hits" like "These Colours Don't Run," during a few years in which they released 3 copycat albums that were only intermittently interesting.
It might have been the death of the much-missed Tom Searle, the band's guitarist and main composer, which on one hand brought the band greater international notoriety, but on the other hand, consequently put the English combo in a difficult artistic position; thus they recruited the phenomenal Josh from the excellent thrashers Sylosis (a very reductive term), and today they are back in the spotlight with a single as powerful, sly, and hardly banal as it may seem—this "Animals," which I am about to review.
At first listen, the song seems sparse and "lackluster," but after repeated listening, it opens up considerably and represents an excellent mix of "Nu Metal" (a term to be taken with caution here), good old Metalcore, Industrial, and why not, Pop: the synths are predominant compared to the guitars, just as the clean voice is finally showcased properly (Sam Carter is, in my opinion, one of the best singers on the scene) and highlighted above everything else; bass and drums hit hard but in a composed manner, with a sense of rhythm less intricate and more straightforward, while there are echoes of various idols from the '00s like Linkin Park, a significant inspiration evidently both for them and for their Brighton "brothers" Bring Me the Horizon, compatriots of the band.
The lyrics are commendable as well, showing an incredible attention to detail especially in sound design (delays, reverbs, ambience that are simply incredible), seemingly "empty" yet actually rich with very interesting nuances; the production is, as always, incredible, a notch above practically every other """core""" band of the moment.
In short, whether it is a new artistic direction or a standalone episode to be included in a more varied album, it doesn't really matter: "Animals" grows with each listen without boring, which is very rare in this genre, and I almost feel compelled to give the piece high marks for the great courage and especially the great professionalism that has distinguished the band since the days of "Nightmares."
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