I would definitely take those links if they are up.

*CouFatFreddy'sDropugh* :p Man I need to quit smoking.

Great thread by the way, I like the personal stories you tell. I'm getting some John Martyn at home as I type this which I look forward to hearing after work. I think someone else wrote about him on here, or I'm completely making that up, but you're review has inspired me to check out his stuff. Ah and Iron Maiden... they, along with Slayer, were my introduction to metal.

Archive are probably the newest band I will post about in here; having only been into them for about a year but what a year that's been. Rapidly climbing the ladder of my favourite bands, This U.K band are ridiculously under-appreciated over here despite having a relatively commercial sound.

Describing Archive's music is a bit of a minefield with a sound that incorporates Trip Hop, Electronica, Ambient Rock and huge epic build ups. This isn't to say that it's a mish mash at all. Just each track sounds a little different from another yet still retains it's own identity and lush sound.

I am a big fan of music that is moody, melancholic yet doesn't resort to bouts of miserabilism or obvious cliches. Monotonous, repetitive hooks really grab hold of me for some reason and Archive are damn good at this. Most of their albums contain at least one 10 minute plus epic that is relatively simple in structure yet hypnotic. Much in the same way that Pink Floyd or certain Porcupine Tree tracks can hold the attention with simple yet brooding structures, Archive do this with ease and still retain their originality.

Perfect for late night listening and in many cases are lyrically ferocious yet the music still retains it's melodic sensibilities. Archive could very well take the path of many more successful bands in producing stadium/radio friendly songs. After all they have the tools to easily do so but by retaining a non commercial stance (in terms of track length and lack of big choruses), they remain a band with integrity and individualism.

Recommended Albums:

You All Look The Same To Me (2002)
Lights (2006)

Great write up there, I might check em out, they sound very good from those videos

One more that may keep you thinking like that. If Radiohead were behind this song people would be falling all over themselves with superlatives. Alas they decide not to look too hard at other UK acts :(

Archive are one of those groups I haven't necessarily heard a lot about, just seen the name popping up every so often. Love the sound of that Bullets tune though - draws a lot of parallels with Everything But the Girl and UNKLE to me, which is never a bad thing. Seems like a great bunch to me. Consider them on my radar :thumb:

Your description touched upon everything i'd have to say about them, i suppose their is something quite commercial about them yet they've never really been noticed, i blame the 10 min epics!

The only Archive album I’ve heard in its entirety is “You All Look The Same To Me”, and I absolutely love it. I normally can’t handle those epically long songs, but ‘Again’ is a definite exception. You mentioned them having monotonous, repetitive hooks which I suppose is true but I feel like they do a nice job of keeping to rest of the song interesting and varied vocally and instrumentally (I’m specifically talking about ‘Again’ here). Where you say those types of hooks really grab you, they usually turn me off, so this is a band I’ll have to tentatively pursue further.

I’m pretty sure I have “Noise” laying around on my hard drive somewhere but I have not gotten around to listening to it yet, with the exception of ‘F*ck U’…another good song but I didn’t enjoy it as much as most of the songs on “You All Look the Same to Me”. Perhaps I should make “Lights” my next listening venture instead??

As for the first vid you posted there from the new album, I have to admit I didn’t care for that at all. :( Not sure if it was because it seemed a lot more up-tempo than what I’m used to hearing from them, but it didn’t seem all that spectacular lyrically either. Are there any different songs from the new album you can recommend?

Archive seems like a band I would be interested. I'll look into them more. Thank you.

Well written, too.

I remember you put an Archive track in a compilation on here somewhere and I really thought I would like it but was somewhat let down. Bu the track that is, not the comp.

I checked out the first two videos up there and thought the first one was alright and the second wasnt really for me at all. However the third one is spectacular. May have convinced me to give them a shot.