New Metal Revolution: Architects - The Comeback Kids

Architects are right back on top of the pile.

YOU’VE BECOME REGARDED AS TRAILBLAZERS FOR THE UK SCENE. IS THAT SOMETHING YOU’RE COMFORTABLE WITH?

Sam Carter (vocals): “Not really, I always still think of us as a really small band. It’s just our mentality. It’s easy to get caught up in the nice things people say about you, so we always try to look forward and work hard to get better. We might inspire some younger bands as we have been going for 10 years and we’ve just released our most successful album, so in that case, maybe – but I’d never say trailblazer.”

IT ALL SEEMS A LONG WAY AWAY FROM THE BAND THAT RELEASED THE HERE AND NOW.

“Yeah, that was an odd time. I mean, I’m not going to slag off anyone who liked those songs, but that wasn’t Architects. We thought it was at the time but once we started touring those songs and playing them live it became clear that it wasn’t the band we were meant to be. So we knew with [2012 follow-up] Daybreaker that we had to get back on track.”/o:p

WHICH LED TO THE NEXT AND MOST SUCCESSFUL CHAPTER OF YOUR CAREERS…

“I think that all good bands do have their careers in different chapters, yes. I always relate it to Thrice: they ticked a lot of boxes for people when they first came out, and then became a little more selfish. Which is fine. And for us, we were kids who listened to Dillinger when we made Hollow Crown, then we got a bit more arty and now with Lost Forever/Lost Together we can go, ‘This is our band, this is who we are.’”

DID YOU THINK THREE YEARS AGO THAT YOU’D BE ABLE TO HEADLINE A VENUE LIKE THE ROUNDHOUSE?

“No, not at all. We just wanted to have another stab at touring. We headlined Koko on Hollow Crown and it felt like such an achievement. Then we couldn’t sell out the Kentish Town Forum on the Here And Now tour, so it was almost like being a kid again, having something taken away from you and having to win it back from scratch. It’s quite an exciting challenge to have!”

WITH BANDS LIKE BRING ME THE HORIZON MOVING INTO ARENAS, JUST HOW BIG CAN THIS SCENE GET?

“So they should be. They’ve always been that band, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger for them and it will get bigger still. They deserve it too, they’re great. There’s a trickle-down effect, and that can only be a good thing. We’re not close to that size but it makes you believe that it is possible. There’s a lot of good bands and a lot of potential for this to continue.”/o:p

HOLLOW VICTORY

The rise, fall and rise of Architects so far…

2004: Architects form in Brighton.

2006: The band release their solid debut, Nightmares.

2009: Career-defining third album Hollow Crown sets the scene ablaze. Shit gets real, basically.

2011: A misstep. The Here And Now is released to mixed reviews and the band’s potential suddenly looks uncertain.

2012: Luckily, a quick fix is introduced in the form of the much, much better Daybreaker! Hooray!

2014: A blinding UK tour and an ever-better album, Lost Forever/ Lost Together, sees Architects leading the pack once more.

2015: Their biggest UK tour yet suggests this ascendency isn’t stopping any time soon./o:p

Stephen joined the Louder team as a co-host of the Metal Hammer Podcast in late 2011, eventually becoming a regular contributor to the magazine. He has since written hundreds of articles for Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Louder, specialising in punk, hardcore and 90s metal. He also presents the Trve. Cvlt. Pop! podcast with Gaz Jones and makes regular appearances on the Bangers And Most podcast.