Review Summary: A slight step back from previous works, but still noteworthy in its own right.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of short-sighted analysis when discussing Architects; according to some, they’ve been making the same album since
Daybreaker, they’ve creatively stagnated, so on and so forth. According to others, the band has been breaking new ground every step of the way, and that
Holy Hell is another step in that puzzle. Whether or not you fall in one of these two camps or somewhere outside of it, one thing that’s difficult to deny is that Architects are one of modern metalcore’s most consistent acts. After guitarist Tom Searle’s untimely demise, predecessor
All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us took on more evocative imagery; lyrics once maligned as generic became somewhat of a swansong for the late guitarist.
This album could not have been easy to create, so the fact that it’s out is surely a miracle in and of itself. The emotion on display is easily felt, as vocalist Sam Carter’s pained caterwauls dominate the album. Despite some of its lyrics being taken from the previous two releases, they serve as a heartfelt tribute to Searle. “I’ll dismantle piece by piece” from opener “Death Is Not Defeat” takes from the hook of
All Our Gods closer “Memento Mori”, and “remember we were born to burn” is a slight alteration of “Broken Cross” from
Lost Forever // Lost Together, among other instances. Melodic vocals have a larger presence than in past material (sans
The Here & Now), as almost every song features cleans in some form or another, whether a cross between his singing and his screaming voice or completely cleanly sung. Carter’s performances are drowning in their own emotion, but they don’t seem to have as much variance as in past works, so for some it can feel stale.
For all the album’s positives, there are some minor grievances to be had. Along with the aforementioned lack of vocal variance, and especially in contrast to previous works,
Holy Hell is their most conventional work since 2012’s
The Here and Now. The song structures here reflect a process much closer to your average popcore act than on say,
All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us. Sans "Doomsday", there is not a single song here that repeats the chorus less than three times; even “The Seventh Circle” repeats the same four lines a total of four times throughout its sub-2 minute runtime. Opener “Death Is Not Defeat” repeats its hook
five times, whereas the song it’s meant to be a continuation of only repeated its hook twice. Not to mention, for a band that’s classified as “progressive metalcore,” the other musicians seldom stand out in the mix. It’s not their fault, though; they’re not given much room to shine, as Sam Carter rarely steps away from the mic to let them take over.
Despite the setback in the structural department along with a greater emphasis on Carter’s vocals, the musicians manage well enough underneath, still presenting the listener with some fairly atmospheric lead work to accent the album’s emotion. Their replacement, Sylosis guitarist Josh Middleton, picks up where the late Tom Searle left off; as difficult is it is to replace someone like Searle, Middleton does do a decent job. If you weren’t paying attention to the lineup enough to know that he had passed on, there’s a chance that it would have been difficult to notice the change in instrumentalists. His emulation of Searle’s style works enough to keep Architects sounding, well,
Architects. The three-song stretch in “The Seventh Circle”, “Doomsday”, and “A Wasted Hymn” closes off the record a tad stronger than the stretch of “Death Is Not Defeat”, “Hereafter”, and “Mortal After All”, and that is in part due to the instrumentation on display.
Overall,
Holy Hell is a clear step back in quality from Architects’ last two, but that doesn’t make it a bad record, nor is it inexcusable in the slightest. Think of it as sort of a mulligan shot in a game of golf; if it flops, the band gets a second try. In a slight sense, this is Architects’
Dark Before Dawn; an album crafted during a transitional state of the band, just as the Breaking Benjamin album I’ve compared it to was. So in turn, there’s plenty of reason for it to be a step back, but it certainly was as I expected it to be. The bottom line: all we, as listeners, can really do now, other than enjoy the record, is hope for them to regain more solid footing in certain areas upon future releases.
Rest In Peace, Tom Searle. 1987-2016
