Architects — Hollow Crown

Hollow Crown

Distort/Universal

Logan Broger (CHARTattack)

02/26/2009 3:39pm

Architects first made waves in the metal community with 2006's very technical Nightmares. They replaced their singer and released the much less showoffy Ruin soon — some would say too soon — after.

Hollow Crown, their third and most anticipated effort, takes some of the technical aspects of Nightmares, throws them with the memorable chord progressions from Ruin, and hopes for the best.

This combination works well for a good portion of the album. The band falter when they try too hard to be diverse and emotional and throw in melodic, clean singing. The first four songs are all great and have heavy breakdowns, memorable riffs and the signature Architects swagger. There's even some seven-string Meshuggah-esque goodness on a few tracks, which they should do more of.

But the album loses its punch with "In Elegance." The electronic drums and clean singing are great in their own contexts, but with the Architects name on the cover, it feels like a band trying too hard. Frankly, every song falls flat from then on — even the ones that don't try too hard to be sappy — except for "One Of These Days," which has one of the most crushing breakdowns you'll hear.

A lot of bands try new things to change their sound, but the majority of risks that Architects take on Hollow Crown aren't worth it. The album's at its highest level of kickassery when the group stick to doing what they do best: being heavy and hardcore. I also advise the band to use the seven-string guitars more often next time.

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