Architect – Consume Adapt Create

CD, Hymen Records, 2010
www.ant-zen.com/architect/

Over the years Daniel Myer has worked under many pseudonyms releasing a range of albums and singles covering many electronic music styles for a multitude of labels. The most enduring of these are Haujobb and Architect but in addition to these he is now also a full-time member of acclaimed Swedish synthpop group Covenant, actively producing and recording with Destroid and remixing under the name Renegades of Noise. Never one to rest for long, Myer is always recording, performing, DJing or remixing in one guise or another.
Architect first appeared in 1998 with “Galactic Supermarket” on German label Hymen Records. Since then he has released a further three albums and “Consume Adapt Create” will be his fifth exclusively for the label. Influenced by the spectrum of electronic music genres from industrial to techno, hip-hop to dubstep and ambient to breakcore, Myer creates music that is uniquely and identifiably his own. Characterised by complex structures and the precise placement of carefully selected (often sci-fi) movie samples, Myer’s ability to produce quality electronic music is unquestionable.
Immediately striking for its wonderfully rendered precise beats, whether they are tinged with influences as diverse as hip-hop breaks, classic techno rhythms or pounding breakcore, there is always something deeper to Myer’s music than the obvious dancefloor elements. He loves a strong bassy beat, regardless of what genre it is drawn from, but looking beyond that reveals that his music has hidden depth. “Pure” for example is based on a modified break but drifting around below it are some eerie swirling textures which really add an air of shadowy atmosphere to the track if only subconsciously. It is wonderfully executed; the driving beat masks the darker underlying soundtrack which is in turn augmented by some carefully utilised movie samples with their own sinister overtones. The interestingly titled “I Lost my 808 on a Rainy Day” continues the theme, adding a harder edge and bringing in Myer’s mischievous sense of humour in his choice of samples. “The Beauty and the Beat” is a track of two halves; the first half is gentle and ethereal with a solitary choral voice and melancholic piano that erupts into a massive uncompromising torrent of hard industrial drum ‘n’ bass beats from the half way point.
As an indication of just how eclectic and diverse Myer’s influences are he introduces the album with the huge sweeping bass and tense creepy atmospherics with a tongue-in-cheek title of “The Bitch is Back”. Via the energetic driving rhythms of the futuristic “The Shadow of Eve” he later moves through the ultra-precise crashing breaks of “Unhuman” and on to his own take on hedonistic Ibiza trance with “For You”. From there he unleashes a punishing beat with “So I Went Out” that sees him dabble with breakcore aggression. What makes Myer stand apart from other musicians is that no matter how many genres he draws from or how diverse or unexpected those influences are, everything he does is uniquely his own work and has his fingerprints are all over it.
Something about “Consume Adapt Create” makes it seem harder, edgier and more focused than Myer’s recent Architect albums. Everything about it is tight, precise and crystal clear. “Consume Adapt Create” is powerful, occasionally aggressive, sometimes haunting and often euphoric in a number of different but equally defining ways. Constantly refining his sound, Myer is a true innovator who has forged his own path in the industrial/experimental electronic world and still remains sinfully undiscovered by many. Expect the long overdue Covenant album to be heavily influenced by his input when it finally arrives later this year.

[8.5/10]

— Paul Lloyd