The latest issue of the Full Pelt Magazine is here, and you can download your copy for free below!
Volume 14 features cover stars Don Broco as they conclude their ‘Amazing Things’ era. We also catch Halestorm play their biggest headline show to date and The Darkness as they celebrate 20 years of ‘Permission to Land’!
We have our News Report rounding up new releases from Green Day, IDLES, Dream State, While She Sleeps, Architects, Marisa and the Moths, TheCityIsOurs, DragonForce, Scott Stapp, South of Salem, Royal Tusk, Casey, Bad Touch and I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME!
Plus new live announcements from Victorious Festival, Steelhouse Festival, Radar Festival, Maid of Stone, All Points East, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Dream State, Rituals, Scorpions, Creeper, The Cadillac Three, Limp Bizkit, Bloc Party, Twin Atlantic, Knocked Loose, The Almighty, Sepultura, Orbit Culture, Deaf Havana, Kasabian, Millie Manders and the Shutup and The Zutons!
Finally, we round up the latest additions to our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist with SAVE US, The Gems and Interlaker!
Biffy Clyro had just announced a UK Arena Tour when the world shut up shop in March 2020. Since then they’ve released two albums, headlined Reading & Leeds and Download Festivals and played an intimate run of UK dates. Now, two and a half years later the band finally gets to grace again the largest indoor venues the country has to offer.
Tonight that places them at the monstrous O2 Arena in London in front of a packed Saturday night crowd. Anticipation is high, and not just for the Scottish heroes, but for special guests Architects fresh from an arena tour of their own back in May.
Both bands will be hoping the crosspollination of their audiences will earn new admirers and for Architects up first there is clearly is mixture of diehard fans and trepidatious unfamiliar audience members.
Focusing on their more accessible recent material is a clever move from the band and tracks such as ‘deep fake’ and ‘tear gas’ ease inhibitions and start to win over those starting out on the fence.
WATCH ‘ANIMALS’ ON FROM ARCHITECTS ON YOUTUBE
Architects – ‘Animals’
A smooth and effortless run through of the likes of ‘Dead Butterflies’, ‘Doomsday’, ‘when we were young’ and closer ‘Animals’ ensures many new fans will have been found tonight. A random introduction from Joel Dommett stated that Architects are one of the best bands in the UK, and whilst our headliners have a major stake in that argument, tonight our guests have ensured that they are in the conversation.
Anybody that has seen Biffy Clyro live however will know that they are one of the most consistently impressive live forces on the circuit. Tonight, to the surprise of nobody, they are once again a level above the competition.
WATCH ‘WHO’S GOT A MATCH?’ FROM BIFFY CLYRO ON YOUTUBE
Opening trio ‘DumDum’, ‘A Hunger In Your Haunt’ and ‘Tiny Indoor Fireworks’ perhaps provide a slow start to the set but from ‘Who’s Got A Match?’ onwards the venue comes alive as the band produce the proverbial banger after banger.
The composition of the setlist is well balanced with a good mix of new, old and the return of a couple of even older pre-mainstream Biffy Clyro numbers ‘57’ and ‘Glitter and Trauma’.
The stage is simple but effective with the music the focal point tonight, and with the likes of ‘Instant History’, ‘Mountains’, ‘Wolves of Winter’ and ‘Biblical’ on offer that’s all that is really needed.
Just watching the crowd reactions to the likes of ‘Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies’, ‘The Captain’, ‘Bubbles’ and ‘Many of Horror’ makes is so obvious that Biffy Clyro are now fully established as an elite tier act. Mon the Biff!
ARCHITECTS – THE CLASSIC SYMPTOMS OF A BROKEN SPIRIT – ALBUM REVIEW
Just 18 months removed from their stunning and evolutionary ninth album, ‘For Those That Wish To Exist’, Architects are back album with their tenth album, ‘the classic symptoms of a broken spirit’!
Momentum is certainly on the bands side, so striking while the iron is hot, the band are right to release their follow up so soon after such a well received record. This is borne out through the substantiated quality of this album.
A dud of an album at this point could be a momentum killer – see ‘Temper Temper’, so this is a calculated risk from the band. That calculation however was right with them clearly knowing the quality of the music they had.
The album is straight into the action on opener ‘deep fake’, and manages to keep a relentless pace throughout the next forty plus minutes. There is no dip in either ferocity or excellence as the likes of singles ‘tear gas’, ‘when we were young’ and ‘a new moral low ground’ demonstrate.
The depth on this album is truly impressive though as beyond the singles you still have tracks as good as ‘spit the bone’, doomscrolling’ and ‘all the love in the world’. In reality there isn’t a bad track on another superb offering from one of heavy music’s biggest hopes.
They may now be ten albums in, but over the past three, Architects are shown their development and progression to something much bigger than their beginnings. Their upcoming tour with Biffy Clyro will introduce them to an even more diverse audience, and as they continue to break the mainstream and pickup fans, the world very much is their oyster!
2021 has been another tough year to live through. There have been some signs of normal life, for example the return of live music, but we end it as we started with true normality a distant memory.
This year has however been a stunning year for new music releases. Yes, lockdown musicians and the odds are their creativity will take over. In Full Pelt Music’s first full year of existence we have reviewed 65 albums and the quality of those releases has been exceptional.
Last year we counted down our Top 20 albums of the year, with a special Advent Calendar countdown on our Twitter. This year we have expanded! Our 2021 countdown has taken place across all our social platforms, and has listed our Top 50 albums of the year!
With that social media countdown completed, it’s now time to compile our completed Top 50 in one place. So let’s get started!
What we said:
“there are stunning moments spread throughout the album”
Rob Zombie – ‘The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)’
What we said:
“was anybody craving a new album from The Offspring in 2021? Perhaps not, but actually in this messed up world we live in, maybe, just maybe, we needed it!”
“vitality shouldn’t be mistaken for relevance and whilst the band may have peaked commercially, they remain of utmost importance to a generation of music fans”
Check out:
Rise Against – ‘Nowhere Generation’
What we said:
“anybody that had any doubts about the natural talents of this group of musicians, they should now acknowledge a new force”
The quality of this year’s releases has been truly phenomenal as our opening 30 albums attests. The competition is extremely tight for the coveted top spot and that is clear throughout the prestigious Top 20 that follows.
What we said:
“a sublime collection of upbeat, heartfelt and powerful songs that is bound to be stuck on repeat for the foreseeable future”
“a rare talent that have now reinforced their passion and ability to create great music for anybody who wants to listen but without concession on their vision”
Well there you have it! What a truly magnificent year for new music 2021 has been. What will 2022 have in store? Remember to discover the best new acts by following our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist’!
Stay tuned for our 2021 Year in Review coming very soon.
Architects – For Those That Wish To Exist – Album Review
It feels like there is a lot of pressure on this album for Architects. This is after all a band who has been seeing increasing success in recent years. They are a band that has evolved their sound with recent releases. So, does ‘For Those That Wish To Exist’ continue this evolution? Will the band push on to a higher level on the back of it?
Architects – ‘Meteor’
The first thing to note is that at 15 songs and just shy of an hour this is a meaty album that demands attention. That attention is grabbed almost immediately with ‘Black Lungs’ and ‘Giving Blood’ delivering a statement of intent. A reminder to listeners of what this band is all about.
As the album progresses the expansive elements of recent Architects albums is clear for all. There are grandiose ambitions spread throughout the album with the band obviously striving for more. Some may feel that it’s mainstream exposure that the band is striving for. If that is the case then there is plenty on offer to achieve this. Whilst this may be the end result, this doesn’t smack of being a money grabbing, sell out album.
It’s clear that care and effort has been put into creating an album which both pleases fans and satisfies the creative cravings in the band. There is a great deal of experimentation on this album, with Architects also recruiting some A list guests from the world of hard rock.
The three tracks which feature these artists all deliver the goods. ‘Impermanence’ featuring Winston McCall (Parkway Drive), ‘Little Wonder’ featuring Mike Kerr (Royal Blood) and particularly ‘Goliath’ featuring Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro) all help underpin the ferocious elegance of the album.
Overall the album gives Architects fans old and new something to enjoy without sounding disjointed; with ‘Dead Butterflies’ and ‘Animals’ showing that the band has perhaps struck upon their optimal output stylistically.
‘For Those That Wish To Exist’ is everything that Architects need it to be. Whilst it may alienate a small portion of their fans, the majority and many new fans will hold it up as a masterpiece of the genre.
