Biography by Gregory Heaney Formed in 2007, Westerville, OH, quintet the Crimson Armada have found themselves on a meteoric rise through the extreme metal world. The band, consisting of Saud Ahmed (vocals/keyboards), Dan Hatfield (guitar), Josh Jardin (guitar), Chris Yates (bass/vocals), and David Puckett (drums), got together with the goals of creating metal that touched all the varied subgenres of extreme music while embedding a spiritual message in its lyrics, opting to veer away from the obsession with gore and blasphemy common in death/black metal. After a fruitful first year of recording demos and playing shows with acts like the Black Dahlia Murder and It Prevails, the group went on hiatus. In 2008, after some urging from the local music scene, the group made its return, recording the EP Behold the Architact and signing to Metal Blade. In July of 2009, the Crimson Armada released their full-length debut, Guardians, on Metal Blade.