Album Review: Archive - Axiom

Today so many bands want to share what's happening around them: on the tour bus, in the recording studio or at the backstage. But Archive seems to be one of those musicians who plan their moves quietly and who doesn't want to mess up too much with your newsfeed – they are content enough to do it with your brain. Axiom is their tenth effort at that but this time they're doing it with a whole visual project along with it.

The 40-minute black and white dystopian (and possibly Orwell-inspired) film tells a loosely connected story about the organization Axiom which offers a 'monitored involution program' and hunts down a rebellious youth gang called "the deaf angels". The songs are the different chapters with characters who in one way or another are revolting against the brainwashed and controlled society. And somehow this reminds me how the mainstream British alternative rock scene never took sonically adventurous bands like Archive seriously despite their appeal and creativity. Perhaps because they're so hard to be labeled. Perhaps they're the 'deaf angels' of today's (alternative, post, you-name-it) rock.

Archive, still London-based but popular mainly in France, Greece, Germany, Poland and Switzerland, have obviously came a long way from the trip hop dynamics of their debut album Londinium (1996) or "Fuck U", their 2004 anthem for the broken hearted which made their name known for a new generation of indie kids and was eventually covered by Placebo. While sharing more than a few similarities with their last two albums, the new one is still a different beast mostly because the rich production and the delicate electronic textures have more of an ambient twist. It seems like Archive are best at being Archive – their eclectic discography can't really belong to anyone else.

Axiom it's out on Dangervisit Records and it's a dangerously beautiful record for sure. You can find more about the film at http://axiomthefilm.com/ and watch it below.