Architects’ ninth studio album For Those That Wish To Exist navigates through atmospheric, electronic, orchestral, and metal-core soundscapes while asking immensely profound questions and offering no direct answers. For Those That Wish To Exist focuses on the part that humans are playing in the destruction of Earth. While focusing inward at what each individual can do to shift our course, the lyrical content is directed toward the human collective.
At just over 58 minutes, For Those That Wish To Exist is Architects’ longest album to date and the first album to not have any influence from Tom Searle, the band’s primary songwriter, guitarist, and best friend who passed away from cancer in 2016. The album also features Sam Carter’s wildly impressive vocal range that has expanded to embody soft lullabies, lamenting hymns, and ferocious screams. Guest vocalists Winston McCall (Parkway Drive), Mike Kerr (Royal Blood), and Simon Neil (Buffy Clyro) complimented Sam’s singing on tracks 7, 9, and 12.
“Discourse Is Dead” is one of the best tracks on the album that sounds similar to “Modern Misery.” Its catchy chorus, brutal screaming, and heavy drum pulse make it one of the heaviest songs on the album. “An Ordinary Extinction” opens with a legendary breakdown that will make you wish you could be at an Architects concert again. The atmospheric electronic interludes are offset with wicked drum parts and vocals by Sam Carter that will send shivers down your spine. “Goliath (feat. Sam Neil)” has an unbelievable finish that will leave you with chills as the band cuts out while Sam Neil’s raw screaming mixes with Dan Searle’s thrashing double kick drums.
Photo by Ed Mason
For Those That Wish To Exist asks many questions of the listener without directly pointing fingers at one person or political party. “What would you do to stay alive if the planet was burning,” “Do you really want to live forever, cause those afraid to die will never truly live,” and “We all say that we want to be saved but its easier to follow” are just a few of the unique and thought provoking lyrics on the album. The tone of the lyrics, written by Dan Searle, seem to be trapped between crumbling hopelessness for the cause and reignited belief that humanity still has time to change.
Principle songwriter Dan Searle summarizes the album by saying, “This album was me looking at our inability to change to a way of life that would sustain the human race and save the planet. The human race has become out of control; the world is dying and it is all our fault. It’s a manifestation of our collective behaviour that is running rampant, and at this moment desperately needs to be altered.”
Photo by Ed Mason
Due to the shift away from their more aggressive style, some fans may feel alienated by this album. This isn’t the breakdown laden, mindless, heavy metal album that many fans may crave. Instead Architects offers an attention grabbing, musically diverse, metal album that cannot be pinned to one specific genre. There are the several heavy breakdowns, but the album skews toward a more relaxed, melodic tone with soft singing instead of tortured screaming. Orchestral strings, horns, and choirs fill the empty spaces where guitars may have been in previous albums. Electronic glitches, delays, and reverbs also creep in behind the bass, drums, guitar, and vocal tones.
“Change has to start on a personal level. The world has developed a culture of wanting someone else to deal with it, when we need to take our own responsibility. It has to start there,” Dan Searle adds. For Those That Wish To Exist asks this generations most difficult and deeply profound questions regarding the destruction of our planet. What humanity chooses to do next is the answer.