Josh Middleton Leaves Architects

After nearly six years as a key member of the British metalcore outfit Architects, guitarist Josh Middleton is departing the band and will return to Sylosis full-time.

In a heartfelt Instagram statement posted yesterday (28 May), the band revealed Middleton’s amicable decision.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce Josh’s time in the band has come to an end,” Architects wrote. “It has gradually become apparent that we need to go our separate ways, but we remain close friends.

“Josh was a life raft for the band after we lost Tom and he gave us a way to keep the band alive through the hardest experience of our lives. We will always be grateful to him for that.

“We wish him the best in his future endeavours and we suggest that everyone keeps an eye out for the new Sylosis record later this year.”

The shock announcement arrives as Architects just wrapped up their stint of shows opening for the one and only Metallica on their mammoth M72 tour. “We’re big fans of Metallica; they’re Josh’s favourite band,” vocalist Sam Carter said in a recent Kill Your Stereo interview.

He continued, “Opening for Metallica is one of those things where, every time you talk about it, you're like, holy shit, that's actually happening. It’s really surreal, you don’t even dream of playing shows with Metallica because they're so fucking massive. But yeah, we’re really excited.”

A few months after Architects released All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us in 2016, founding member, guitarist and primary songwriter Tom Searle passed away from melanoma skin cancer. Middleton began playing with the band in August 2016. After some time as their touring guitarist, he was featured in the Doomsday music video before the group announced he had formerly joined the band.

From there, Josh Middleton played on the Architects albums Holy Hell (2018), For Those That Wish To Exist (2021), and the classic symptoms of a broken spirit (October 2022). For Those That Wish To Exist debuted at #1 in Australia, while the classic symptoms of a broken spirit landed at #8.

Since Tom passed away, Architects picked up the responsibility of primary songwriter, sharing the role amongst five people. “We’re just trying to write better songs as a band and not rest on what we’ve already done,” Carter told Kill Your Stereo. “It’s important to keep pushing yourself; I don’t think we’re ever 100% satisfied.

“I think that’s what keeps us going, because we’re always on that quest to find the perfect chorus or the perfect breakdown or the perfect lyric or whatever. There's always that hunt, and I think you never get there. You just get as close as you can.”