Archspire is a Canadian technical death metal band from Vancouver. They have released four studio albums and are currently signed to Season of Mist.[1][2]

Archspire
Archspire at Hellfest 2019
Background information
Also known asDefenestrated (2007-2009)
OriginVancouver, Canada
GenresTechnical death metal
Years active2007–present
LabelsSeason of Mist, Trendkill, Hadean
Members
  • Tobi Morelli
  • Dean Lamb
  • Oli Peters
  • Jared Smith
Past members
  • Spencer Prewett
  • Shawn Haché
  • Jaron Good
  • Clayton Harder
Websitearchspire.bandcamp.com

History

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The band was formed in 2007 as Defenestrated, but changed their name to Archspire in 2009.[3] Members were guitarists Tobi Morelli and Dean Lamb, drummer Spencer Prewett, bassist Jaron "Evil" Good and vocalist Shawn Haché. Haché left to join Mitochondrion and was replaced with Oliver "Oli Peters" Aleron.

The band was signed to Trendkill Recordings and, in April 2011, released their first album, All Shall Align.[4] It was recorded between May and December 2010 working with producer Stuart McKillop at The Hive Studio in Calgary.[5]

In early 2013, Jaron Evil suffered a stroke at age 31.[6] He recovered and briefly returned to the band, but left permanently in late 2013. He was replaced by Clayton Harder.

Also in 2013, Archspire signed with Season of Mist,[7] and recorded a second album with Stuart McKillop, at Vancouver's Rain City Recorders.[8] On February 2, 2014, the band released a single from their upcoming album, "Lucid Collective Somnambulation",[9] and in April released The Lucid Collective.[1][10][11]

In January 2015 the band announced they were seeking a permanent bass player as a replacement for bassist Clayton Harder, who left to study jazz guitar at York University.[12] They asked interested parties to record a video of themselves playing an Archspire song (they suggested "Deathless Ringing").[13] On January 12, 2016, the band announced that they had selected Jared Smith to become their full-time bassist, and posted Smith's playthrough video of "Lucid Collective Somnambulation".[14]

The band announced their third album Relentless Mutation and a single, "Involuntary Doppelgänger", on July 5, 2017. The album was released on September 22, 2017.[15] At the Juno Awards of 2018, the album received a nomination for Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year.[16]

In 2019, the band made tech news headlines when a duo of programmers called Dadabots created a neural network trained on Archspire's music to produce a non-stop stream of technical death metal based on the band's music; Dadabots also noted that Archspire's music produced the most consistent AI results, presumably because of the high tempo and technical machine-like nature of the songs. Archspire themselves also commented on the phenomenon, jokingly referring to themselves as robots.[17][18]

Later that year, Peters and Prewett appeared in a cameo in the first episode of See; actor Jason Momoa is a fan of the band[19] and asked Peters to coach him for a war cry technique.[20]

On October 29, 2021, Archspire released their fourth studio album Bleed the Future.[21] Three singles were released: "Golden Mouth of Ruin", "Bleed the Future", and "Drone Corpse Aviator". "Golden Mouth of Ruin"[22] and "Drone Corpse Aviator" were accompanied by videos, with the latter being the first fully-produced video the band had made.[23] The album was elected by Loudwire as the 16th best rock/metal album of 2021[24] and won the Juno Awards of 2022

On September 23, 2024, it was announced drummer Spencer Prewett had departed the band.[25]

Members

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Current members

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  • Dean Lamb – 8-string guitar (2007–present)
  • Tobi Morelli – 7 and 8-string guitar (2007–present)
  • Oli Peters (a.k.a. Oliver Rae Aleron) – vocals (2009–present)
  • Jared Smith – bass (2016–present)

Former members

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  • Spencer Prewett – drums (2007–2024)
  • Shawn Hache – vocals (2007–2008)
  • Jaron "Evil" Good – bass, backing vocals (2009–2014)
  • Clayton Harder – bass (2014–2015)

Timeline

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Discography

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Awards and nominations

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Juno Award

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Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2018 Relentless Mutation Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year Nominated [26]
2022 Bleed the Future Metal/Hard Music Album of the Year Won [27]

Western Canadian Music Awards

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Year Nominee / work Award Result Ref.
2022 Archspire Metal and Hard Music Artist of the Year Won [28]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Archspire, Relentless Mutation album, Technical Death Metal (news, biography, releases, downloads, line-up, tour dates) – Season of Mist, Metal Label". season-of-mist.com. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  2. ^ "Relentless Mutation, by Archspire". Archspire. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  3. ^ "Interview : Archspire – English". October 12, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  4. ^ "Archspire – All Shall Align". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  5. ^ "Archspire Signs To Trendkill Recordings". Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  6. ^ "Archspire". facebook.com.[dead link]
  7. ^ "Season of Mist signs Archspire". Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  8. ^ "Archspire News: Archspire – Season of Mist, Metal Label". season-of-mist.com. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  9. ^ "Archspire "Lucid Collective Somnambulation" song premiere". lambgoat.com. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  10. ^ "New & Noteworthy April 29th: As bright as the darknessMetal Insider". April 29, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  11. ^ "Archspire News: Archspire – Season of Mist, Metal Label". season-of-mist.com. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  12. ^ "Clayton Harder". jazz.fm. Jazz.FM91. March 5, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  13. ^ "Archspire seeks new bassist". Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  14. ^ "Archspire announces new bassist". Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  15. ^ "Archspire Will Rip Your Fucking Face Off And Wear It With "Involuntary Doppelgänger" – Metal Injection". July 5, 2017. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
  16. ^ "No drugs, no serious addictions..." cbc.ca. CBC News. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  17. ^ Dozier, Rob (April 19, 2019). "This YouTube Channel Streams AI-Generated Death Metal 24/7".
  18. ^ "AI Death Metal Generator Using Archspire As Source Material". Metal Injection. April 23, 2019.
  19. ^ "Jason Momoa Recruits Archspire Members for New Apple TV Show | MetalSucks". November 2, 2019 – via metalsucks.net.
  20. ^ Hersko, Tyler (November 18, 2019). "'See': Jason Momoa Handpicked a Metal Vocalist to Train Him For War Cry Scene".
  21. ^ Howkins, Jessica (October 31, 2021). "Album Review: Bleed The Future – Archspire". distortedsoundmag.com. Distorted Sound Magazine. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  22. ^ "Archspire - 'Golden Mouth of Ruin'". youtube.com. YouTube. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  23. ^ "Archspire To Release Bleed the Future Album In October; 'Golden Mouth of Ruin' Music Video Posted". Brave Words. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  24. ^ "The 45 Best Rock Metal Albums of 2021". Loudwire. Townsquare Media. December 10, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  25. ^ "Archspire seeking new drummer as Spencer Prewett exits band". Lambgoat. September 23, 2024. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  26. ^ Brock, Thiessen (March 25, 2018). "Here's the Complete List of 2018 Juno Award Winners". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  27. ^ Gordon, Holly (May 14, 2022). "Here are all the 2022 Juno Award winners". CBC.ca. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  28. ^ "Archspire Wins Western Canada Music Award For Metal and Hard Music Artist Of The Year". Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. September 28, 2022. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
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