Architects just released the best orchestral metal track since S&M

By Merlin Alderslade
( Metal Hammer )
published

Architects release orchestral version of Animals filmed at Abbey Road Studios – single taken from new album For Those That Wish To Exist

Architects
(Image credit: Ed Mason)

Mere weeks after Architects made history by landing their first ever Number 1 on the UK album charts, Brighton’s finest are proving that they’re not content with just resting on past...er...current glories. Earlier today, the quintet released a levelled-up version of last year’s Animals single, recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios and featuring a full orchestra. And it sounds spectacular.

“This was an amazing opportunity to reimagine Animals entirely,” the band said in a statement accompanying the release of the track and accompanying video. “We took away the jagged synths, replaced them with an orchestra and recorded it in the world famous Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios. The result is something unlike anything we’ve ever done before. We hope you enjoy it.”

Perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised that Architects’ latest experiment has paid off so well. For Those That Wish To Exist, the outstanding album that spawned Animals and nabbed the band that sacred Number 1 spot, is a record that sounds ready-made for the orchestra treatment, so vast and multilayered is its scope. 

Still, this reimagining comes off so smoothly that it draws instant comparison to the finer moments of Metallica’s S&M album. The brass section blaring through that pulsating opening riff sounds positively demented, the strings scything through the chorus give Sam’s voice an elevated sense of drama and urgency, and the war horns blaring across the midsection breakdown sound nothing less than apocalyptic. 

Animals was already an instant classic: an ominous, imposing anthem for a cynical generation. With this added oomph, it sounds like a soundtrack to the end times. Surely a full orchestra show has to happen down the line now?

For Those That Wish To Exist features guest appearances from Parkway Drive frontman Winston McCall, Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil and Royal Blood's Mike Kerr and is out now via Epitaph. Architects have announced a small series of album launch shows for later in the year. 

For Those That Wish To Exist track listing:

1. Do You Dream of Armageddon?
2. Black Lungs
3. Giving Blood
4. Discourse Is Dead
5. Dead Butterflies
6. An Ordinary Extinction
7. Impermanence ft. Winston McCall (Parkway Drive)
8. Flight Without Feathers
9. Little Wonder ft. Mike Kerr (Royal Blood)
10. Animals
11. Libertine
12. Goliath ft. Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro)
13. Demi God
14. Meteor
15. Dying Is Absolutely Safe

Merlin Alderslade
Merlin Alderslade
Executive Editor, Louder

Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.