Under The Influence #76: Agony Atlas on “Holy Hell” by Architects!

What can we say about Brighton Progressive Metalcore heroes Architects that we haven’t already? As their tour cycle for “Holy Hell” has come to an end and the band are preparing for the next phase of their career in “For Those That Wish To Exist” which will appear in February 2021, it seems apt that Agony Atlas pay tribute to them here. As an album, “Holy Hell” has a huge weight of sentiment and emotion attached to it as it features “Doomsday“, a song that Tom Searle was unable to finish before his tragic passing at the end of a lengthy battle with cancer. The band completed the track an it sits provide of place on the record with Sylosis guitarist Josh Middleton had becoming a full-time member as together they inked an album with a loose concept; how we process and live with pain, finding ways to cope from day to day, how we value it and how we learn from it. The album may have a more streamlined sound but it’s distinctly still Architects and having witnessed these songs performed live, its safe to say, it’s just as powerful.

Agony Atlas comment: “Everyone who listens to our first EP „Retrogression Part I: Egomania“ will find other influences. Each song will surely remind them of different bands. Why‘s that, you ask? We combine many styles and merge them into our own, that’s why. Everyone of us has their personal musical background. (If you want to know which backgrounds I’m talking about: from October on we will release a spotify playlist for every band member. Just follow us on Instagram and Facebook to be up to date or take a look at our Spotify page from time to time.) But when it comes to bands and albums that influenced our first EP, one clearly stands out: „Holy Hell“ from ARCHITECTS. Their mix sounds powerful all the while being high-resolution. The songwriting is first-class, heavy and also melodic with lots of punch and catchy tunes. It’s all about heavy, syncopated and staccato rhythms, deeply tuned guitars and catchy refrains to shout or sing along. This being said, consider it a mix of the core-elements of Djent and Metalcore. It makes you want to bang your head almost all of the time. Last but not least the synths, keys and samples enrich the whole thing and really take it to another level. Their texts are also inspiring. Mankind has done a lot of awful things. It’s right to question those acts and to take a look on the inner self. But here we take a different approach than ARCHITECTS. Thinking of Opeth on this one, it’s all about a watershed, a turning point. Now is the time to act, to prove that we can do better, that we can change our behaviour before it’s too late. But time is running out. We hope you can see now why „Holy Hell“ is outstanding for us. Maybe you’ll give it a try, if you haven’t listened to it yet.”