Architects Win The Faction’s Hardest 100 Countdown of 2020 with “Animals”
Metal radio station The Faction's Hardest 100 countdown of 2020 took place today, with UK's ARCHITECTS taking out the #1 spot with their blistering single 'ANIMALS'!
Architects sent their love and thanks to the Australian Architects fanbase for the win in this statement: "Australia! Thank you for voting Animals No.1 on The Faction’s Hardest 100. We really appreciate your support and can’t wait to see you soon!" "For Those That Wish To Exist", the band's most recent full length record, out now on Epitaph Records, hit #1 on the ARIA charts upon release.
Chasing Ghosts' Jimmy Kyle kicked off proceedings at midday AEDT with an Acknowledgement of Country, recognizing the indigenous land on which The Faction's Hardest 100 was celebrated.
The votes came in thick and fast this year with over 40k votes tallied to form the countdown. Breaking down the numbers of the countdown, 55% of the songs were from Australian artists, 22% of the songs featured artists who boast female members, Polaris took out eight spots, The UK's Bring Me The Horizon took out seven, Alpha Wolf grabbed six, Machine Gun Kelly appeared on five, and Canada's Spiritbox took out four spots, meaning that 100% of their musical output in 2020 made it into the countdown!
Adding to that, pop artists Halsey and Demi Lovato managed to get their voices into a heavy music countdown via their vocal features on Machine Gun Kelly and All Time Low's tracks respectively.
Throughout the broadcast, members of Dance Gavin Dance, Spiritbox, Eskimo Callboy, Alpha Wolf, Polaris, Make Them Suffer, Steel Panther, The Gloom In The Corner, Reliqa and Redhook all called in to have a chat on air with Nashy.
The Faction Music Director, Tim Price, said that he was the most proud of this countdown so far. "This is the year that that the countdown hit the mainstream. The countdown has really hit fever pitch and we struggled to keep up with the amount of social media love and interaction, not just on the day but also in the period as Australia decided their votes. We are humbled by the outpouring of love and fandom for heavy music that we see on these countdown days. Last year's countdown fell on the same day that ScoMo's COVID press conference happened - and we all went into lockdown shortly after that - so this was such a special year to be reflecting on. Thank you to everyone who voted, who listened in, who showed their love for heavy music and who support The Faction!"
This year, the event was sponsored/brought to heavy music fans by The Faction, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, TEG/MJR Presents, Rise Records' Australian Store, Grog Lords and 24 Hundred.
The Faction will be back with another live radio event later in 2021 - stay tuned for details!
Lindsay Schoolcraft returns to the Metal Robot Podcast to talk about her new album Harrowing. Plus, we review new releases from Shadowborne, Conflux Collective, and Drakkar before spinning the Metal Archives Roulette wheel into Moldova to discover Neuromist.