Ashen Siege

Ethan Armstrong

Leo Thompson

Hunter Newton-Wood

Charles Sheldon

Anthony Cole

**Ashen Siege** is a British industricore band formed in 2001 by guitarist Matt Westcott, the band's only constant member. They are considered the pioneers of industricore, with their 2009 album Machines of Ruin being widely viewed as the foundation of the genre.

## History

Matt Westcott and Nathaniel Nibley were two metalheads who met each other in a mosh pit at a show they were both attending in 2001. A few months later, they decided to form a band, with the two friends playing guitar and bass, respectively. After recruiting vocalist Sean Francis and drummer Anthony Cole, the band began writing music and touring locally. In 2003, they were signed to Napalm and released their first album. After critics described the album as being fairly unoriginal, Westcott decided to change the band's direction, saying that "I didn't want us to be some dime-a-dozen metalcore band that would be forgotten about and swept under the rug in a few years."

In 2004, Westcott suggested to the other band members that they start experimenting with their work. This idea was met with enthusiasm from Nibley and Cole, but Francis was opposed to the idea, and quit the band on the spot. The band then set out to look for a new singer, before eventually finding Sam Burgess, whose ability to seamlessly transition from clean and unclean vocals landed him the role. Just as the band was about to settle down with their new lineup, disaster struck when Anthony Cole was involved in a car crash, paralyzing him from the waist down. With Cole unable to play, Burgess encouraged his friend, Hunter Newton-Wood, to audition for the band, which he successfully did.

Although the band had it's new lineup, Nathaniel Nibley found himself growing apart from Westcott, and fighting frequently with Newton-Wood and Burgess. Eventually, he decided that he'd had enough, quitting the band and forming his own in 2004. This band, known as Hatereactor, would go on to enter a fierce rivalry with Ashen Siege that lasted for almost a decade. For now, though, the band hired Charles Sheldon, nicknamed "Shel", to replace Nibley. With what appeared to be their final lineup, the band went to the studio to record their second album, *Finding Darkness in Light*. This album saw the band dabbling with industrial influences, although the album is often described as metalcore. *Finding Darkness in Light* received better reception than their previous album, and proved Westcott's earlier decision to be a good one.

After finishing a nationwide tour in 2008, Sheldon left the band, citing personal reasons. Along with the search for a new bassist, the band decided to look for a keyboardist, so they could take their experimentation even further. They found the former in Ethan Armstrong, who had been a fan of the band since they released their first album. The latter would eventually be discovered in Leo Thompson, an established musician in the industrial scene. For their next album, the band would build up on the sound established in *Finding Darkness in Light*. This album, *Machines of Ruin*, became a massive success within the metal community, exposing not only them, but industricore as a whole to a new audience. *Machines of Ruin* is almost unanimously agreed to be the subgenre's most influential work, with many fans considering it the best. Some also say it is the first industricore album to be made, although that title is disputed with Hatereactor's *Sanctimonious Bloodshed*.

## Members

###### Current members

Sam Burgess - lead vocals (2004-)

Matt Westcott - guitars (2001-)

Ethan Armstrong - bass (2008-)

Leo Thompson - keyboards (2008-)

Hunter Newton-Wood - drums (2004-)

###### Former members

Sean Francis - lead vocals (2001-2004)

Nathaniel Nibley - bass (2001-2005)

Charles "Shel" Sheldon - bass (2005-2008)

Anthony Cole - drums (2001-2004)

## Discography

*Ashen Siege* (2003)

*Finding Darkness in Light* (2006)

*Machines of Ruin* (2009)

*Dismantling the Gods* (2012)