The Architect is undeniably one of the most well-rounded post-hardcore albums as of late. It shines with prog influence. It’s packed with single-friendly tracks. It’s one of very few albums where the thought of skipping any tracks never manifests (though I do have favorites).
Now, post-hardcore is a bit of an ambiguous term. I know that for many, myself included, the term is tied technical punk-adjacent bands in the mid-2000s. But with the dawn of Dance Gavin Dance and some of the so-called “mall emo” bands, the term has come to broadly encompass a “hardcore lite” type approach. It’s not quite metalcore, it’s not traditional punk, and there’s a fair bit of accessibility in the clean vocals. It’s not the post-hardcore I grew up with by any stretch, and admittedly I’ve shied away from it for some of these very reasons. The good cop, bad cop vocal approach with unnaturally high clean vocals gets tiring quickly.
But Eidola manages to chew the fat and spit out the bones of this formula. The clean vocals certainly follow convention a bit, but they’re not going to shatter the glass in your windows. And there’s a lot going on melodically and harmonically in these songs. There are riffs, breakdowns, and solos. There are sing-along choruses. There’s even… sitar? I can’t help but think of early Periphery and TesseracT. This isn’t djent by any stretch, but some comparison is definitely warranted. The songwriting is compelling and the arrangements are fluid. There’s a lot of energy here at nearly all moments.
Some of the strongest tracks are strung back to back for a good half of the album, and many of them were released as singles. “Hidden Worship” feeds seamlessly into “Counterfeit Shrines”, and both of these tracks hold their own but showcase incredible synergy as a gapless seven-and-a-half-minute epic of sorts. New additions include “Caustic Prayer”, “Empty Gardens”, and “Occam’s Razor”. The latter of these is a restrained ballad, but it feels just at home as all of its counterparts. “Perennial Philosophy” rounds out the first half, and it’s certainly one of the songs I’ve shared with friends to give a taste of the album. But even that decision is a difficult one – “Empty Gardens” is one of the more surprising new tracks with its female guest vocals.
A majority of the second half is new, which could be a fault or strength depending on your perspective. Familiarity bias is powerful, after all. The second half is not decidedly different than the first, however. “Forgotten Tongues” carries the torch effortlessly and could have easily been a single in its own right, even with a bit more of a focus on the “harder” side of the band’s dynamic. There’s a bit of an odd spoken word segment, but it’s far from slam poetry hour and melds into the existing intensity of the instrumentation.
Likewise, “Unequivocal Nature” plays to the harder side of the band with its intro – but the chorus here is one of the most infectious on the record. The transitions between poppier and aggressive moments might be more abrupt, but it works. And this is the track with the sitar riff, so you’ll want to stick around for it.
The final act of the album starts with “Elephant Bones”, a dissonant-yet-melodic track that verges on math rock at times. It’s one of the more volatile tracks in some respects as the progressive metal moments weave in and out quickly. It’s the compositional juxtaposition between the light and heavy moments that makes it stand out; while other tracks tie these parts together effortlessly, there’s an intentional tension here. “Mutual Fear” leans into the band’s aggressive tendencies, producing an all-out audio assault. “Ancient Temperament” is proper epic end, spanning over six minutes and showcasing a full array of the band’s techniques. It’s not particularly more dynamic than any of its predecessors, but it’s certainly not less dynamic, either. The final two or so minutes of the record consist of instrumental riffing that definitely has a bit of djent flair.
And that’s the record in a nutshell – the latter half might not be packed with all of the singles, but that’s not to say there isn’t a lot to love. It’s heavier and arguably even more experimental than the first half.
Ultimately, The Architect has something for all flavor of fans of heavy music. It has a metaphysical lyrical concept and wild song structures for fans of prog; it has intense screaming and breakdowns for fans of thrash, metalcore, and deathcore; the clean vocals and melodic motifs will feel familiar to fans of more accessible bands. Eidola doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but they’ve certainly engineered a more interesting one than many of their compatriots. They manage to reinvigorate a subset of the post-hardcore sound I haven’t cared for in years. I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed this album. Maybe you will be, too.
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