Mouth of the Architect

At the time of their first effort, 2004's Time & Withering, Dayton, OH's Mouth of the Architect featured Jason Watkins (vocals, keyboards, samples), Gregory Lahm (guitar, vocals), Dave Mann (drums), Alex Vernon (guitar, vocals), and Derik Sommer (bass), and followed in the footsteps of Neurosis, Isis, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor in exploring heavy metal's more progressive, trance-inducing reaches. But this lineup splintered shortly thereafter, and Mouth of the Architect almost fell apart completely before Watkins, Lahm, and Mann closed ranks and flew to Seattle, where they at last recorded new material with help from on-the-loan bassist Brian Cook. One epic cut, entitled "Sleepwalk Powder," was used for a split release with Translation Loss label mates Kenoma in early 2006, and a second Mouth of the Architect album, The Ties That Blind, emerged later that year.