"Far from Ruin"

Architects - Ruin

Original release date: June 26, 2007

Distort

Track Listing:
1. Buried At Sea
2. Hunt Them Down
3. You'll Find Safety
4. Always
5. Sail This Ship Alone
6. Heartless
7. North Lane
8. I Cant See The Light
9. Low
10. Running From the Sun
11. Save Me

Even the most un-educated, un-experienced musician knows that more often than not, bands and artists thrive and endure on change.
However, while tip-toeing outside of what comes to feel like safety, it's equally as important for the band to maintain its musical essence that seperates its entity from the counterparts of its genre.
While some act's find themselves lost in these transitions, some thrive.

In come the Architects.

Just a shade over four months ago, this England based quintet dropped their first album, Nightmares, on Distort, and followed that up with what could easily torch a band's entire existence: Vocalist Matt Johnson was now the departing vocalist.
And it was a good thing.
It left room for a certain Sam Carter to take on the frontman position and absolutely slay and progress the band into the kind of skyscraping act that was an inch too far away from perfection on their previous album with their previous vocalist.

Ruin is what I would consider the very beginning of this band.
The first track of the 11 licks sets an ideal atmosphere for ears that relish in the kind of metallic-hardcore that inevitably makes your insides quiver.
Hunt Them Down displays Carter's seriously gutteral throat perfectly; at only 18 years old he sounds like he's been doing this for years. And not only is his voice steady and consistent, but his transitions between highs and lows are smooth - something not typical of young hardcore vocalists.
Most of the tracks explore some technical guitar work, but You'll Find Safety certainly stands out with catchy but entirely sensical riffs. It's obvious Tom Searle and Tim Hillier-Brook have flourished since Nightmares.
Sail This Ship Alone is a mellow and eerie break on ears filled with otherwise chaotic noise, while the finishing track Save me ends the album on a furious and jaw-dropping note.

This album shows promise for the Architects, and assures that even the most prominent and risky change can prove beneficial. Given that such changes have been made in such a brief period of time, Ruin and it's creators deserve kudos for this sophmore success.

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www.myspace.com/architectsuk