THE FAMINE - "The Architects Of Guilt" - PRESS RELEASE - December 2010

“The Architects of Guilt is not a sing-a-long or a feel good record; it’s the death rattle and dying breath,” explains bassist Jon Richardson. “The Famine is not here to win popularity contests, simply create metal, red in tooth and claw.”

“The music has become faster, more technical, even abrasive and discomforting, trading sheer aggression and energy for the lifeless sweeps and mechanized beats that have come to dominate and dilute the genre. The lyrics forego empty threats and skip the subtleties, calling out the deceit and duplicity of our leaders, and the decay next door masked by a flaking white picket fence and a familiar chemical scent.”

However, the recording process for The Architects of Guilt did not go as smoothly as The Famine would have hoped. The album’s release was set back months, due to an unfortunate electrical fire in the band’s studio. “(The firefighters) didn’t know that it was a recording studio so they busted in, hoses blazing, and what wasn’t burnt to a crisp was covered in melted napalm, because as soon as that sound-proofing and insulation catches flame, it just turns into molten goo that covers everything,” explains vocalist Nick Nowell in a recent interview with GunShyAssassin.com. “What wasn’t covered in napalm was completely soaked. We lost a lot that day, including everything we had recorded and all of the recording equipment. Everything that was in the control room.”

Just before the freak electrical accident, the band’s vocalist left the band, prompting the band’s bassist, and current vocalist, Nick Nowell, to pick up the microphone. However, despite all the setbacks, the all-star lineup comprised of former members of successful and influential acts like Embodyment [myspace | facebook | wikipedia] and Society’s Finest, would prevail.

The finishing touches on the long awaited The Architects of Guilt were polished up this fall, with the help of the renowned audio mastermind Jason Suecof, and The Famine is preparing to kick off 2011 with a barrage of pent-up aggression.

Now stronger than ever, and sporting a reassembled cast, the Texas quartet is set to destroy (as evidenced by the band’s official website URL – www.thefaminedestroys.com) the norms and conventions that have become standard in the death metal genre, and in some ways, destroy their relatively young, but unsettled past, as they start anew on the brutal and intricate, The Architects of Guilt.

The band traces the fractures in stone pillars and cracks along the marble walls, sets their tools down after 11 tracks and walks away as if saying, “Don’t come to us when the temple falls.”

EXCLUSIVE Artwork Explanation by vocalist Nick Nowell:

"I talked to Ryan Clark about the lyrical theme being very uncomfortable and discussing human nature without delving into metal clichés like satan and gore. Ryan is a guy who knows metal and who knows the art world, so he was the perfect guy for this job. He came back with a concept that is not blasphemous, but is uneven and uncomfortable. You look at it and you want to look away, but you aren’t exactly sure why. If I wanted to take it this far, I could say that the image on the cover represents the hideous architect of guilt within each of us. It’s ugly and it’s crystal clear."

 

 
 

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THE FAMINE - "The Raven And The Reaping" - (Solid State Records - May 27, 2008)