Review Summary: just another player in the game
Octanecore—the bane of every metal fan’s existence. The inane levels of overproduction, whether it be adding verse sections with little more than trap “instrumentals” or shoehorned synths disguised as violins, combine with a monotonous verse-chorus-verse-chorus-breakdown-chorus structure we’ve all seen a million times. The guitar tones, edited into some kind of industrial rumble with little personality and solely existing to fill out the low-end in the production room, mix with drums that do little more than follow alongside rudimentary guitar rhythms. Bands like
Memphis May Fire,
Wage War, and
Crown the Empire have been utilizing this formula for years to relative success, and Archers is just one of hundreds of new-ish bands that have modified their sound to take advantage of this ever-popular niche.
On their previous EP, All That I Have Left, Archers executed the octanecore formula to perfection. Say This Sober is an optimal version of the mid-tempo pseudo-balladry often displayed on such releases, and both Drag Me Out and Bitter inject enough pace into the release to sustain an acceptable level of energy without running into the crime of excessive melodramaticism. However, on Temporary High, Archers decide to move even further away from the metalcore sound, delivering a commercially viable but otherwise inoffensively unnoteworthy release.
The largest sin any octanecore band can commit is generating bland choruses. Sure, they can recycle the same song structures, but all can be forgiven if they write choruses that one simply can’t get out of their head. In the past, Archers has always had a knack for writing simple yet memorable hooks, but the cracks in the formula start to appear on Temporary High. In particular, Wide Awake’s chorus melody is too simplistic to carry any significance and has the type of catchiness that would cause annoyance, as opposed to staying power, if played on repeat. And Crooked Smile feels like a rehash of Before You Go, offering an epic-sounding chorus but little else to work with. Archers’ best song by a decent margin, Making Eyes (released in 2020), starts out with a simple verse which then gradually crescendos into a breakdown-filled bridge, finishing with a key change blending impeccably into the final chorus of the song. Safe Now plays as if the band solely sought to redo that song, progressing similarly but lacking the very elements that made that song so special (i.e., the extended breakdown and key change).
The first single off the EP, Never Enough, is the main highlight of the album. It offers more of the (relative) heaviness and speed displayed on past releases, most importantly driving the chorus’ pace up and the unnecessary histrionics down. Better Off also thrives on this higher energy level, though the random trap section feels randomly inserted. And while Better Off’s breakdown cuts off before we can get into true metalcore territory, the harsh vocal sections thrown in throughout blend seamlessly with the chorus singing and add a more interesting depth to the song.
The band’s strong suit has always been their vocal prowess, and they lose none of that on Temporary High. Lead singer Pulley has a beautiful baritone voice, with hints of grit used sparingly within certain songs to emphasize certain emotions, and he displays his full singing range near the end of songs like Safe Now. The back and forth between Pulley and Koehler in the screaming sections adds dynamism; while individually, they don’t utilize much range, their different vocal textures complement each other. Unfortunately, as the nature of their musical direction relegates harsh vocals to an afterthought, the two don’t get as much room to explore this, but as a whole, the EP does not disappoint vocally.
The simplistic and melodic songwriting and high production value both make the EP replayable enough, but after each listen, I can’t help but feel that Temporary High is simply a rehash of their previous EP, extricated of the latter’s supreme catchiness. Even the standalone singles that preceded felt more inspired than most of the songs on this release. While Temporary High delivers on the promise of relatively muted verses culminating in explosively melancholic choruses, there simply isn’t enough variety or melodic brilliance to make this EP any different from the crowd of other octanecore releases that dominate the pop metal marketplace.
