CD Review: Architects - Daybreaker

Written by Colin McNamara Friday, 01 June 2012 08:59

Artist: Architects
Title: Daybreaker
Genre: Mathcore/ Metalcore
Release Date: 25th May 2012
Label: Century Media Records

Album Review

With their latest release of ‘Daybreakers’, it really feels like the United Kingdom’s Mathcore kids ARCHITECTS have finally grown up a bit. With a more mature approach to not only their music, but also structure, this album features a decent mix of both fast, angry screaming tracks and slower, more melodramatic ones. While they’ve stepped farther away from the BEYOND THE HORIZON comparison and closer to BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, they’re still somewhere in between the two bands, which is perhaps best for them. Tracks like ‘The Bitter End’ and ‘These Colours Don’t Run’ are heavy and technical with plenty of rage whereas ‘Behind The Throne’ is much slower and features more keyboard work, giving listeners a look into the more mature, yet darker nature of the band. And then there are tracks like ‘Unbeliever’ that do a wonderful job at balancing the two, but at the same time featuring the typical “soft verse” and “hard and heavy chorus” moments that is typically associated with Mathcore/ Metalcore these days. But, it is certainly another baby step up from their previous ‘The Here And Now’, which was released barely a year ago, and a gigantic step from teenage angst fuelled ‘Hollow Crown’.

ARCHITECTS also employ a bigger number of guests to help them out. On ‘The Here And Now’, guests were prominent but only included on two tracks; on ‘Daybreakers’ there are about three. Most notable is BRING ME THE HORIZON vocalist Oil Sykes on ‘Even If You Win…’ as his shouts are layered on top of or next to Samuel Carter’s. However, because the two have such a similar vocal style, it can be hard to pick the two apart. The same can be said for the other guest vocals on ‘These Colours…’ with Jon Green of DEEZ NUTS and Drew York of STRAY FROM THE PATH on ‘Outsider Heart’. While adding these guests help more versatility with the music and also allow stronger relationships to be made between bands through collaborations, the pitfall is that the question remains on whether the guests help make the album, or that ARCHITECTS themselves are still carrying their own weight? Fortunately, due to similar vocal deliveries, one could say overall that ‘Daybreakers’ is still driven by the ARCHITECTS, and the musical ensemble delivered on a track like ‘Outsider Heart’ has picked up quite a bit in both rhythm and melody, so whether Drew York is included on the track or not probably makes little difference to the average fan. Overall, the average Mathcore fan will probably see ‘Daybreakers’ as another solid release, but to the more in depth ones, it is a mature, smart effort that could possibly be the band’s most thoughtful to date.


Tracklist

01. The Bitter End - 2:54
02. Alpha Omega - 3:55
03. These Colours Don't Run - 4:02
04. Daybreak - 3:32
05. Truth, Be Told - 4:31
06. Even If You Win, You're Still A Rat - 3:14
07. Outsider Heart - 3:28
08. Behind The Throne - 4:46
09. Devil's Island - 4:09
10. Feather Of Lead - 2:50
11. Unbeliever" - 4:49


Line-up

Samuel Carter – lead vocals
Tom Searle – guitars
Dan Searle – drums
Tim Hillier-Brook – guitars
Ali Dean – bass guitar


Website

http://www.architectsofficial.com/


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 8
Sound: 7
Total: 7.5 / 10