Mouth of the Architect is an American heavy metal band from

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

, creating music influenced by and similar to

Neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

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Cult of Luna Cult of Luna is a Swedish heavy metal band from Umeå founded in 1998. They are known for post-metal music similar to the contemporary bands Neurosis and Isis. The band was signed to Earache Records in the early 2000s and released five albums, i ...

, and various post-metal bands. They are signed to Translation Loss Records and have released five full-length studio albums and one EP to date.

Biography

Mouth of the Architect formed in 2003 with the lineup of Jason Watkins (vocals, keyboards), Gregory Lahm (vocals, guitar), Alex Vernon (vocals, guitar), Dave Mann (drums), and Derik Sommer (bass). They released their first album ''

Time and Withering ''Time and Withering'' is the debut album by the sludge metal band Mouth of the Architect. Recorded at Cylo Studios in Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population ...

'' in 2004 on Translation Loss Records. Sommer departed the band in 2005. Soon after the band released a split with label mates Kenoma in 2006, Vernon left, leaving Lahm to record all the guitar parts on their second album ''

The Ties That Blind ''The Ties That Blind'' is the second studio album by the sludge metal band Mouth of the Architect. Recorded at Red Room Recordings in Seattle, WA, it was released on Translation Loss Records on 22 August 2006. Prior to recording, Alex Vernon lef ...

'' which was released in August, and featured

Brent Hinds William Brent Hinds (born January 16, 1974) is an American musician best known as a member of the Atlanta, Georgia metal band Mastodon, in which he shares guitar duties with Bill Kelliher and vocal duties with Troy Sanders and Brann Dailor. Hi ...

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on guest vocals on one track. Brian Cook of Botch,

Russian Circles Russian Circles is an American instrumental band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was originally formed by childhood friends Mike Sullivan and Dave Turncrantz after their previous musical projects dissolved. After parting ways with their ori ...

, and

These Arms are Snakes These Arms Are Snakes was an American post-hardcore band that formed in 2002 and featured former members of Botch and Kill Sadie. Before disbanding in 2009, they released three studio albums: ''Oxeneers or the Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Ho ...

stood in to play bass on the album. To support ''The Ties That Blind'', the band toured extensively around the United States, while weathering several line-up changes. In 2006 the band toured alongside

These Arms Are Snakes These Arms Are Snakes was an American post-hardcore band that formed in 2002 and featured former members of Botch and Kill Sadie. Before disbanding in 2009, they released three studio albums: ''Oxeneers or the Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Ho ...

, with Dan Wilburn of The Science Logic replacing Vernon on guitar. 2007 saw newcomer Steve Brooks replace Wilburn, followed by a year of near constant touring alongside bands including

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, Torche, Kylessa, 400 Blows,

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and

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, among others. The band featured Joe Lester of

Intronaut Intronaut is an American progressive metal band from Los Angeles, California, that incorporates complex polyrhythms, progressive rock, and jazz. History Intronaut formed in 2004, and their initial line-up included guitarist/vocalist Sacha Dunabl ...

and Kevin Schindel of

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on bass during this time. Their third album, '' Quietly'', was recorded after Lahm in turn left the band, with Vernon returning alongside Brooks to jointly handle guitars and vocals, and Schindel providing bass. Soon after the release of the album in 2008, Vernon left yet again with Schindel switching to guitar. An EP entitled ''The Violence Beneath'' followed in 2010, with a headlining European tour to support the record. The tour featured appearances at

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and Asymmetry Festival. Recorded in October 2009 by John Lakes, ''The Violence Beneath'' featured two new studio tracks with Joe Lester on bass, an old live track from 2007 as well as a

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

cover with Lakes on bass. Evan Danielson joined as permanent bassist following its release. The band returned to the studio in October 2011 to lay down a track for French compilation ''Falling Down VII'' which was released the following April. Their fourth full-length album, '' Dawning'', was released in June 2013. Recorded at Brooks' studio in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, the album was self-produced by Brookes and Lakes. A US/Canada tour with

and

Scale the Summit Scale the Summit is an American instrumental progressive metal band based out of Houston, Texas. It formed in 2004 and signed to Prosthetic Records. The band is influenced by other progressive acts such as Cynic and Dream Theater. The band gain ...

and a headlining European tour took place that summer with Lakes filling in for Schindel during both legs of the tour on guitar. Lakes soon replaced Schindel as a full-time member. Their fifth full-length album, '' Path of Eight'', released in October 2016, was recorded live in the bands' rehearsal space in Dayton over a weekend. It is a concept album "about a soul leaving the body after death, traveling through space and time, past the gods, to be torn apart into the nothingness from which we came". On 28 March 2018, the band announced the departure of Steve Brooks on their Facebook page and that founding member Alex Vernon had rejoined the band. Schindel, Vernon, Mann and Brooks have been members of the band

at various points in the past.

Discography

*''

'' CD (2004, Translation Loss) (re-issued on LP in 2017) *Mouth of the Architect/Kenoma split CD & LP (2006, Translation Loss) Track: Sleepwalk Powder *''

'' CD & LP (2006, Translation Loss) (re-issued on CD & LP in 2018) *''

For the Sick ''For the Sick'' is the title of the various artist tribute album to one of the most influential sludge metal bands, Eyehategod. It was released through Emetic Records on March 20, 2007. Track listing CD 1 # Dot(.) – "Man is Too Ignorant to ...

'' (

Eyehategod Eyehategod (also abbreviated and referred to as EHG) is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has re ...

tribute album, 2007, Emetic Records) Track: Story of the Eye *'' Quietly'' CD & LP (22 July 2008, Translation Loss) *''The Violence Beneath'' EP CD (17 April 2010, Translation Loss) *''Falling Down IIV'' compilation album (28 April 2012, Falling Down) Track: How This Will End *'' Dawning'' CD & LP (25 June 2013, Translation Loss) *'' Path of Eight'' CD & LP (7 October 2016, Translation Loss)

Members

*Jason Watkins –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, samples (2003–present) *Dave Mann –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2003–present) *Alex Vernon –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, vocals (2003-2005, 2007–2008, 2018-present) *Canada Marsh - guitar (2018–present) *Caleb Nason - bass (2018–present)

Former members

*Steve Brooks – guitar, vocals (2007–2018) *Evan Danielson - bass guitar (2010–2017) *John Lakes - guitar, vocals (2015–2017) *Kevin Schindel – bass guitar, vocals (2007-2008), guitar, vocals (2008-2015) *Gregory Lahm – guitar, vocals (2003-2007) *Derik Sommer – bass guitar (2003-2005)

Session members

*Chris Common - bass guitar (''Mouth of the Architect/Kenoma'', 2006) Track: Sleepwalk Powder * Brian Cook - bass guitar (''The Ties That Blind'', 2006) *Joe Lester - bass guitar (''The Violence Beneath'', 2010) *John Lakes - bass guitar (''The Violence Beneath'', 2010) Track: In Your Eyes

Touring members

*Dan Wilburn - guitar (live 2006) *Zack Pahl - bass guitar (live 2006) *Joe Lester - bass guitar (live 2006-2007) *John Lakes - guitar, vocals (live 2009, 2013) *Kevin Schindel – bass guitar, vocals (live 2007–2008, 2017) *Tate Matthews - guitar (live 2017)

Timeline

References

External links

Mouth of the Architect interview by Roy Christopher, April 25, 2013Review of Mouth of the Architect - Quietly on Highbeamreview.comOfficial Facebook PageOfficial MySpace PageTranslation Loss RecordsMouth of the Architect at exclaimMouth of the Architect at punknews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mouth Of The Architect Heavy metal musical groups from Ohio American sludge metal musical groups American post-metal musical groups American doom metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2003 Musical groups from Dayton, Ohio Musical quartets