Fraser Edwards
The Architect

A few years ago he was God, now he is The Architect – isn’t that quite a step backwards? The cover art certainly is a step back compared with how it looked on the debut album I Am God from 2016, but there are more tracks on this one even though Fraser isn’t the architect behind all of them. Moreover, we see a different vocalist, PelleK is replaced by Fraser’s colleague from Sharky Sharky Richard Carnie and two of the tracks have Dragonforce in the title. So, can we stop saying that they sound like Dragonforce?

Not quite I think, the song called Stop Saying We Sound Like Dragonforce is quite Dragonforcish, but I would say that it is better that DF, mostly due to a way better singer but also thanks to the great and catchy music. I think it is an improvement on the vocalist side, not that PelleK was bad but Carnie is brilliant on this album. The sound is also strong, and the album has a catchy feel to it, the instrumental tracks might be a little too much masturbation at times, I think most of us could do without those as they usually don’t do much for an album. Besides that we have decent variation and depth, but the vocals is the strongest element of this album, along with some impressive guitar playing.

Obviously the song Your Song is the finest, it is quite clear that it is a song for you. Then I also think that Stop Saying We Sound Like Dragonforce is a great one and shows that Fraser can write a catchy tune. He can write more than one catchy tune as well; Warzone isn’t too shabby on that department. The Architect is a good album, the songs are good, some are a little too much “look-how-good-I-am-whit-the-guitar” kind of thing but it works overall. But the album isn’t as good as I Am God was, it lacks that little extra that make the good album great.

If you like Sharky Sharky or Fraser’s debut I Am God, then I am sure you will like this one as well. It may not be the most memorable album, but it will not disappoint, especially not if you enjoy the fast fingering kind of power metal that we get to hear here. Still, I would rather have new album by Sharky Sharky with great fish tales and tasty jellyfish, but until then it is always possible to stop saying something about Dragonforce.

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