The last time British modern metal monoliths Architects played Australia at Unify 2020, they found themselves playing in a torrential downpour, while the smoke from a catastrophic bushfire hung in the air.  Given the absolute chaos that followed in the year following, as the global pandemic brought touring to a standstill,  both the band and their fans could have been forgiven for thinking that blistering performance was the last time they'd ever see Architects perform down under. Considering the emotional upheaval the band had already experienced, following the death of founding member Tom Searle in 2016, no one would have faulted them for putting the days of touring behind them, once the darkness of the pandemic kicked in. 

Thankfully for the band and their fans alike, Architects instead used the pandemic to double-down creatively, working their way through the doom to create and release not one, but two full-length albums, 2021's For Those That Wish To Exist and 2022's the classic symptoms of a broken spirit. Both records displayed an adventurous sonic evolution for the Brighton metallers, trading in some of their frantic signature soundscapes for stomping, melodic compositions, incorporating influences from outside their usual metalcore sphere.  The result was a pair of critically acclaimed, commercially successful records that have not only allowed Architects to connect with new fans, but also bonded the members closer together.  With the restrictions of the pandemic behind them, the band have been laying waste to stages across the globe and thoroughly enjoying themselves doing so. In February, it'll be Australia's turn to experience the Architects' live show once again when they hit the country with Counterparts and Thornhill.  

In the lead-up to the tour, Maniacs caught up with vocalist Sam Carter for a discussion about the band's sonic evolution and the classic symptoms of a broken spirit.

Maniacs: Architects are about to head down under on a very tidy tour package with Counterparts and Thornhill. Are you excited to be headed back to Australia?



Sam Carter: "We are very excited to come back to Australia. We always have a great time there. It really does feel like a sort of second home, in a way because we are always treated so nicely and we’ve got so many mates there." 

It’s a killer tour package, I’m curious what made you choose Counterparts and Thornhill to join you on this run?

"They're both great bands. We know Counterparts very well and have done for a long time. Thornhill, I don’t know personally, but I’m looking forward to meeting them because I’ve heard nothing but great things."

Thornhill have had a massive last 12 month down here, so it's going to be cool for fans to get to see them and Counterparts support you in these big rooms. Is that something that you're enjoying being able to do at this stage of your career, getting the opportunity to give bands, the chance to play in these rooms that they might not ever see in their careers otherwise?

"We’re always very aware of that, and we always try to make sure that we do that. There is something cool about being able to do it too. When we were young, we were given a lot of opportunities by other bands, so it’s important to keep that going. They’re both great bands too, so they’ll bring a lot to the tour." 

This Aussie tour is in support of not one, but two Architects albums that have dropped since you last visited. That is an unusually prolific pace for Architects. Do you feel like you’re in a wildly creative time in your career?

"I think the pandemic helped that because there was nothing else to do. We'd already sort of written the album For Those That Wish To Exist before the pandemic started. But we were in a really creative mode and we literally had nothing else to do, so we figured, why not? For me, if one of my favourite bands was releasing two records, I’d be stoked. So I try to think of it like that, instead of thinking of ‘oh, you’re only supposed to release this and this, and this is your time frame’."

The records themselves, For Those That Wish To Exist and the classic symptoms of a broken spirit, have each received a passionate response from your fanbase. Predominantly in a positive sense, but there has been some people getting their noses a little bit bent out of shape regarding what they consider to be quite a large change in your sound. Do you think artists should be able to evolve more freely? 

"No, they should stay the same forever! I think because we’ve been around for so long, we have to change it up to keep it interesting and keep ourselves kind of satisfied. I feel like if you stay in that safe zone forever, you’re not going to get anything done. I just feel like we wanted to try and push ourselves as musicians, push ourselves creatively to jump into the sort of unknown. It's been great. Reading stuff online, and sort of seeing the responses was pretty horrible at first,  but actually, when you play the shows, you see the actual response. And it's amazing, you know, some of the best bits in the set, are those new songs. So it's been great."

I’m curious, did you ever touch base with Parkway Drive about this?

No, I haven’t, but I would love to talk to them about it.



Your two bands seem to have sort of similar experiences in the sense that each time you make an alteration to your sound, there's this incredibly loud minority that kicks up a fuss that you don't still sound the same way you did in 2010. But when you get to the show, there's this really positive response to the new material, what’s that like for you?

It's crazy, especially online. It's like someone will say something, and then everyone just agrees with them. Because everyone's too scared to sort of have their own opinion. When really, they're still at home listening to it, you know, it's so weird.

The records were written quite close to one another, but do you consider them related to one another, thematically or musically?

Do you know what? I don’t and I feel like that’s why they are so different. But at the same time, feel like they also are in a way because you have to be inspired by what you've released, to an extent. I feel like songs like ‘Animals’ and ‘Ordinary Extinction’ off of For Those Who Wish To Exist, definitely set up ‘the classic symptoms of a broken spirit’. I feel like those were the ones that were the funnest moments of that album, so let's push it even more. 

Do you feel like you've settled into a rhythm now, as this version of Architects? 

Yeah, I do, I feel like we're in a happy spot. On the last tour, I definitely felt that. Creatively, I felt that were already good together, but actually just having fun and being silly and not having to worry about how we're going to come across, or what people's reactions will be if we don't play certain songs or whatever, and actually sort of taking ownership of the band, I think that’s been really important. I think there’s just a great atmosphere. Everyone's happy. And I think you know, your best music comes from that. And the best moments will come from that as well.

 Do you have any personal favourite songs from the classic symptoms of a broken spirit? 

“I love ‘Burn Down My House’. Especially after playing it live on this last tour that we were just on, it made me really love that song even more. ‘deep fake’ was one of the first ones that we wrote off the record, and it just feels like a really special song. ‘be very afraid’, I think is really fun as well. I love the fact that it fits in on the record but It wasn't just like just a standard heavy song. We wanted to bring in these other elements with it. But yeah, I love the record, I listened to it a lot before the tour to make sure that I remembered all the lyrics. But yeah, I think it's a great record and I'm really proud of it. Seeing how it connects with people every night was really special and meant a lot to all of us.”

Do you have a favourite song to perform live?

"‘when we were young’, it’s just too much fun, as soon as that riff kicks in."



I must say I was also really impressed by the orchestral version of Animals that you released, I feel like that’s something that your audience would love to see brought to life in a stadium one day. Is that something you’d like to do?

"I would love to do that. It’s one of those things where it takes so much work to be able to do it and make it work. So that’s what was so special about it, to us, just knowing that we put a lot of effort into that for it to become what it is, and for it to come off as it did. We're super proud of it."

Do you feel like it took people a little bit of time to come around to the idea that just because you'd added the guitarist from Sylosis, it didn't mean that you were necessarily going to go full-on tech death or something?

Definitely. It definitely seemed to spook some people. It’s funny with Josh as well, because when people slag off Architects, they seem to forget that he loves us and he writes for us too. So when Syslosis fans say “what is this fucking shit, play more Sylosis”, he’s like “I’m in both bands, leave me alone, let me enjoy doing both things”. He’s pretty funny with it, he doesn’t read any of the comments, and he doesn’t care to know about any of it really. 

The internet is a bit of an unstable place. What isn’t unstable though is Architects' influence on the next generation of bands. I think you personally might be the owner of the most singularly imitated vocal style in modern metal. How does it feel to have such an influence on so many new bands? 

I think you have to be flattered. I can’t really believe it. I’m just some kid from Brighton. I think it's the same with like the sound of the bands, you know, people love to try and get that sort of Architects style riff down, and yeah, it's just flattering, really, to sort of still be here and still be considered cool.

You’re about to do something really fucking cool, and that’s support Metallica. Is that something that you dreamed about as a kid?

"I can't even believe they know who we are, you know? I’m just stunned. It’s especially cool for Josh because he is such a big Metallica fan. So am I, but they are his favourite band of all time. I think for us, it’s still like ‘how does this happen?’ How do you get to the point where this is even possible? But we're gonna do our best, we’re gonna go out and play these enormous fucking venues and sort of see how we get on. Hopefully, their fans are kind to us."

 

The world seems to be stuck in an endless nostalgia trap right now where everything ‘00s is new again, so if you’ll humour me for a moment by answering this very important question Sam, what was your MySpace profile song?

"That’s a good one! I definitely remember having The Postal Service, ‘Such Great Heights’ for a while and then I had a lot of Architects' songs on my profile as well." 

If you could have a song play every time you entered the room as if you were a pro wrestler, what song would you choose?

‘Animals’. I’d have ‘Animals’ because that song just kicks ass. 

If you could create a dream lineup for a band, featuring any five musicians, dead or alive, who would you choose?

"It’d be the Beatles and me. We’d be the fab five. It’d be an interesting band." 

It would be an interesting band! I wonder if they’d start challenging themselves to write super dirty, metal songs, just to see if they could pull it off.



"They’d start tuning in drop f!" 

I think the biggest challenge would be how they’d incorporate a ‘blegh’ into a song! We all live in a ‘blegh’ submarine, perhaps?

"We'd definitely figure out a way to get it in there."



Thanks for chatting with us today Sam, we’ll see you at your ‘bleghing’ best in Australia. 

"Awesome mate, thank you so much."

Listen to Architects now.