Architects

Architects' new album "Holly Hell" has quickly become one of my favorites for 2018.  Their music can be described as metalcore or post-hardcore and their lyrics are sometimes a bit hard to comprehend as their vocalist, Sam Carter, utilizes both screaming and melodic choruses.  It's kind of like Linkin Park of old but with a heavier edge.

I know very few people like this style of music, but I wanted to try and give a bit of color/complexity to a genre of music that is generally dismissed as angry and shallow.

Background

The band Architects was formed in 2004 by twin brothers, Tom on the guitar and Dan on the drums.  Tom was also the principal song writer and lyricist.  His lyrics ranged from the low key angsty subjects (After all, he was a teenager when the band was created) to surprising activist stances, anger on global warming, religion and politics.  The band had a generally favorable run of albums leading to 2016's "All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us."

In 2012, Tom discovered a mole on his leg that was bothering him - while doctors initially thought it was nothing, after getting surgery to remove it he was diagnosed with melanoma.  I'm reading this after the fact, but I don't believe fans were told that he was still battling cancer until on August 21st, 2016 they announced his passing.

While the lyrics in "All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us," were already heavy, in the light of his passing they took on a darker feel.  In the song "Gone With the Wind" Tom writes:

I'm always gone with the wind
Crawling in and out of my mind
God knows I lost all my faith

A sickness with no remedy
Except the ones inside of me
You ever wonder how deep you could sink into nothing at all?
Disintegrate, annihilate me

The entire song seems to be about his struggle with mortality.  You'll find bits and pieces of it scattered throughout the entire album - especially on the last track "Momento Mori" (Latin expression for "be mindful of death.").  More on that later.

Death is Not Defeat // Momento Mori

The album Holy Hell came out just recently (November 2018) and while I enjoyed it after first listen, the music felt the same as their last album (which in hindsight is pretty awesome).  I was about to write it off but on a whim I decided to read the lyrics.

Since Tom's passing, the music and lyric duties were given to Dan.  In one interview Dan remarks on his brother's death:

Ultimately, there were two choices, feel sorry for yourself and believe the world to be a horrible place and let it defeat you.  Or let it inspire us to live the life that Tom would have wanted us to live.  I was very worried about people taking away a despondent message from the album.  I felt a level of responsibility to provide a light at the end of the tunnel for people who are going through terrible experiences.  For me, broadly speaking Holy Hell is about pain: the way we process it, cope with it, and live with it.  There is value in pain.  It's where we learn it's where we grow.

The first song, "Death is Not Defeat" really blew me away with it's parallels and callbacks to "Momento Mori."  In "Momento Mori" Tom wrote in the chorus "Dismantled piece by piece" and then at the bridge "It'll wear you down through skin and bone..."

Here's the chorus from "Death is Not Defeat:"

When I leave this skin and bone
Beyond my final heartbeat
I'll dismantle piece by piece
And I will know that death is not defeat

Dan's opening lines establish a direct link to the song created two years earlier by his brother.  It's a great little call back that wouldn't register (or you would think lazy song writing) if you weren't paying attention.

It goes on further...

Momento Mori's second verse:

When my heart skips two beats...
I am hidden deep, fast asleep
...the sea will part where oceans meet
Finally complete.

Compare that to the first two lines in the bridge in "Death Is Not Defeat" where Dan invokes that imagery:

Now you're finally complete
I will see you where oceans meet

It's a beautiful recall - one brother contemplating his death and the other brother with a message of hope.  On top of all of this, during the bridge they play the bass line lifted directly from Momento Mori (in half time?) - just to make sure you know it's not a fluke that they're using the same imagery.

For those wondering what the songs sound like, I'll link to youtube videos:

Death is Not Defeat

Momento Mori

I think I have more to say on the subject of grief and loss, but I'll save that for another time.  I know this post isn't going to make anyone metalcore fans, but hey, it felt good to write.