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Architects

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Brighton metalcore institution that rebuilt itself after the loss of founding drummer and chief songwriter Tom Searle, trading pit-focused aggression for something vast and cleanly engineered without losing the weight.

Architects grew out of the Brighton hardcore scene, formed in 2004 by twin brothers Dan and Tom Searle under the working name Counting the Days, with original vocalist Matt Johnson, guitarist Tim Hillier-Brook and bassist Tim Lucas. Their early records, coarse and rhythmically knotted, owed a clear debt to the Dillinger Escape Plan.

Matt Johnson left six months after the 2006 debut Nightmares, and Sam Carter, previously a drummer in other local bands, took over on vocals. Bassist Tim Lucas departed for an academic career and was replaced by Alex Dean. The 2011 album The Here and Now pushed toward a more melodic post-hardcore sound that alienated some fans before Daybreaker pulled the band back toward heavier ground the following year.

Lost Forever // Lost Together, released in 2014, brought the band lasting popularity and critical notice, and its 2016 follow-up, All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us, arrived shortly before Tom Searle's death from skin cancer after a three-year illness. Guitarist Josh Middleton joined the following year, and the single "Doomsday," the last song Tom Searle had been working on, appeared on 2018's Holy Hell.

Since then, rounded out by bassist Alex Dean and guitarist Adam Christianson alongside Dan Searle and Sam Carter, Architects have moved toward a cleaner, more atmospheric sound. For Those That Wish to Exist became their first UK Albums Chart number one in 2021, followed by The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit in 2022 and The Sky, the Earth & All Between in 2025.

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