ARCHITECTS/STRAY FROM THE PATH Live In Ottawa

But first, I went to Mavericks thinking that both the show and the aforementioned birthday girl with her boyfriend Kyle in tow would be there. A quick text message to her confirmed that they were not although I was told that night afterwards once I'd left that Norwegian progressive metallers LEPROUS rocked the fuck outta that stage. If only they had been the co-headliners that night at the Ritual instead of noisy upstate New York alternative hardcore (seriously?) upstarts STRAY FROM THE PATH who, despite their ominous name moniker, sounded a bit too comfortable in keeping to their tried and true ways. It's likely I've officially become old and out of touch with the hardcore scene as far as the new breed are concerned. Or maybe STRAY FROM THE PATH just came off as very run-of-the-mill and pandering to pretty much every trick in the gospel of Harley Flanagan during their performance. I'm guessing both as even Julie and Kyle (both of whom are younger than me by about a decade) watched their set with the baited anticipation of undergoing a root canal without anesthesia. We tried to get into it but it was futile. Randy Blythe and Jamey Jasta conducted and commanded far better circle pits mostly because their respected bands actually had more than two songs that sounded different. Wayne Coyne at least makes his stage dives interesting by performing in a life-size transparent beach ball as he literally rolls atop the audience. Even JOURNEY's Arnel Pineda can handle a very close interaction with the crowd with style and last I checked, his band's music doesn't exactly conjure up images of mosh pits. In comparison, STRAY FROM THE PATH only made me want to stray towards the nearest bar for seconds and thirds.

https://www.facebook.com/Strayfromthepath https://myspace.com/strayfromthepath

"That set was fuckin' sick!" - Kyle, sarcastically

"I know I felt violently ill having watched it." - Myself

"I promise you...the next band doesn't suck!" - Julie

I was ready to doubt Julie's word upon having seen the aforementioned co-headliners put in about 30 minutes of average-sounding *ahem* alternative hardcore, which is perhaps the most dumbest musical genre classification label ever conceived next to djent which thankfully nobody even uses anymore in casual conversation. Luckily headliners ARCHITECTS were able to back up Julie's claim once they took to the stage and belted out their opening number "Gravedigger". At times, their mixed musical buffet of progressive metal, metalcore, mathcore and even traces of djent seemed to be all over the place no matter how hard the band tried to reel it all together, but by the third number, "Alpha Omega", they were sounding more cohesive and tight. Musically, ARCHITECTS have a lot more going on for them as their own blend of progressive as well as aggressive heavy leanings thanks to the pummeling low-end guitar work of Tom Searle and the equally heavy-sounding yet melodic vocals of frontman Sam Carter drew lots of comparisons (at least to me anyways) to many of the purveyors of the Gothenberg metal scene; being a British band and all, the influences are more geographically accessible. Sam Carter practically channels Peter Dolving's early years in THE HAUNTED on tracks like "Colony Collapse" and "Devil's Island" and the rhythm section comprised of drummer Dan "Twin Brother Of Tom" Searle and bassist Alex Dean harkens towards lots of AT THE GATES influences on tracks such as "The Devil Is Near" and "Early Grave". They do lay on the mathcore influences pretty thick but when your band name is ARCHITECTS you're clearly indicating that you're proverbially building up a solid and sturdy base in your sound before rounding off the finished result with an indelible signature which allows your work to stand out. At least that was what the band was striving for initially. I liked their set because they really did remind me of THE HAUNTED in parts. And maybe PERIPHERY, too. Anything, really, as long as the final design in ARCHITECTS' blueprint didn't involve sounding like alternative hardcore. They still could've benefited somewhat from having LEPROUS as their opening band in my opinion though. But ARCHITECTS' latest disc Lost Forever//Lost Together sounds like they gave their competition a run for their money some time ago anyway.

And speaking of running, I continued my fitness routine by hanging out with the band members at their after-show party at the Ritual's dance lounge where a few of the members had already commandeered the DJ booth and were greeting its legions of local fans. It was their second time in Ottawa having played Mavericks just a few months prior but it looked like the second time around ARCHITECTS were building even more momentum. The constant touring is working as the band had wrapped up a tour of Japan, Australia and New Zealand before lining up their North American tour dates of which already half have been honored so far.

And on the day of the Canada Army Run, I covered a total of 2 hours and 13 minutes in my age category doing the 21 K. Not bad for a first try.

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ARCHITECTS/STRAY FROM THE PATH Live In Ottawa