Architect-Ghost Of The Saltwater Machines Review

“When it’s all said and done, everyone dies alone,” vocalist Keith Allen screams during a brutal breakdown on “Casus Belli,” one of several on Architect’s sophomore album Ghost Of The Saltwater Machines. For 38 minutes, Architect blazes through song after song, with nary a melodic moment in sight, save for the soft electric guitar opening up “Camelot In Smithereens.” The weighty material, coupled with the wall-of-sound production, overcomes the listener on the first play-through and may prove to be too much for those who like a bit of melody with their heaviness.

 

Multiple listens are warranted to grasp the political and philosophical message beneath the pummeling drums and relentless guitar work, inspired by a blend of hardcore, punk and stoner metal. Gang vocals, another mainstay of hardcore music, are sparingly used, but when they are, in “Lamplighter” and “The Dog And Pony Show,” Allen sounds like a four-star commander leading his troops onto the beaches of Normandy.  

 

Ghost Of The Saltwater Machines is seemingly split in half, divided by the quick interlude “I Am Become Death.” The first half is straightforward, with three-to-four minute slabs of hardcore. The second half, however, pushes the song lengths past the five minute mark, with the exception of the mediocre “House Of 1,000 Habeas Corpses.” Samples of speeches and out-of-key singing bookend these tracks, which all leads up to epic closer “Traitor.” With a long breakdown and plenty of screeching guitar feedback to tear into a listener’s eardrums, it lends a bleak and apocalyptic conclusion to Ghost Of The Saltwater Machines.

 

Hardcore music has become a saturated genre, with dime-a-dozen bands cranking out politically-charged messages hidden behind screams, breakdowns and gang vocals. Architect doesn’t re-invent the wheel, but provides a solid follow-up to All Is Not Lost. Fans of hardcore and metal will find Ghost Of The Saltwater Machines to be an engaging and compelling album, with a lot of material to digest; just don’t expect to be floored by the final product as a whole.

 

Rating: 7.0/10

Label: Black Market Activities/Metal Blade

Website: http://www.myspace.com/architectkills