Architects UK – Daybreaker (Century Media Records)
Monday, 25th March 2013
Busy blokes Architects UK are, with the paint barely having dried from last year’s well-received The Here and Now. Subsequent tours had the band out and about with Rise Against, thus padding their reputation as one of the United Kingdom’s more exciting modern metal acts. However, Architects UK pretty much are one giant trend metal summation on Daybreaker; its joint parts, tight-pants roar, not-so-coy EMO vocals, and slippery countenance are pretty much everything most loathe about the cyclops haircut scene.
Riddled with all sorts of “post” elements (i.e. post-hardcore, post-punk, etc.),Daybreaker’s flow is aided by a healthy dosage of melody, that of which helps the cause in mildly redeemable jaunts like “These Colours Don’t Run,” and “Even If You Win, You’re Still A Rat,” which fittingly, has a guest spot from Bring Me the Horizon loudmouth Oli Sykes. The band’s dips in the whiney/emotive pool are largely forgettable and annoying, as heard on “Alpha Omega,” “Daybreak,” and “Behind the Throne,” which according to the band, is their biggest departure track to date thanks to its hushed tone and awash-with-keyboards atmosphere.
Architects UK and the youthful exuberance they demonstrate on Daybreaker is tailor-made for the under-18 crowd. You can grab a handful of these bands (let’s throw the aforementioned Bring Me the Horizon, Your Demise, and The Devil Wears Prada into the mix) and you’ll get essentially the same vapid, shallow result. Music like this is definitely not built to last, but hey, stranger things have happened. People still go to (hed) PE shows, right?
(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)
