Archive – Axiom

After the somewhat disappointing With Us Until You're Dead, Archive come back with a concept even grander than their four-part Controlling Crowds: a 40 minute film and accompanying soundtrack. I won't talk about the film here, but the soundtrack album itself is absolutely wonderful and stands up well as a record in its own right.

Opener 'Distorted Angels' is the highlight here. Pollard Berrier brings his best vocal performance and most beautiful melody to date to the track, accompanied by little other than strings. It's a bold way of opening an album, and the heartbreakingly bleak mood sets the tone for the rest of the record. The instrumental title track opens with a crescendo of church bells and synths that gives an apocalyptic feel and deserves to be played loud. With only Dave Pen popping for some fairly minimal guitar playing, the track is otherwise a solo Keeler / Griffiths track, and for a fan since the band's debut, it's lovely to hear the two core really take the fore for once. The four note theme featured in the piece is terrifically haunting, and is reprised at several points throughout the album. Indeed, it begins a run of four songs which feel like a suite in their own right, with recurring sounds and melodies. 'Baptism' is a rocky number reminiscent of the band's time with Craig Walker, whilst Maria Q and Hannah Martin provide vocals on the heavily atmospheric 'Transmission Data Terminate' and 'The Noise of Flames Crashing'.

At a mere 39 minutes - Archive's shortest album to date - the blacker than black atmosphere never manages to outstay its welcome, which is good news, as what is here is heavy going stuff. It's certainly the band's bleakest sounding work to date. It's probably their most consistent, too, with not a moment sounding out of place. The band are back to their melodic peak once more, and Keeler, Griffiths and regular co-conspirator Jerome Devoise provide their most beautifully detailed production to date. Most bands suffer the occasional blip, but few recover from them as gracefully as Archive do here.

This version is : audio CD only with Jewelcase