Review by JD on April 7, 2010.

US Power Metal with the purity of some strong and clean female vocals with strong backing vocals are growled out like a caged animal with musicians that know what the hell they are doing.... and all for world domination?? Yep, In Virtue has gotten my attention, and almost as if they have grabbed my short hairs.

Taking lessons from Power Metal gods like Overkill, old Metallica and others of that ilk, while never settling to one pigeon-hole or another - In Virtue seemed to have mould it all into their own, add the clean/growl vocals of the amazing Ms C and the vocally-vicious Trey Xavier that seemed to really accent every heavy and raw guitar stroke and drum blast that the rest of the band can give.

Songs such as the incredible 'Paralyzed' show a band on the very brink of being one of those band that will stand above the rest, then 'Foresworn' rumbles out of the speakers and sets that statement in stone. Great songs, great writing and amazing musicians... yep, they got it all. The only downer is that the recording could have been better... but that is minuscule in comparison to the talents that In Virtue has.

I really hope to hear the next step in this band development - because this is exactly why I have been a musician/writer and metal head for so long. I have a virtue, and it is In Virtue! I will press play again and adjust the volume to the max...Ahhhh!! metallic heaven in the making.

Categorical Rating Breakdown　

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 8.5
Production: 7
Originality: 8
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8.1 out of 10

Review by Adam M on February 10, 2017.

Mouth of the Architect performs a bare bones approach to post-metal.  There really is a lot to take in with this band, however.  The music here is straightforward enough, but deep in its treatment of the sub-genre.  It is thus a very authoritative view of the genre and should not be taken with a grain of salt. 

The music sticks to the standard instrumentation for the majority of its run-time and makes good use of it as well.  This can be seen as different then a band such as Isis, which makes use of hollow drums to give themselves a very tribal sound.  The music here is indeed up front and normal enough, but it has a great deal of depth with the complexity that the songs reach at times.  Though they sound normal, there is a need to add some intricacies and make for a neat and compelling listen.  Though they don’t match the output of Cult of Luna in terms of quality, there is a niche aspect to the band that is very appealing.  This music sounds straightforward, but is different enough in nature that it will appeal to a broad range of post-metal lovers.  One has to investigate the album closely to unveil the small intricacies that are present.  The songs converge to interesting points at times and take a keen listening ear to uncover the goodness that’s found within.  This can be seen from the interesting Stretching Out for example.  The problem with the album is that the quality lessens when compared to the top bands of the subgenre like Cult of Luna, Isis and Neurosis.  There is simply more enjoyable music to be had from those bands then there is here. 

However, for those looking for another outlet for their post-metal listening experience, there’s a lot to like with Mouth of the Architect and this album Path of Eight.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10