Architects

Melding mighty metalcore thunder with progressive, post-hardcore anthems, British thrashers Architects were a raging, sweaty gang of hyperactive 17-year-olds when they formed in Brighton in 2004. Over the years they grew into a heavier and more ambitious, becoming a major force on the UK's hard rock scene. Twin brothers Dan and Tom Searle, drummer and guitarist respectively, originally started playing together as teenagers, and after first naming themselves Counting the Days, they teamed up with Tim Hillier-Brook (guitarist), Tim Lucas (bassist) and Matt Johnson (lead singer) and released the debut Architects album Nightmares in 2006. Sam Carter replaced Johnson as front man in 2007, adding soul-purging growls to their grizzly intensity. Alex Dean also took over from Hillier-Brook on bass for 2007’s Ruin and 2009’s Hollow Crown. Their atomic sound gradually evolved to include more melodic moments of post-hardcore ambience and atmospheric swells on 2011’s The Here and Now. They soon ramped up the velocity again, though, and Lost Forever, Lost Together hit Number 16 in the UK charts in 2014. The band follow a vegan diet and have posed for a PETA campaign, unafraid to voice their political opinions and environmental concerns in their songs, causing controversy for attacking religious fundamentalism on “Broken Cross” and for raging at American industrialism on “These Colours Don't Run”. They hit the peak of their powers with the darker All of Our Gods Have Abandoned Us in 2016, but after a three-year battle with skin cancer, founding guitarist and chief lyricist Tom Searle died that year at age 28. The band's future was thrown into doubt by the traumatic loss, but they returned with single “Doomsday” and a sold-out show at Alexandria Palace in London, confronting their grief and confusion on their emotional eighth studio album Holy Hell in 2018. They continued into the next decade with 2021’s For Those That Wish to Exist.

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