Architects - All Gods Have Abandoned Us (Record Review)

Architects don’t even let you get prepared for a single second, the intro song ‘Nihilist’ kicks you instantly off whatever you were sitting on and keeps punching you for the whole of its 3-minute duration with its cutting-edge lyrics. One track in and you already know that Architects have, again, leveled up in comparison to their last record ‘Lost Forever // Lost Together’. While the mood is the same, ‘All Gods Have Abandoned Us’ simply tops up on the foundation these guys have already built with all their previous releases.

‘Deathwish’ taps into the more melodic section of the group while ‘Phantom Fear’ returns with the usual doom spreading darkness that we're to expect from them. With ‘Downfall’, which had gotten released just a week before the full album dropped, Architects give every critic a flawless piece of music to frantically search for mistakes.

A highlight on the record is definitely the song they first teased, ‘A Match Made In Heaven’, which was a perfect choice to represent the entirety of the record, summoning what they do best, squished it into a song and released it onto the world.

Shaking up your emotions, more and more, track by track, Architects pull you into their minds completely with thundering drums, haunting guitar sections, electronic-beats and interludes that smoothly fade from one song to another.

The finishing touch and, definitely, the most eccentric and outstanding track on this piece of art is ‘Memento Mori’. An eight-minute long song that simply shows once more as to why Architects are such a reinventing and unique band and one of the best British exports these days. Astonishing with endless instrumental creativity and lyrical plays that will leave you with your mouth open. Not to mention Carter’s unreal vocal performance throughout the whole record. It only gets more intense than this at their live shows, which are not to be missed as these folks hit the road to promote this new release.

Favorite track(s): Downfall, Memento Mori, Nihilist

Overall: 9/10

Cheerio xx

P.S.: If you’re in the UK, do not miss the band’s upcoming tour, especially their highly anticipated London gig at the Koko. Huge and very well deserved so.

Architects - Lost Forever || Lost Together (Record Review)

While this record has been out for a long time, I just dug out my review of it from a couple of months ago and feel like posting it on here as I think it is one of the most genre shaping records of the past year.

This band has had its heights and lows before and recovered from a massive drop in their career. Hollow Crown/The Here And Now is up to this day a rather weak spot of the band as they ended up playing in front of almost nobody in small clubs after starting to fill venues with the capacity of over 2 000 people. When they put out Daybreaker, it seemed as if they were finally back on track and slowly started climbing upwards again. When LF//LT dropped within a year after that, nobody would have expected it to be such a huge progression and recovery, especially creatively speaking, again.

Gravedigger doesn't give you much time to prepare before it fully kicks in with huge riffs and Sam's indistinctive voice. The thought of them ever failing at creating huge tunes like that is hard to imagine at this point, seeing as the first song already has some of the biggest moments of the 2014 metalcore scene.

Naysayer doesn't let a simple spark of that energy die and drags you along the hurricane that is this record. "You can't stop me giving a fuck" states their intentions with this track more than clearly. After that, they don't stop with criticizing and approaching problems such as religion, as displayed in Broken Cross. Without slipping into the all too often heard same old sentences, they manage to take a new turn on the whole subject. 

They do not disappoint a single time, instead, the record gets stronger with each song. The Devil Is Near's riff constructions throughout the whole song, Dead Man Talking's huge chant during the chorus, the anthem that is C.A.N.C.E.R., the more melodic and dramatic side with Colony Collapse ... I could go on.

To sum it up, the emotional weight Architects can put into their songs is uncanny and certainly one of a kind. There's hardly a band around these days to manage to speak to and move such a huge crowd with heavy tracks like these as them. To have a band in this genre headline a sold-out venue the size of the Roundhouse in London would've been unimaginable a few years back. 

While the younger generations are certainly focused on bands such as them, with the flood of artists in the genre, they still managed to stand out and draw in the fanbase they have now.

They were not only in my favorite records of 2014 but certainly already managed to place themselves in my favorite gigs rank list of 2015. Unlike (sadly) a lot of bands these days, they actually deliver an even bigger show live than they already do on record and create a one of a kind atmosphere.

Favorite song(s): Gravedigger, Naysayer, Colony Collapse, Broken Cross

Overall: 9,5/10

Architects are currently finishing up their Australia tour. Check their website for the remaining dates: www.architectsofficial.com

Cheerio xx

While She Sleeps - Brainwashed (Record Review)

To be fair, that intro made my head hurt a little ... but never mind, cause we dive straight into one of my favorites anyway: this is NEW WORLD TORTURE! *flips table* ... There's really nothing more to add, I think you get the idea once you give the track a listen.
While the chorus of Your Evolution isn't that appealing to me, the intro is filled with a fricking massive beat and some powerful lyrics. Brainwashed doesn't start off too special but that outro is one hell of a punch. The following interlude sets kind of a melancholic atmosphere but Your Legacy kicks you back into it completely (amazing solo in that track). Four Walls was my least favorite of all the ones they had released already, but it's quite the anthem, anyway. Torment is a full on circle pit rager and the drums deserve a special mentioning here. The two tracks after that aren't that outstanding, catchy though. Trophies of Violence is another fave of mine, already predicting neck pain once they drop this live. Method in Madness and Modern Minds can be summed up quite simple: Mother. Fricking. Cowbell.

The guitars/riffs on this whole thing are outstandingly massive and mindblowing.

Make sure you got enough space for a spontaneous mosh session if you give this oen a spin at home, cause it will happen. Anthems, ragers, bangers ... it's all there.

Favorite song(s): New World Torture, Torment, Trophies of Violence, Method in Madness

Overall: 9/10

Catch those guys live on tour through Europe, co-headlining with the motherfucking Cancer Bats! Check their website for a date near you: www.wssofficial.com

Cheerio xx

Cancer Bats - Searching For Zero (Record Review)

Gotta admit that I was a little anxious when I first pressed play considering what other people told me about it so far, plus the fact that I basically dig pretty much everything that those guys put out thus far and had expectations due to that. That's why I let it rest for a bit before really adding my two cents to this.

Satellites was a considerably easy introduction seeing as it had been out for quite a while before the record release. While I can find something in every song that makes me go: "Hell yeah!" (Bass intro for Cursed With A Conscience, Sabbath drenched Beelzebub and Dusted, 2nd verse in Devil's Blood etc.) There's still something missing in it all.
Obviously it's still the Bats. Scott's guitar skills (which are specifically outstanding on this record!), Liam's rough vocals, their heavy grooves ... everything is there. Yet, it doesn't kick my butt with as much of a power as e.g. DSOL did. But hey, taste differs, bands develop and maybe it'll need a few more spins for me to get into or it'll remain this way. However, I'm still beyond excited to see those guys at my work place with While She Sleeps, especially since I'm pretty sure that All Hail is gonna be quite the rager for the pit people.

Favorite song(s): Buds, No More Bullshit

Overall: 6,5/10

Co-headlining tour with While She Sleeps through Europe is on now! Check their websites for a date near you: www.cancerbats.com 

Cheerio xx

Bring Me The Horizon - Sempiternal (Record Review)

To begin with, I admit that I used to be one of those people who refused to listen to BMTH due to all the prejudices about them back in the days. No song that I heard around that time was really for me. Sadly, those prejudices got verified to me when I saw them live at Rock am Ring 2011 and wasn't impressed with their live performance, whatsoever.

But, almost a year ago in a club in the UK, Sleepwalking was playing and when I asked about the artist to find out that it was by them, I was a little taken aback, to be completely fair. Ever since then, having matured with my taste in music and generally, I#ve noted it down in my mind to check them out properly again and give them another chance.

Now, duringone of my nightshifts the other day, Sleepwalking got played again and reminded me of the face of not having listened to that album still, so here we are finally.

Can You Feel My Heart is a perfect choice as an intro, showing the more melodic side of BMTH and introducing the new sound fairly well. It's not an instant kick in the face and an all balls to the wall banger, which is rather refreshing. The House of Wolves has me interested as long as the verses are going. The rather uncreative 'brick by brick' chanting irritates me, if anything, as well as the weak chorus in comparison to the raging verses. Empire instantly has me moving again with it's crawling intro which leads to this anthem-like tack and the chanting chorus' and rhythm-drenched verses. Definitely especially dig the drums in this one. Sleepwalking is not so much a stand-out track of the record and rather drowns in it, but due to its personal meaning and emotional weight it carries, it still pulls me in. If that wasn't the fact with that track specifically, it'd be a bit more average. Go To Hell has no special spark to it instrumentally, but lyrically is very strong and keeps me curious listening. Shadow Moses leans into the heavier side again then, but sadly is too repetitive with its lyrics for me. As And The Snakes Start To Sing kicks in, I'm really enjoying the laid back and realxed atmosphere it creates, yet, the lyrics, again, are way too repetitive to me and sadly have me lose my attention towards the end. Seen It All Before doesn't really make a difference there either, resembling its previous track a bit too much. Due to all this, I'm more than glad that I get ripped right back into the record by my knickers with Antivist. It probably being the most anger fueled and powerful track on the record, it really makes you rage through a mosh pit that seizes the size of the whole floor room at Wembley. As Crooked Young starts, I really feel like I'm on a rollercoasted with continoue ups and downs throughout this record. My opinion on the album keeps continuing to look like a sinus curve and it rises a little more due to the lyrics which gets damned again though by the shorus slowing the whole thing down again. With Hospitals Of Sould, I, once more, enjoy the lyrics more than the instrumental parts. I've never been a fan of spoken pieces in a song, unless they're done really, really well.

It seems like the lyrical strength and the instrumental power often don't find their way into the same song here.

Favorite track(s): Empire & Antivist

Overall: 7/10

Cheerio xx