Album Review: Architects – For Those That Wish to Exist (Epitaph)

Carl Fisher 2 min read

Metalcore heavyweights Architects return with their brand new album, For Those That Wish to Exist. Released on February 26th 2021 via Epitaph.

With a central theme surrounding the destruction of the planet caused by climate change, Architects’ 9th album is not an upbeat listen. However, it is a bold step forward for the band. A musical reinvention of themselves with a much cleaner and colourful array of ideas to showcase. It’s not a million miles away from 2019’s Holy Hell but at times, a lot of time, it feels as though there is at least an ocean between those releases.

Most bands wouldn’t still be looking at reinvention and evolution come album number 9. Architects aren’t most bands and on For Those That Wish to Exist they make it clear that they’re looking forward, rather than backwards.

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The end result? Admirable but flawed. The cinematic flair and electronica, something heavily introduced here, has some highs and plenty of lows. The focus on cleaner singing over harsh screams is something that will no doubt be polarising. The high level of production? Questionable. There’s a strong argument that it has been produced within an inch of its life and that level of cleanliness just sounds odd.

After a few listens, the gnawing feeling of disappointment is hard to shake. In fact it begins to expand even if certain tracks are definitely growers. Tracks like Black Lungs, An Ordinary Extinction, Goliath and Meteor are efforts that can be rightfully called class.

The thing is, for all its flaws, it’s still a good album. It’s just not a great album and after the last few releases, a great album is what we kind of expect from Architects. They’ve taken a risk here and time will tell if it pays off, but it’s hard to get too excited about this album. Whereas Architects always felt like necessary listening, For Those That Wish to Exist is more of a ‘check out if you find time’ kind of recommendation.

Architects – For Those That Wish to Exist Full 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
8. Flight Without Feathers
9. Little Wonder
10. Animals
11. Libertine
12. Goliath
13. Demi God
14. Meteor
15. Dying is Absolutely Safe




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Architects - For Those That Wish to Exist (Epitaph)
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