The band was formed by Christian Olde Wolbers and Raymond Herrera (formerly of Fear Factory) who had recorded a demo for a new band. They sent the demo to Threat Signal vocalist Jon Howard and Arkaea was spawned. They tried to obtain Sam Rivers for bassist, who was all for it but then decided to back down due to location. Ryan Martinie of Mudvayne then offered his services for the album but it was felt it would be too difficult for another bassist to replicate his unique basslines live as he could not tour due to Mudvayne commitments. After some time spent searching for the perfect bassist, another Threat Signal member, Pat Kavanagh, was finally chosen. Their debut entitled Years in the Darkness was set to be released on March 3, then March 10 but was not released until July 14, 2009, selling roughly 980 units in its first week. Half of the songs that appear on the album were originally intended to be for a possible new Fear Factory album. In addition to a 5 minute long sampler the band posted the opening track "Locust" on their Myspace.