Architects - For Those That Wish To Exist
I have a confession to make.
I haven’t been feeling great lately. Physically, mentally, and emotionally.
If I were an athlete, my box score would read:
Charlie Bodhi - day to day (knee, ankle, moody)
Nagging issues notwithstanding, I’ve also gained weight since the pandemic started, mostly because my gym closed and I couldn’t get myself motivated enough to put a home workout routine together. And my physical health directly affects my mental and emotional health. If my body is feeling shitty, most likely I am suffering mentally as well. I could punch and kick a heavy bag for 30 minutes, get it all, feel better, and move on. But I haven’t had that option in a year, and without an outlet the bad days are piling up in my head like garbage on the street during a sanitation union strike.
I feel like shit.
Eventually my unresolved personal issues lead to bigger global issues, and I start to think about all that is wrong in the world. And I feel hopeless, like there’s nothing I can do to help. Help myself or anyone else. I start to feel like no one understands.
Until I heard For Those That Wish To Exist.
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For Those That Wish To Exist is the 9th studio album by British metalcore bad Architects. Maybe I should say former metalcore band Architects? They definitely have that sound in their earlier albums, but they have been inching away from that feel in the past couple records. Make no mistake about it, they may not be as sonically heavy, but they are no doubt lyrically heavy. Architects have always addressed serious issues, and FTTWTE is no different; songs about the human race and global environmental issues are covered from beginning to end. And these topics ran parallel to many of the things that I am feeling.
I first heard of Architects while listening to Liquid Metal, SiriusXM’s metal station. They played the song “Hereafter” off of their last album Holy Hell (2018), and I fell in love with it. Such a great song, and I never really heard of Architects before. I thought they were a new band, so imagine my surprise when I learned that they’ve been around since 2004. And this isn’t some bar band, Architects have had quite a following for a long time now. Which begs the question, how have I not heard of Architects until 2018?? I pride myself in knowing every single metal band that’s ever existed, how have these guys slipped through my cracks? Doesn’t matter, I know about them now. “Hereafter” lead to listening to and loving Holy Hell, and the rest is history.
Listening to FTTWTE at first was unusual. Normally at first listen I would just play to an album all the way through to get a feel for it musically, then go back and listen to any parts that stood out to me and catch some lyrics. But for this album, I couldn’t get through the album in one sitting; I kept having to pause and go back because a line or verse would stick out to me. Not that the music was bad, far from it. It was more about the lyrics standing out so much that I had to know what lead singer Sam Carter was saying.
Songs like “Black Lungs,” “An Ordinary Extinction” and “Meteor” allude to (in one way or another) climate change, our planet dying, and end of the world. Fun stuff right? It’s frustrating watching the Earth disintegrate before our eyes. This isn’t some issue that scientists and environmental activists will take care of, this is something everyone needs to help with. Which for numerous reasons is an impossibility, since most people appear to be in denial. It seems like those that care enough to do something about it are outnumbered by those who either don’t care or aren’t bright enough to see what’s going on. I’m no hippie tree-hugger, but I do believe that Mother Nature knows what it’s doing, and I believe every so often she needs to drop something like a pandemic on the human race to shine a light on all the damage we’re doing. Pollution. Greed. War. And also shown under that light are all the people who thought they’re smarter than science. And if the world were perfect, only those people that deny science would perish from their arrogance, victimized by Darwinism to it’s fullest power. But unfortunately viruses can affect anyone, even those who believe.
At this rate, the human race is not going to evolve much more than we already have. Some never have.
“Impermanence” (feat. Winston McCall/Parkway Drive), “Flight Without Feathers,” and “Dying is Absolutely Safe” touch on issues like mortality, life and death. When I was younger I used to think about death. A lot. Like, an unhealthy amount. I thought about death instead of making the most of life. I was not surrounded by death. I didn’t think about anyone’s mortality except my own, and more specifically wondering what the point of doing anything was when we’re all going to die eventually. Everything seemed pointless.
But then as I got older I started getting to a point where I said yeah, everything is meaningless if I see it that way, and that if I died tomorrow, my life would’ve really been pointless since I spent my entire existence finding some meaning. I didn’t want my way of thinking become a self-fulfilling prophecy. So then I started giving myself goals, spend more time doing things I enjoy, basically do anything to make my life worth something to me.
And now I do, my life has meaning and purpose. I have a great family. I have the best friends anyone can have.
I have a life to be proud of when I pass.
As McCall screams in “Impermanence”…cause those afraid to die will never truly live.”
With “Discourse is Dead,” the title says it all. We’ve lost civility in conversation. Was there ever a time when 2 people with different ideologies and beliefs could have an honest exchange without name-calling and personal attacks? I am as guilty of this as anyone else; any time I hear someone say something profoundly stupid or ignorant, my first instinct is to challenge their intelligence (or lack thereof). But then at that point I am no better than the other side, so I have to consciously check myself. Where is this person coming from? What happened in their lives for them to feel this way? Let’s face it, some people are going to have opinions and beliefs that are so amazingly dumb that no amount of empathy can justify. But no matter how much I disagree I try my hardest to empathize. They deserve that courtesy. We all do.
“Dead Butterflies” and “Animals” both hit close to home since they’re about personal struggle and finding happiness. Not everything in the past year has been so bad - I haven’t been sick, I wasn’t around strangers for extended periods of time, I got to mouth whatever I wanted to while walking through Target with mask on (everything from “hurry the fuck up” to strangers, to lip syncing Britney Spears songs #freebritney), and I’m reading books at an unprecedented pace.
But everything else sucks. I wanna see my family. I wanna see my friends. I want to go to my gym. I want to go to fucking concerts! All that plus frustratingly watching selfish dummies have a great time with their loved ones and act like they’re smarter than science are all catching up to me. (Not to mention that I am considered so non-essential that I won’t be be eligible to get the vaccine until summer of 2023).
“Dead Butterflies” might be the darkest track on the album, which explains why it’s my favorite (right on brand). Drummer/songwriter Dan Searle said of the song: “This song is about how illogically hard it is to cultivate happiness in the modern world.” Tell me about it, Dan. And he’s not just talking about COVID either, shit’s been fucked up long before COVID and will be long after. I’m extremely fortunate that I have wonderful, supportive people around me that can put the ground back beneath my feet. People that can put the blossom back on my flower. People that can help me find myself when I get lost.
It’s been awhile since I heard an album that I felt this connected to. It was like I ran into an old friend that I hadn’t seen in awhile, and while we talk and catch up we learn that we have the same problems and are both going through the same things. And something like that is really important to me, because one of my many issues is that sometimes I don’t feel like anyone would understand what I’m going through, that my problems are unique and only apply to me. Which is absurd, because my issues are more or less the same as anyone else’s.
If you want to hear a heavy metalcore Architects album, For Those That Wish To Exist is not for you. You can listen to any of their other albums for that. I’m not one of those guys who aren’t into a band once they change their sound. Whether it’s acoustic or heavy AF, a good song is a good song. And For Those That Wish To Exist is an album full of great songs.
Songs that make you reflect about the past.
Songs that make you think about the present.
Songs that make you worry about the future.
“I do my best, but everything seems ominous
Not feeling blessed, quite the opposite
This shouldn’t feel so monotonous
It never rains, but it pours”
Architects - “Animals”
