Architects – Ruin

Expectations are a killer, man.

On my review for their last album, Nightmares, I stated that: “Architects are trying really hard to impress me.” For a young band (age wise) they portrayed obvious technical proficiency and really had the basics of making a catchy, yet heavy, tech-metal song. Something plenty of bands attempt, but rarely achieve. However, I still had numerous qualms about it and it didn’t immediately appeal to me, rather catching my attention well after I wrote my review. It was a grower for sure, but it was worth it, terrible lyrics and boring vocals aside.

So, upon hearing shortly the time of my discovery of Nightmares, the band was gearing up to release their next album, which I was excited for. They have potential as a band to be at the forefront of technical metal if they play their chords right. Unfortunately Ruin is a bit of a letdown.

Firstly, they no longer go the way of the Dillinger. Instead, stylizing their music with something a bit more “acceptable” in today’s standards. It’s not that it’s particularly generic, but it doesn’t really stand out like their last album did. One big change is that they have a new vocalist/lyricist, which could have gone either way for the band. Their last singer had a problem where his screaming style just didn’t fit the music at parts. Newly installed Sam Carter doesn’t do much to solve this problem, rather then adding his own kind of awkward vocals that still don’t seem to fit with the music at all. Case in point, the opener, Buried At Sea, where his screams seem lost and misplaced throughout the waves of music surrounding it.

Lyrically, this album is a mess as well. I understand the need to write songs about broken hearts, it helps, but when nearly every song is misogynistic, it becomes a bit excessive. There’s only so much one can write about a specific topic before it starts sounding dry. “Gems” from the album include (but are not limited to) “The sun was so low that day / Staring into burning eyes / Watch as I walk away from you / From the lies that you made my life.” (Running from the sun) and “I know that you said I was all you ever wanted / but you pushed me overboard / into knee deep water / and you didn’t throw down the anchor of hope.” (Heartless)

The album isn’t a failure, however. Architects have gotten heavier over the past year and it really comes across thematically throughout the music of this album. Moments of chaos run rampant throughout Ruin, though kind of excessively. It kind of gives the sense of listening to the end of the world at points. My favourite aspect of their last album, the occasional melodic singing, thankfully hasn’t been tarnished this time around, maintaining the same sort of epic transcendence from song to song.

If you can get over its flaws, it’s not a terrible album by any means; it’s a lot cleaner sounding then their last record. In terms of the potential I saw in them before, it’s still there, but I can’t really see them making an album I’d truly enjoy because of the path they’re choosing to follow. For the rest, if you enjoy ground-pounding and Dance-floor Ninjitsu, then I can imagine tons of iPods with this on repeat.