Intense Records

Holy Hell

EPITAPH
276624
National Album Day 2025
12"

£21.66 (£25.99 incl. VAT)

Holy Hell marks the band's first release since the untimely passing of Tom Searle,Architect's founding guitarist, principal songwriter and twin brother to drummer Dan."In those first months after Tom's death, I didn't deal with it at all and I felt so unhappyand anxious," Dan explains. "I'd ignored it and just tried to cope. But I knew that atsome point, I had to learn from it.""It's at times like that you ask yourself, 'What is left?'" adds vocalist Sam Carter. "As agroup of friends, we had to find something.""Ultimately, there were two choices," Dan says. "Feel sorry for yourself, and believe theworld to be a horrible place and let it defeat you. Or let it inspire us to live the life thatTom would have wanted us to live. I was very worried about people taking away adespondent message from the album. I felt a level of responsibility to provide a lightat the end of the tunnel for people who are going through terrible experiences."Finding a way forward, the band spent six months from the Fall of 2017 through theSpring of this year recording what would become the 11- song album, with Dan andguitar player Josh Middleton handling production. "For me, broadly speaking Holy Hellis about pain: the way we process it, cope with it, and live with it," Dan offers. "There isvalue in pain. It's where we learn, it's where we grow."Tracks: Death Is Not Defeat / Hereafter / Mortal After All / Holy Hell / Damnation /Royal Beggars / Modern Misery / Dying to Heal / The Seventh Circle / Doomsday / AWasted Hymn