7th June 2024

Review: “No Bliss In Ignorance” by Archives

They say that one good turn deserves another so having given us a debut full length album in 2021’s “Decay” which left a dent in our skulls, Northern Ireland Progressive Metalcore outfit Archives are due a second. They’ve earned the right by supporting Skindred during a run of sold out shows, reducing Techfest Techabiliation to rubble alongside Hacktivist and Martyr Defiled and of course scoring themselves 106k of Spotify and YouTube streams combined for single “Eulogy“. When they started out in 2020 their aim was to produce stout, fierce music with boundless energy and memorable hooks while pushing the envelope of Mental Health awareness, so how does sophomore album “No Bliss In Ignorance” stack up?

Capturing their live energy like lightening in a bottle Archives channel it into opening cut “Death Dealers” like a bolt of lightening from a wrathful God. A few seconds of industrial programming makes way for a huge opening riff, the pummelling drum sound of Daryl Montgomery clean and crisp as as the band offer up a sonic assault on the senses that hits from all directions. A tingle of melancholia creeps into the final third as the emotive lyrical narrative overpowers the blunt force trauma of the bands destructive pattern and the net result is a blistering start that sets the tone perfectly. Lewis Macrae of Rituals joins the party for “Sharkpit” as the band cross Metal subgenres with consummate ease, leaping from a catchy sing-a-long chorus wrapped in melody to a DJent fuelled riffs that border on Deathcore in their brutality. The harsh vocals from Adam Holland are monstrous but its the groove and energy that steal the show; the sound not being over polished so it has a raw quality to it as if recorded live on the floor. Introspection rises to the surface with “Self Inflicted“, some icy keys adding an eerie quality as staccato riff breaks flow like pouring rain. Clearly designed for mosh pit activities this one has a couple of moments of respite which don’t strip away any of the energy.

An almost ethereal clean vocal ushers in “No Sweat” as if Archives are about to give us a power ballad but instead they flip the script entirely, pulling the pin and throwing a grenade of hard hitting rhythmic battery. Bombastic basslines from Paul Douglas will put bounce in the mosh pit while a melodic bridge has an aching beauty to it that exposes the emotion behind the aggression of the vocal. Balance is key and here it’s on a knife edge, all the elements making this one sing like the sound of blade on blade contact during a knife fight. Benji Mars of Waterlines is an obvious choice of guest vocalist with the two bands sharing common influences and being noted for having the a very similar live energy to their performances. His appearance on “Make No Mistake” gives Archives licence to experiment with more programming including vinyl scratches as they unleash another beast of a track. Once again they balance their destructive core sound with melodic injections, the transitions between the two styles slick to ensure everything flows perfectly. Live they’re going to need a click track because there is so much going on here that the freight train will derail if they’re not careful. Such is the volatility and turbulent nature of the beast with tempo shifts and nuances galore. Darkness ripples through “The Easy Way Out” like a stone skimming across a mill pond; the depth of emotion that underlies it having a serious weight and gravity to it. Add to that the ache of the melancholic leads and you have something both enthralling and captivating on your hands as the band show no since of slowing down through the middle of the record. A bigger, bolder chorus changes the dynamic of “Catharsis” but it is no less restless, relentless or urgent with driving rhythms and a big DJent fuelled hook that hits like the scythe of the Grim Reaper. Vocal layering is also put to fantastic use with whispers, cleans and harsh vocals coming at you from all sides as the angular riffs churn up your cranial matter.

Where Archives found the guitar tone from for this album is what we want to know because on cuts like “Matriarch” it sounds incredible. What’s interesting about this one is there is zero accenting and nothing to suggest that the band are from Northern Ireland. If anything they sound like an American heavy end Metalcore band, especially when the clean vocal parts of this one rear their head. There is an almost pop sensibility to them as if inspired by tracks on the long running Fearless Records covers compilation series Punk Goes Pop but they never push that too far. A moments respite in the introduction of “Liquid Love Affair” has real darkness to it before the dual axe attack of Stewart Ferguson and Samuel Irwin go toe to toe once more in a tour de force of what this album is all about. A torrid tale unfolds with passion once the dust settles it’s another glorious addition to an album which catches the imagination. Not because it does anything that’s necessarily different, but everything is cleaner, sharper and far more vibrant here. Once more with feeling Archives drag out another flaming body in “Injustice“. A banger of a tune that will help you breathe more easily, the vocal range on display is once again incredible. Flirting with blast beats and Death Metal growls and then transcending seconds later into icy keys and clean vocals before rising once more with power and purpose, this one has it all. “No Bliss In Ignorance” is nothing short of stunning from start to finish, as the cliché goes all killer, no filler and in all honesty a better sophomore album might be hard to find because this is the work of a well oiled machine [9/10]

Track Listing