Axiom

"Arguably the unsungiest of unsung heroes here in the drizzly ol' UK, Archive have lived a long, at times tumultuous (but always magical) life. Beginning in the fuzzy Britpop days of '94, Archive traipsed through the Bristol Sound and emerged wielding electronica, trip-hop and classical tendencies, these days moving further away from the route trodden by Portishead and Massive Attack, preferring to trundle towards where psych meets rock ... Axiom is a fine record. There are some slightly unexpected, elaborate pop deviations that are truly exhilarating listens, and there are sweeping electronic soundscapes that are Archive's more traditional fare. It's a nice spread, and they dip into familiar zones and new territory".

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"Many of the mid-'90s acts who were tagged as "trip-hop" have enjoyed careers far exceeding that term's brief window of coolness (Portishead and Tricky, for example). London group Archive never made that elusive commercial breakthrough but, with "Axiom", they've reached their eighth album. It doesn't sound like trip-hop, although Darius Keeler and Danny Griffiths retain a taste for electronic beats, dramatic vocals and filmic drama ... Fans of latter-day Radiohead may dig the paranoid shuffle of "Transmission Data Terminate", and "Shiver" carries its prog balladry with style. But, overall, "Axiom" is a trip, rather than a hop, forward".

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