Architects Honour Tom Searle With New Song, 'Doomsday'

This is not a drill! 

Over the weekend, a friend of mine who also loves Architects asked how long I thought it would be until we saw a new release from the English metalcore band. Considering all of the touring they've done lately, the (rightfully) insane response they received for 2016's stellar 'All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us', as well as the tragic passing of guitarist and key songwriter Tom Searle to skin cancer last year, I deduced that it would still be a fair while off yet.

However, that previously anticipated long wait for new Architects material has just been shattered with the band tonight dropping their first song since Tom's sudden death last August - 'Doomsday'.

This mammoth new single is just pure Architects, through and through. The rhythms, the tempo, the smooth layers of heavy and melodic guitars, the technical instrumental parts that recall their early records, the polished sonics, their atmospheric sensibilities and powerful sense of impact, Sam Carter's stronger emphasis on clean singing, and the generally solid, well-written nature of the piece - it's all what we've come to expect from Architects by now. And that's no bad thing!

'Doomsday' is not only a great song - both by the standards of Architects and their genre - but it carries so much more weight due to its immense personal meaning to the band. It's a composition that Tom started writing but never got to actually finish, and I think that the band has done a wonderful job of not only completing it but in also honoring their fallen guitarist at the same time. Oh, and before you ask, this is just a one-off single and won't be part of a wider album; proof that these guys can continue on and will indeed have a future together moving forward.

While the sound of 'Doomsday' is indeed representative of their style since 'Daybreaker' and onwards, what really makes this track stand out are the lyrics and the time and context that it's been released within.

The lyrics, in some ways, take on the perspective of Tom's brother and bandmate, drummer Dan Searle, who is seen in the song's heavenly ascension-themed music video meditating - something the drummer has mentioned in previous interviews as a coping mechanism for his brothers passing. The lyric of "You said you cheated death but heaven was in my head" hits like a freight train and that utterly massive chorus of "They say the good die young" is simply intense given the context. Some might call such lyrics the usual Architects pessimism, but they would only be half-right. Such lyrics are a painfully real display of the anguish this band (was) and is still feeling. As while they're on top of their game right now, are playing some massive shows all over the world, and also at the most popular they have ever been in their career, their grand, ever-expanding success comes at a time when Tom sadly couldn't be here to see it all come to such fruition himself. Which is the true tragedy here.

Honestly, most words kinda fail me right now. All I can say to cap this off is that 'Doomsday' isn't meant for you or for me; it's meant for Architects and their dearly departed friend and bandmate.

We're all just along for the ride.