Ian Arkley is a guitarist in the death/doom

Death/doom

Death/doom, sometimes writes as death-doom or deathdoom, is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal...

/gothic

Gothic metal

Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...

 metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 genre, his current band is the UK gothic doom metal outfit My Silent Wake

My Silent Wake

My Silent Wake are a British gothic death/doom metal band who were formed from the ashes of Ashen Mortality. Ashen Mortality were formed in the early 90s in Halesowen, West Midlands and were active for a further 11 years. When the band split in 2005, three of the members went on to form MSW. The...

.

Arkley first gained attention as a member (and leader) of seminal Christian

Christian metal

Christian metal, also known as white metal, is a form of heavy metal music usually defined by its message in a song's lyrics as well as the band's dedication to Christianity...

 thrash metal

Thrash metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...

  band Seventh Angel

Seventh Angel

Seventh Angel are a British Christian heavy metal band that formed in 1987. According to Cross Rhythms magazine, they were considered to be thrash metal pioneers, and they released the albums The Torment and Lament for the Weary...

. Signed to Under One Flag Seventh Angel released first album The Torment, and later Lament for the Weary album.

After Seventh Angel split, Arkley formed Ashen Mortality

Ashen Mortality

Ashen Mortality were a British doom metal band that was formed in early 1993 by Ian Arkley and Melanie Bolton. They and Paramaecium are the best known Christian Doom metal bands, though they were always wary of being typecast as such. They recorded two demos, and two albums, and played many gigs...

 adopting a doomier style mixed with mediaeval influences and some death vocals. Ashen Mortality released two self released albums Sleepless Remorse and Your Caress.

Arkley was briefly a member of the Australian doom outfit Paramaecium

Paramaecium

Paramaecium was an Australian death/doom metal band formed in 1991. There is use of instrumentation like flutes, cellos and violins on some albums. Paramaecium is one of the few doom metal bands that focus on Christian lyrical themes and Christian concepts...

, and recorded the album A Time to Mourn

A Time to Mourn

A Time to Mourn is the third album by Paramaecium. It was released in 1999.According to Andrew Tompkins the album art is of a Los Angeles model, the band actually does not know who the woman is.- Album Meaning :...

with them. Ashen Mortality split in the autumn of 2004, playing their last gig on Halloween of that year. With two of the members in the final line-up of Ashen Mortality, Arkley formed My Silent Wake

My Silent Wake

My Silent Wake are a British gothic death/doom metal band who were formed from the ashes of Ashen Mortality. Ashen Mortality were formed in the early 90s in Halesowen, West Midlands and were active for a further 11 years. When the band split in 2005, three of the members went on to form MSW. The...

. MSW recorded a two song demo in mid 2005, and the limited 100 copy run sold out almost immediately, and resulted in a record deal with indie label Bombworks Records. MSW released their first full length album Shadow of Sorrow on Bombworks Records in spring 2006. Drawing on similar influences to Ashen Mortality, My Silent Wake is a more experimental progression for Arkley, with more open soundscape arrangements, but also a heavier aspect to the sound. MSW went on to record a further three albums and a split album with The Drowning. The band are still active.

Arkley recorded two albums with the space rock band The Other Window.

Arkley is also involved in a collaboration with the Visionaire frontman in a band called Century Sleeper who released Awaken in 2006.

Seventh Angel later reformed in 2008, and released the album "The Dust of Years" in 2009, which saw the band take a more Death/Doom approach to their previous style.

Since 2010 Ian has also been involved with the industrial/darkwave band Attrition

Attrition (band)

Attrition are an electronic music band, formed in Coventry, England in 1980 by Martin Bowes and Julia Niblock. The band emerged from the experimental post-punk scene of the early 1980s and, along with other groups such as Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Einstürzende Neubauten, and In the Nursery, greatly...

, contributing guitar. During this time, Ian has also been active with MSW.