Review Summary: A solid release that displays the band at the height of their song crafting ability. Some great riffs and a good vocal performance throughout, [i]Hollow Crown[/i] proves to be a delicious slice of metalcore.
Architects have come a long way since their inception into the UK metalcore scene way back when their debut album
Nightmares was released. Since then, the band have gone through a fair amount of transformation, with their sophomore effort
Ruin introducing us to the vocal stylistics of Sam Carter and further releases showcasing quite a bit of genre-bending in terms of their sound. This album, their third release, is often cited as one of the best releases by the band. Whilst not as technical as the two previous outings, it displays a band at the height of their song crafting ability, with many tracks proving to be both interesting and dynamic in terms of structure and musicianship.
Hollow Crown opens up with, quite frankly, the best and heaviest song present on the album.
Early Grave begins with a monolithic guitar riff, full of off-kilter groove and even Meshuggah=esque rhythmic technicality. It is a rip-roaring fest of great riffs, tight and complex drumming and scathing vocals from Sam. From a production aspect, everything sounds sharp - the guitars are heavy, the bass shines through well and the vocals are abrasive. All is well then, yet if listeners were to expect the album to continue in the same vein, they would be mistaken . The heightened focus on melody is what truly separates this outing from both
Ruin and
Nightmares. with tracks such as
In Elegance surpassing songs on previous efforts in terms of melodic composition (and of course, clean singing). Sam is a competent vocalist at both screaming/shouting and singing and many choruses in the songs on
Hollow Crown feature his crooning. However, I believe that the best that the album has to offer comes in the form of the heavier tracks showcased here.
We're All Alone is a frenetic display of dissonant tri-tones and hardcore influenced riffs, with a great bridge featuring the trademark tapping that has come to feature in so many great Archies songs.
Borrowed Time contains some wonderfully tight blastbeat sections gluing those downright nasty drop-tuned guitar riffs together and
Dead March is a superb display of 7-string guitar monstrosity. And of course, the closer of the album delivers an emotional gut punch and serves as an anthem of the whole thing, with gentle guitar melodies building into a climactic ending, showing the band's lighter side.
As a whole,
Hollow Crown does very little in terms of providing the listener with anything unique or genre defying. However, it is a solid effort and shows the band at the height of their songwriting ability, with enough riffs coupled with melodious and heartfelt sections to keep you occupied during its running length. Whilst I for one deem their previous albums to be better than this, nobody can deny the brilliance of some of the tracks (particularly
Early Grave and
We're All Alone) and the well-rounded, if not explicitly superb, rest of the album. Solid album deserves your attention (for the most part).
Recommended Tracks
Early Grave
Numbers Count For Nothing
We're All Alone
Dead March
