Championed by critics, fans and peers alike as one of the finest UK metal/hardcore crossover acts of their generation, Brighton, England quintet ARCHITECTS return with third album “Hollow Crown”, their “real” debut for Century Media Records and the indisputable jewel of the band’s acclaimed and prolific career.
Since their formation in late 2004, ARCHITECTS have secured themselves footing on a continually upward stream the old fashioned way: via steadfast commitment to touring and a wholehearted dedication to refining their craft. Their 2006 debut “Nightmares” was a scarily competent showcase of the quintet’s potential; recorded and released while the band averaged an age of just 17, the album already clawed at the heels of their older and more established peers.
However, it was 2007’s “Ruin” that turned these ripples into waves. A mélange of complex riffs, challenging structures and accessible groove, “Ruin” saw ARCHITECTS step up from underground leaders into international contenders. In support of the album’s release (via United By Fate/ Distort), ARCHITECTS hit the road across the UK, mainland Europe and Canada alongside the likes of Bring Me The Horizon, As I Lay Dying, Sikth, Gallows and The Holly Springs Disaster, gaining momentum and earning new supporters every step of the way.
Amongst these new supporters were Century Media Records, who kicked off their worldwide partnership with ARCHITECTS in July 2008 by releasing “Ruin” to a worldwide audience. And to complete “Ruin”’s now international success story, ARCHITECTS have racked up two North American runs with Suicide Silence, Emmure, Beneath The Massacre and The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, and took part in the Never Say Die Club Tour 2008 across Europe alongside Parkway Drive, Unearth and Despised Icon.
However, now the time has come for the next chapter in ARCHITECTS’ musical evolution - and evolution is truly the watchword, for third album “Hollow Crown” which was produced and engineered by John Mitchell and Ben Humphreys at Outhouse Studios, Reading, UK (Youmeatsix, Enter Shikari) sees this ferociously ambitious quintet become a new beast entire. Offering up a unique assembly of momentously crushing riffs and desperate, urgent fury wrapped coherently around bursts of anthemic melody and progressive timbres, “Hollow Crown” matches abrasive guitar complexity with shimmering subtleties, 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”, proven live favourite “We’re All Alone” and the feral “Numbers Count For Nothing” are multi-perspective explorations of a hero complex. Meanwhile, the likes of the first video-track “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” will surely see ARCHITECTS turning their waves into tsunamis.
To mark the release of Hollow Crown, Architects will embark on a three week UK headline tour in January 2009, with special guests Misery Signals and A Textbook Tragedy.
“Absolutely bloody gargantuan” – Kerrang! (UK)
“A startlingly confident level of finesse and ferocity” – Terrorizer (UK)
“One of the best albums of 2007” – BBC Radio One (UK)
“Our brightest hopes; a blueprint for the future of metal” – Front Magazine (UK)