Architects Live for the Moment With Anthemic New Song 'When We Were Young' ". Loudwire. 20 April 2022 . Retrieved 13 May 2022. Any format on initial copies come with an exclusive signed print. architects have delivered their 10th studio album; an arena-ready opus entitled, the classic symptoms of a broken spirit, the follow up to their 2021 breakout album For Those That Wish To Exist, which hit #1 on the UK sales chart. Architects drop energetic new single, a new moral low ground". Kerrang!. 11 October 2022 . Retrieved 11 October 2022. Except it did. And then Architects went on their biggest UK tour to date. And then… went quiet again. They popped up at London’s legendary Abbey Road studios at the end of last year to record songs from the album with an orchestra, something the Beatles-obsessed frontman calls a “biblical experience”, but really, Architects had weighed up touring properly, didn’t like the way the cost-to-risk odds were looking at them with the pandemic still threatening to up-end everything, and so decided to write the next album. The fourth single, a new moral low ground was released at the beginning of October. This song features a beautiful melody, screaming verses, a high-energy chorus, and lastly, a piercing guitar solo to shake you to your core.

The heart and soul of the record resolutely remains the band that have risen to become one of the greatest in the UK. But where they previously found emotional expression through strings and expansive passages, TCSOABS further embraces the world of electronics into the band’s repertoire. From the glitchy to the ethereal, synthesised sounds are interwoven to the crunching guitars, stank-face breakdowns and pounding, militaristic percussion, adding further depth to a sound they’ve been perfecting for almost 20 years. Even without listening to the record, there’s a clear, calculated shift away from the supposition of what a metal band should be. Simple, white artwork with all titles in lower case – not a whiff of Satan worship or abject misery. Swisscharts.com – Architects – The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2022.I was already seeing a counsellor, but I wasn’t spending as much on it as I could,” he continues. “It's easy in life to go and spend a load of money at the pub, or to buy a vinyl that you've wanted for ages, but this was the lower levels of it. [I decided], ‘I'm going to try and make sure I get the best counsellor I possibly can, save up and actually just spend money on going and looking after myself.’” Sam is the first to admit that he doesn’t have the answers. And that as individuals – even one as engaged as he – almost anything you do is window dressing while an entire game is rigged against the planet. These anxieties exist within Architects' music, but so does the idea of sharing your worries with others and working out what can be done. Sure, not all of it hits the spot – all the love in the world tries to achieve heights it can’t quite reach and there are moments the band almost feel restrained, neglecting to go too heavy at times when it could have been a real benefit, but there are genuine flourishes here that will no doubt be setlist mainstays for years to come. The gargantuan when we were young is begging to be belted out in arenas, so too is the stomping chorus of born again pessimist, while new moral low ground is pure circle-pit fuel (and that solo is joyous).

a b Morton, Luke (21 October 2022). "Album review: Architects – the classic symptoms of a broken spirit". Kerrang! . Retrieved 21 October 2022. If this is what being mature and creating music that challenges themselves on an intellectual level sounds like and they’re genuinely proud of it, more power to them, but it genuinely seems as if they’re in denial while the music devolves to fit the capitalistic music industry giant. I’m of the conviction that they’re refusing to openly admit they’re taking the easy route while claiming it is otherwise. The fact that they embraced this lowercase-text-only aesthetic when it comes to the album/song titles and their social media presence comes off as a smokescreen tactic to me, employed to make this album appear as though it has any inkling of a deeper underlying personality when that is far from the truth, at least musically.If you’re reading this, you likely already have your popcorn ready, as the cat is now fully out of the bag that Architects have stooped to new musical lows. If it hadn’t yet hit you that this band was on a steady decline with For Those That Wish To Exist (despite there being a few redeeming moments), you definitely know now, as the classic symptoms of a broken spirit is an agonizingly unsatisfying musical offering for a band of such high caliber. All that you need to know is that this album possesses as much passion and creativity as the album artwork, and it’s a damn shame this is a reality considering their potential and what they used to be.

Now I know a lot of people might be surprised to find that I include "For Those That Wish To Exist" in Architects' streak of excellent albums. But, I still stand by my 4.5/5 star rating, probably more now than ever. If anything, this new album has solidified my opinions of it. I think the album is a great evolution of their sound while still keeping a lot of their indentity intact. I feel like I can maybe understand people's reactions to the previous album when listening to this one, because this one does give me those feelings that so many expressed about FTTWTE. I do overall enjoy the lead single "When We Were Young". The song follows in the footsteps of the previous album while changing it up enough to make it interesting. I also really enjoy "A New Moral Low Ground". This one offers some pretty interesting ideas for where Architects could take their sound in the future. I love the guitar solo and atmospheric bridge in particular. "Doomscrolling" is probably my favorite on the album in general, as it has some pretty good commentary on people's addiction to looking through tragic event after tragic event on social media. It's one of the few times the album's overall theme of us enjoying misery more than optimism works in the album. The ballad cut "Burn Down My House" is intriguing as well, and even though "Be Very Afraid" is a mess, it is one of the few real bursts of energy on the album. The frontman has been hurt and horrified by the response of some fans to their new music. While some have mourned the loss of the crushing heaviness that characterised Architects’ early material, a small minority of online comments have been downright disgusting. I never really bother with lyrics, because if you want to find something meaningful, you will read books, but this is as shallow in terms of delivering any message as a coloring book for adults. I cannot believe this is my life,” he grins. “I cannot believe it. I hope people can tell that. It just means so much. It's like someone's put LSD in my mouth.”

Ultratop.be – Architects – The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 October 2022. We finally know the answer to how Architects can follow up the majestic For Those That Wish To Exist . They have gone in a different direction. Instead of going for more orchestration and increasingly epic arrangements, they have taken a side step and focused on industrial-infused bangers that remain emotionally complex and expressive. It shares the sharp focus and brevity of Holy Hell but isn’t a regression at all. There’s more glitch and synth than strings but it’s also damn heavy. ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 31 October 2022 . Retrieved 28 October 2022. At the same time, Sam began examining himself and his life more thoroughly. Where the band had nobly been working through their grief in public, he realised it also needed quieter, more personal attention as well.