Toronto, Ontario - May 2, 2024

Metal is alive and well – as proven by the 2024 headline tour for the four-piece band, Architects. After the iconic openers, Of Mice & Men, the club floor was shifting and buzzing with excitement. The first song on Architects setlist, as the band energetically entered via stage left, “Seeing Red” was perfectly appropriate as the simultaneous namesake of the tour. The song follows contradictory fans who are aggressive about a shift in musicality by the English band;

“I'm sorry for your sacrifice / I guess I must've sounded like the Anti-Christ”

As the stereotype goes; metal music is sent from the devil – that begs the question; why is it so great? After each and every song Architects singer, Sam Carter, thanked the crowd of dedicated fans for their politely-canadian, rambunctious presence at REBEL club in Toronto. As the room was swallowed in strobe lighting and fog machines, the crowd surfers emerged to use their physicality to express the intense therapy Architects’ music brings them. For a very special surprise, the most recent single (released April 9th), “Curse”, debuted live for the first time, tucked into the middle of the set.

It cannot go without mentioning the fantastic set the band performed on; on an already high stage, it was completed with a second platform to accommodate the pertinent percussive section of the band. Standing almost 20 feet in the air to show off Architects. They have been a staple band in the metal community, having been around since 2002. After a few lineup changes within the band, the current touring members have an electric synergy together. Sam Carter gutturally screaming to the other members, Dan Searle, Alex Dean, and Adam Christianson solidified the infectious sense of community to both each other and the fans in the room.

The all-ages show truly accommodated the die-hard fans even at 11 years old. Right up at the barricade a lovely girl and her mother stood, the young one holding a sign reading, “Architects you are one of my favorite bands. The songs I really like, I really like the song “Animals!” From Arya.” Luckily for this mini fan, the band finished their encore with Arya’s staple track.

With bass vibrations straight to the gut coupled with therapeutic lyricism, Architects completed a show full of fans of all kinds. Unfortunately, the venue is in a warehouse on an island outside the city, otherwise, those who don’t get the importance of metal music would have changed their tune to the overwhelming sound of a loving community.