Architects

With influences ranging from Hatebreed, to Shadows Fall, to the Dillinger Escape Plan, Brighton, England's Architects play a complex mixture of metalcore, death, and math metal, laced with alternately violent and comedic lyrics. After getting their start in 2005, Architects recorded their debut album, Nightmares, the very next year with a lineup consisting of twin brothers Tom (guitar) and Dan Searle (drums), Tim Hillier-Brook (guitar), Tim Lucas (bass), and Matt Johnson (vocals), but the latter was to be replaced on-stage by new frontman Sam Carter in January of 2007, during the last show of the band's subsequent tour.

Later that year, Architects recorded their sophomore effort, Ruin (introducing new bass player Ali Dean), and signed a worldwide deal with Century Media for its re-release in 2008. Their first American tour was next on the agenda, and saw the group paired up with Suicide Silence, Beneath the Massacre, and the Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, among other bands. Upon their return to England, Architects recorded their third album, to be titled Hollow Crown, which arrived in 2009. The band took its sound in a relatively subdued, post-hardcore direction on its fourth album, 2011's Here and Now, but transitioned back to a heavier sound the following year on Daybreaker. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi