Archers
Temporary High
SBG Records
With a name like ‘Temporary High’, Wisconsin-based Archers have gone quite literal with their latest EP in attempting to foster a brief respite to the grind. Featuring songs on the travails of life, albeit with an undercurrent of positivity, it is posited as the perfect interlude to the tumult of living in 2025. So does it match the sign of the times? The band’s love of pop melodies shines throughout, with the massive chorus on “Wide Awake” taking residence in the brain like some aggro-earworm, whilst the ballad-like “Safe Now” builds gently before erupting to a beautiful crescendo of soaring strings and crashing guitars. Lead single “Never Enough”, though, encapsulates modern metalcore inside three-minutes, with low, djent-like guitars that bounce, aggressive and soaring clean vocals mixing, and tasteful use of ambient-esque electronics amalgamating to a piece that begs for a live setting. With all that, ‘Temporary High’ rounds itself off with a “Crooked Smile” that, for its use of electronic beats to open proceedings, may be less a smile and more a knowing nod to metal’s current leading lights in Sleep Token. If the two shared a playlist, they would be very comfy bedfellows. If you are of a modern metal persuasion, you could do worse than to lose yourself for a smidge-under seventeen minutes with Archers’ latest offering. ‘Temporary High’ resonates well across its five songs, dealing with life’s struggles with energetic riffs and catchy melodies that do carry a degree of memorability about them. The high may be short-term, but the hooks on the likes of “Never Enough” are forever.
Review by Lee Carter