On the eve of their new album “The Sky, The Earth & All Between”, and what is their first UK non-festival headline show since 2022, Architects take on The Prysm in Kingston Upon Thames. Opening their set with the sometimes seen as controversial song “Seeing Red”, it’s evident from the beginning that the boys in Architects are here to make a statement. And the fans? They’re ready to hear it.

The crowd chanting the choir parts live makes the song feel a lot more special than what is on the album and made me like the song more overall (the only song I wasn’t that keen on in what is a 9/10 album for me). We next kick right into “Whiplash” and the visceral screams of Sam Carter are coming through crystal clear with the crowd moshing through pretty much the entire song. Another example of seeing a song live and loving it even more. I hope when the main tour comes round, they add in the Gordon Ramsey outro part.

“Blackhole” is my favourite single from the album and with the response of the crowd to the intro of this song, I am not alone. Absolutely brutal from start to finish, I ended up in an entirely different part of the room than I was, due to the constant crowd movement. Incredibly fun song live. “Curse” and “Brain Dead” close off the new album part of the setlist with both songs still having the audience in the palm of their hands. It’s shown throughout the whole show thus far that this is the Architects we have been yearning for, for some time now. Sam comments at one point that he’s still learning how to change vocals tones live after a small mishap but then in a jokingly matter states that they are basically doing rehearsals but in front of a live crowd.

I didn’t expect anything from “Holy Hell” or before, so it was a lovely surprise for the opening tones of “Doomsday” to be played with the song as a whole being a tribute to the late Tom Searle. Sam’s screaming isn’t the only thing to have improved recently, his singing is the best it has ever been, with him even mentioning that he has had vocal lessons over the last few years. It’s certainly a welcome improvement, just go and listen to “Chandelier”. They close the set with the trio of “Deep Fake”, “When We Were Young” and “Animals”, with the finale still getting everyone singing their hearts out.

As someone that may have got their hands on “The Sky, The Earth & All Between” the day of the show, I did admittedly want “Elegy” to open and “Chandelier” to close but what we got was still an incredible show with the whole band looking powerful and ready to take on the world. The fact it was a 1,350-capacity venue made it all that better, who doesn’t love an intimate show? A full UK tour is due to be announced in the coming months so stay tuned.

Reviewed by Keiran

Architects Album Launch show - London, March 2025

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