Brighton Metalcore outfit Architects have recently released their sixth album Lost Forever // Lost Together. After writing demos during their successful run on the 2013 Warped Tour, Architects (whose lineup includes chief songwriter Tom Searle on guitars, keyboards, his twin brother Dan on drums, Sam Carter on lead vocals, and Alex Dean on bass) took to Studio Fredman in the Swedish city of Gothenburg in the middle of the sunlight-starved winter spending a month living in the studio so that they could record whenever inspiration hit.
Equal parts delicate and brutal, Lost Forever // Lost Together showcases the band’s ability to blend brutal, thundering metal and melody-spiked hardcore with heavier riffs and intricate arrangements inspired by This Will Destroy You, and Sigur Ros.
We had a chat with lead songwriter and guitarist Tom Searle about one of his favourite genres- post-rock and how the post-rock sound has influenced him as an artist.
Introduction
“I’m not expert in the genre, but the bands I do know I truly love. Post-rock is perfect for anyone whose mind moves at a thousand miles an hour and fancies some audio induced peace.
I’d say some key features of the genre are – Reverb, delay, dynamics, repetition, and vocals are optional. Each band has its own take on it though, and like in every other genre, I doubt they like being pigeonholed! Well tough luck lads and ladies, I’m pigeonholing you.”
Post-rock Band Everyone Should Know
“Sigur Ros, Possibly my favourite band. They’ve got a load of amazing records and they don’t sound like anyone else. I remember our old vocalist playing me ( ) when I was about 15. At the time I thought it was ‘boring’ – I must have been a total idiot. Anyway, at some point I stopped being an idiot and realised that they’re geniuses. It’s not easy picking my favourite record but I’ll go for Takk. It’s such a peaceful but moving record, the song Hoppipola is probably one of the most life affirming bits of music you’re ever likely to hear. Unfortunately I’ve never seen them live and recently had to sell tickets to a show they were doing in Brighton because we were in America.”
Post-rock Album Everyone Should Listen To
This Will Destroy You – Self titled (2008)
“I’ve probably listened to this record more than any other, I love it. For about 3 years I could only sleep if I listened to this on my iPod. The opening track ‘Three Legged Workhorse’ is one of my favourite songs of all time. This album for sure had an influence on our new record. I love how dreamy and ambient it is. It’s the sort of record you can listen to from start to finish without realising where each track starts or finishes. You must get this album.”
Post-rock Song Everyone Should Hear
The Album Leaf – Window
“This is song is really beautiful. It’s a nice song for a sunny morning I reckon. I always liked the album this song is taken from, but bizarrely, one thing that really made me click with it was a youtube video! Weird, I know, but the music combined with Charlie Chaplin’s speech from the great dictator is really moving.”
Best Live Post-rock Band
“I’m not really an authority on this as I’ve seen hardly any! So I guess I’ll just have to go with what I’ve seen so I’ll say Mogwai. I actually first saw them 10 years ago on my 16th birthday. Me and my brother must have been the youngest people there! We saw them at the Astoria in London and had the audacity to smoke a joint on the balcony whilst they were playing. An amazing band though, and have an amazing back catalogue.”
Favourite Upcoming Post-rock Act
“Deafheaven – Okay, so they’re not exactly post rock, but there’s some post rock in the mix, for sure. Nor are they really upcoming, I’m pretty sure everyone has heard of Deafheaven by now. However compared to these other bands I’ve been talking about, they’re a ‘new’ band by comparison. I saw them support Kylesa and had never heard them previously, for me, they stole the show and have been a fan ever since. It’s a million miles from The Album Leaf but it’s still wide open and super melodic, it’s just buried beneath a load of distortion and blast beats. Whats not to like?”
The new Architects album Lost Forever // Lost Together is out now via UNFD
