Album Review: Architects – Holy Hell (Epitaph Records)

Holy Hell is an album about loss. The tragic death of guitarist Tom Searle in 2016 hurt Architects badly. Not just a personal loss to the rest of the band, Tom was a key figure in the songwriting department and a major force behind the bands rise to the top of the metalcore field.

We’ve been following this album with baited breath and you can read our reviews of the previously released singles below as well as a review of their live show early this year in London here.

Hereafter
Royal Beggars
Doomsday
Modern Misery

Holy Hell is out now via Epitaph Records.

There is no escaping the fact that Holy Hell is an emotionally driven album. From the melodic highs and lows to the lyrical content to the specific track, Doomsday which Tom Searle co-wrote. This does make it less accessible when compared to the previous record All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us.

If you’re looking for anthems, the sort that has you singing choruses at the top of your voice then you may come away disappointed. Holy Hell is painful album and it will sit heavily on the mind long after the 11 tracks have finished up.

There’s growth here. From the string sections of Death is Not Defeat to lead single, Hereafter which lyrically shows the heartache the band suffered to the throat-shredding vocal performance of Sam Carter on the final track A Wasted Hymn. Architects certainly give it their all and it is one of the most personal records heard this year.

You can hear the high-end production job throughout but Holy Hell is still very much a metal record. Architects’ passion for heavy shines through loud and clear on the likes of the title track and its catchy chorus, the technical riffing of Modern Misery and the rage-filled, circle pit nastiness of The Seventh Circle.

Fear not, Holy Hell is a banger and not a step back for the band. Few would have survived the loss of such an important member and this is clearly an album that Architects had to do. It’s not as instantly memorable but the emotion drips through every single riff, hook and scream.

Architects – Holy Hell Full Track Listing:

1. Death is Not Defeat
2. Hereafter
3. Mortal After All
4. Holy Hell
5. Damnation
6. Royal Beggars
7. Modern Misery
8. Dying to Heal
9. The Seventh Circle
10. Doomsday
11. A Wasted Hymn