The ending breakdowns on “Mortal After All” and the title track “Holy Hell” are perfect examples of this, as they are sonically two of the darkest songs on the album. Josh uses dissonance much more liberally, creating some of the darkest, heaviest breakdowns and riffs the band has ever written, sometimes not resolving the dissonance to create and unsettling, empty feeling. Though Tom’s writing could get very heavy and aggressively depressing, his harmonic language was rather consonant, occasionally using some dissonant intervals to really emphasize a passage. A lot of the massive feel and dark sound come from the chord voicings. I am especially fond of the little guitar lead lines that swell triumphantly out of the cacophony on songs like Hereafter and A Wasted Hymn, which add some color and life to what are otherwise very dark, dismal compositions. The electronic elements are prominent, but don’t overwhelm the soundscape, really emphasizing the dense, almost symphonic instrumentation. The guitar and bass tones are thick, full, and crunchy, while retaining surprising clarity. The composition and production are absolutely massive. The result is a sound that is still distinctly Architects but driven by a new artistic voice. Like I said, Josh’s metal-leaning style is blended with the jumpy, large interval based riffing Tom used. Holy Hell still retains the ambient, synth heavy sound of Architects recent work, as well as the chunky, vaguely djenty guitar tone, adding glitchy electronic effects similar to those found on the album closer from AOGHAU, “Memento Mori.” The riff style is perhaps the most refreshing change on this album. Though I will readily sing the praises of AOGHAU, there is no denying it is very much a Lost Forever // Lost Together 2.0. The result is a rather refreshing sound from a band many thought had stagnated sonically. Holy Hell uses more electronics than any past Architects album and is the most metal they have ever sounded, though make no mistake, this is definitively metalcore. One building upon the gorgeously ambient yet crushingly heavy metalcore sound Tom began developing on Daybreaker, implementing more electronics and drawing on Josh Middleton’s more metal background. Though Holy Hell is a tribute to the late Tom Searle, it also strives to define a new Architects.

Architects’ All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us is an album about the journey from anger to acceptance in the face of mortality, so it makes sense that their latest album, Holy Hell, is a journey through grief.

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