Arsis is an American death metal band from Virginia Beach, Virginia, formed in 2000. The band is currently signed to Nuclear Blast. History Demos and Willowtip era (2000–2006) Arsis was started by James Malone and Michael "Mike" Van Dyne in 2000, who met while attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston. The name Arsis comes from the musical term arsis and thesis meaning up and down beats. They recorded two demos independently in 2001 and 2002, which were later officially released by Negative-Existence Records in 2007. Arsis signed to Willowtip Records in 2003 and released their highly acclaimed debut album, A Celebration of Guilt, in 2004, which later ranked #50 on Decibel Magazine's "Top 100 Death Metal Albums of All Time" list. This was followed by the release of A Diamond for Disease in 2005, and United in Regret in 2006. During this time, Arsis toured heavily, sharing national stages with Six Feet Under, Full Blown Chaos, Misery Index, Mortician, Incantation, The Chasm, Necrophagist, Cattle Decapitation, Neuraxis, Alarum, Job for a Cowboy, Animosity, Ion Dissonance, Dead to Fall, Misery Signals, The Faceless, All Shall Perish, Napalm Death, and A Life Once Lost, and performed on the main stage at the 2004 Maryland Deathfest, the 2006 New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, and the First Annual California Metalfest. The band's main composer, singer/guitarist/songwriter James Malone, wrote and performed all the guitar, vocal, and bass work on the first studio album, A Celebration of Guilt, as well as the follow-up, A Diamond for Disease. Malone also composed and performed a score for the off-Broadway ballet company Ballet Deviare. He has a signature model for Washburn Guitars. Mike Van Dyne performed drums on all of Arsis' releases and tours up until early 2007, and recorded/toured again with the band from 2009 until 2011. Van Dyne went on to record and perform live with The Final Sleep. We Are the Nightmare and lineup changes (2007–2008) The band signed to Nuclear Blast just before original drummer Van Dyne departed; he was replaced by Darren Cesca. Noah Martin, who played bass on United in Regret, and Ryan Knight were also added to the lineup to record We Are the Nightmare (2008), their first album with Nuclear Blast. That summer 2008, Arsis played on the Thrash & Burn tour. Cesca was let go in 2008, with differences in musical direction provided as the reason; he was