Formation, Nightmares and line-up changes (2002–2007) All of the original members of Architects grew up around
Brighton, East Sussex and were very active within the local music scene prior to forming the band. Sam Carter, who was a drummer and studied drums at the
Brighton Institute of Modern Music before joining the band, had performed in multiple local bands as a drummer and sometimes a singer; one of these bands had supported
Enter Shikari in Brighton. Architects was founded in 2004 by drummer Dan Searle and his twin brother, guitarist Tom Searle. In 2006, the band's original bassist, Tim Lucas, decided to leave the band to pursue his academic career. He was replaced by Alex Dean. The band had travelled around the UK on many tours supporting a number of different bands (including
Beecher and
Bring Me the Horizon) in support of their debut album
Nightmares. Because of the age of the band members in the early years they had to book weeks of holiday off at college to do tours round the country. Architects released their second album
Ruin on 25 October 2007. 8/10 from
Rock Sound, A 7.5 was given by
Terrorizer for Architects' side of the EP and four "K"s out of 5 from
Kerrang!. The release was followed by a double headed tour of the UK. In May 2008, Architects announced that they had been signed to
Century Media Records for a three album deal. Dan Searle described Century Media's support matching "our ambition to push this band as far as we can." The announcement of their signing to Century Media was coupled with the re-release of their second album
Ruin globally with the added bonus track "Broken Clocks". In November 2008, the band embarked on the
Never Say Die! Tour, a European tour with
Parkway Drive as the headline act and also support from
Unearth,
Despised Icon,
Protest the Hero,
Whitechapel and
Carnifex. On 26 January 2009, Architects made their Century Record debut with their third studio album
Hollow Crown. It was released in the United Kingdom and Australia on 26 January 2009, 10 February in the United States and Canada, 20 February in
Continental Europe and 21 February in Japan. The band recorded the album in July 2008 after the announcement of joining Century Media's roster. For the initial promotion of the album the band completed a 19 date headline tour of the United Kingdom with support from
Misery Signals and A Textbook Tragedy. In early 2009, the band supported
Parkway Drive along with
August Burns Red on the
Parkway Drive: The DVD tour in Australia. In October and November 2009, they headlined the second
Never Say Die! Tour United Kingdom dates, whereas
Despised Icon headlined the Mainland European dates. The line also included
Horse the Band,
As Blood Runs Black,
Iwrestledabearonce,
Oceano and
The Ghost Inside. In January 2009, Tom Searle had believed the band had toured across North America and Europe in 17 separate tours.
The Here and Now, Daybreaker and Hillier-Brook's departure (2010–2012) Architects announced that the first single from the upcoming fourth album would be entitled "Day in Day Out", and was premièred on
Daniel P. Carter's BBC Radio 1 podcast
The Rock Show on 30 August 2010. The band headlined tours of the UK in October 2010 with
Norma Jean,
Devil Sold His Soul and
Lower Than Atlantis supporting and Australia in December with
Comeback Kid as co-headliners and
This is Hell and
Rolo Tomassi supporting. On 19 January 2011, Architects' fourth album
The Here and Now was released. The album was recorded across 2010 from May till June at
The Omen Room Studios in California and featured guest vocals from Andrew Neufeld of
Comeback Kid and
Greg Puciato of
The Dillinger Escape Plan. The album was seen as going in a more commercial direction from the rest of the band's work. The album sold 900 copies in the United States in its first week and debuted at number 47 on the US
Top Heatseekers album charts and number 57 on the
UK Album Charts. When looking back at the album in hindsight the band has always seen the period the record was released in as one of difficulty and lack of confidence in themselves. This European tour lasted until late August. Architects, Parkway Drive and
Deez Nuts supported Bring Me the Horizon in North America across September and October. ,
Colombia at the Teatro Metro Bogota on 27 April 2012 On 4 December, Architects released a new single entitled "Devil's Island". The song was for an at the time unnamed follow up album to
The Here and Now. The single was announced in early November, a month before its actual release. As an
iTunes bonus b-side song "Untitled" was added into the single download. In addition to its announcement it was streamed on the band's Facebook page. Both the song and the music video that accompanied the release talk about and deal with the
2011 England riots, with the music video featuring clips of the riots. The single itself was well received by critics for its return to the
mathcore style of their third album,
Hollow Crown. J.J. Nattrass of Bring the noise UK said that "the Track is sweeping and melodic in parts, whilst bursting with high tempo and visceral raw energy in others." In December 2011, the band embarked on a five-day UK headline tour with supporting acts
Heights, Tek-One and
Deaf Havana as part of supporting the single. On 16 April 2012, after the album was fully recorded, it was announced that Tim Hillier-Brook would be leaving the band to pursue other projects. Josh Middleton, the frontman of British metal band
Sylosis became a touring guitarist until the band decided on a new fifth member. The band promoted the
Daybreaker album though a collection of 75 shows in 25 countries (over 4 continents, including: Southeast Asia, Australia, North America and Europe), called the
Daybreaker Almost World Tour and then as part of the American
Warped Tour 2013 in June. They also played the main stage at
Download Festival 2013 at
Donington Park, Leicestershire, United Kingdom. Before their large touring schedule in the United States the band wasn't confident in performing as they were "tired of losing money" with their tours in the country and that "[the band] were about ready to give up on America". as well as plans to go to Australia before 2013 had finished. Architects' final performance in support of
Daybreaker is their first performance in
India at the
Saarang culture festival on 11 January 2014 with Romanian rock band
Grimus. In mid-April 2013, Architects released a trailer of their documentary
One Hundred Days: The Story of Architects Almost World Tour. Directed by Tom Welsh, the documentary is a story about Architects' Almost World Tour. The band decided to release the film since they had left Century Media. After the target amount had been reached for the film Architects posted a song clip of a new song, "Black Blood", online. The band's split from Century Media was after their contract expired and due to "a daily occurrence" of falling out. Their sixth studio album,
Lost Forever // Lost Together, was released on 11 March 2014, produced by Henrik Udd and recorded at the
Gothenburg based studio
Studio Fredman. Two singles were released to promote the record "Naysayer", "Broken Cross"; and a music video for "Gravedigger". In the support of the record's release Architects toured Europe in March and April with
Stray from the Path and
Northlane as main supports. They then completed a co-headline tour of the United States with
Letlive in April and May; and then have lined up a supporting tour of
The Amity Affliction in Australia, including two headline shows of their own in the country, and a Canadian tour in August and September. In 2014, it was reported that all members of the band went vegan after watching several documentaries on the subject.
All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us and Tom Searle's death (2015–2017) On 12 June 2015, Tom Searle announced that the band started demoing new songs and he was excited for the release of a seventh album. On 6 March 2016,
Epitaph Records released a new Architects song, "A Match Made in Heaven". It was the first single from
All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us, which was released on 27 May. On 11 April, Architects released a second single, "Gone with the Wind". On 23 March, Architects announced a release show in Brighton for 27 May, supported by Counting Days. Due to unexpectedly high demand, the ticket website accidentally oversold tickets, prompting the band to add a second date on 28 May. Architects premiered a third song, "Downfall", on 20 May. On the same day, they announced a headline tour in the United Kingdom for November 2016. Architects also played a number of shows in mainland Europe and in North America during the summer. It has been stated by Tom Searle that it is "a bunch of atheists thinking about whether or not there might be something bigger," and that due to his cancer he was becoming highly contemplative about life, and that this album is the product of that train of thought. On 20 August 2016, founding guitarist and songwriter Tom Searle died at the age of 28, after living for three years with
melanoma skin cancer. The extent of his condition was previously not made public, though he referenced it in the song "C.A.N.C.E.R" on
Lost Forever // Lost Together. Searle was initially declared cancer free after a 2013 leg surgery, but the cancer returned. He was shown in the "In Memoriam" segment at the 2017
BRIT awards, and the song "Paragon" on the
Northlane album
Mesmer was written in tribute to him. Tom Searle's twin brother and bandmate, Dan, confirmed in a statement on the band's official Facebook page that their upcoming Australian tour, as well as their UK and Europe headline tour, would still be taking place as a tribute to his brother following his death. On the future of the band, Dan Searle wrote, "We want to carry on, that is important to say, and we will strive to do so, but we will not release any music unless we truly believe that it is something that Tom would have been proud of. Whether or not we can achieve that is something that we will have to discover in time". Sean Delander of
Thy Art Is Murder filled in for Searle on the Australian tour, and Josh Middleton of
Sylosis filled in on the European tour.
Holy Hell (2017–2019) On 7 March 2017, Daniel P. Carter released an episode of his SWIM (Someone Who Isn't Me) podcast with Dan Searle, through which Dan spoke out about his brother Tom's death for the first time and how he dealt with his illness. During which, he also explained that both he and Tom wrote songs for a new album together before his death, and music has been written since. On 24 August, the band won "Best Album" at the inaugural Heavy Music Awards in London for
All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us. On the same day, the band also announced dates of a headline European tour, which includes their first ever arena date on UK shores, and by extension their biggest headline show to date. 2017 On 6 September, Architects released a single titled "
Doomsday". The single is the first material to be released by the band since the passing of Searle, and features new lead guitarist Josh Middleton in the music video. The song was released shortly after the band announced that they were beginning to work on new material. Dan Searle confirmed that "Doomsday" is a song that Tom Searle was unable to finish before dying, and also acts as their "way of showing everyone that there's still a future." The following day, Architects confirmed that Josh Middleton had become a full-time member of the band. On 12 September 2018, the band announced that they will be releasing their eighth album, titled
Holy Hell, on 9 November 2018. On the same day, the band released the album's first single, "Hereafter". On 3 October, the band released their second single, "Royal Beggars", and on 28 October, their third single, "Modern Misery". In 2019, the band was nominated for three
Kerrang! Awards, 'Best Album', 'Best British Act', and 'Best British Live Act'. On 19 June, the band won the 'Best British Live Act' for the second year straight.
For Those That Wish to Exist and The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit (2020–2023) On 20 October 2020, the band released the first single "
Animals" along with an accompanying music video. A day after, the band revealed the tracklist, album's official artwork and announced that their new ninth studio album
For Those That Wish to Exist would be released on 26 February 2021. On 22 October, the band announced that to promote the album, they will play a special livestream show from the
Royal Albert Hall in
London on 21 November, with the show set to screened around the world via the streaming service Veeps. During the livestream, the band debuted two new songs from their forthcoming album. According to
Wall of Sound, "Discourse Is Dead" was the heavier, metalcore-inspired track while "
Dead Butterflies" had more of an atmospheric, stadium rock sound behind it. They also debuted their latest single "Animals" live for the first time. On 2 December, the band released the second single "Black Lungs" and its corresponding music video. On 20 January 2021, one month before the album release, the band released the third single "Dead Butterflies" alongside an accompanying music video of their livestream show at the Royal Albert Hall where the song debuted. On 8 February, the band released the fourth single, "Meteor". On 17 May, Carter has lent his vocals to the theme for
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker. He commented about being a part of the project: "Really proud to have been a part of this
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker." On 17 June, the band received the
Libera Awards as "Best Metal Record" for their song "Animals" by the
American Association of Independent Music. On 12 November, the band announced another global livestream to round out the year with an exclusive performance of
For Those That Wish to Exist live at
Abbey Road Studios on 11 December via Veeps. On 20 April 2022, the band released the brand new single "When We Were Young" along with an accompanying music video. The song premiered on
BBC Radio 1's Future Sounds with
Clara Amfo, along with an interview with Sam Carter afterwards. On 12 July, Architects unveiled the single "Tear Gas" and its corresponding music video. At the same time, they unexpectedly announced their tenth studio album,
The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit, released on 21 October 2022. On 30 August, the single "Deep Fake" was released. On 11 October, one week before the album release, the band released the fourth and final single "A New Moral Low Ground" along with a music video. On 28 May 2023, the band announced that lead guitarist Josh Middleton departed from the band on good terms.
The Sky, the Earth & All Between (2023–present) On 4 December 2023, Architects premiered the music video for the new single "Seeing Red". In January 2024, the band attracted some controversy after guitarist Adam Christianson retweeted a post from
Tim Pool in support of MMA fighter
Sean Strickland's homophobic and transphobic comments in an interview. He subsequently apologized, saying "That retweet was a total accident!! I don't endorse anything that guy says other than fuck
Trudeau." Sam Carter addressed the matter: "No one on this stage judges anybody for their gender, their race, and whoever they are in love with. That is not what this band stands for, and it is not what this band will ever stand for. We love every single one of you." On 10 April 2024, Architects unveiled a brand new single "Curse" which was produced by former
Bring Me the Horizon keyboardist
Jordan Fish. On 19 November, the band released the single "Whiplash" and its corresponding music video. At the same time, they announced their eleventh studio album,
The Sky, the Earth & All Between, would be released on 28 February 2025. On 14 January 2025, the band released the fourth single "Blackhole" along with a music video. The fifth and sixth singles, "Everything Ends" and "Brain Dead", with the latter featuring
House of Protection, were released on 24 and 26 February respectively. ==Artistry==