The band were founded in early 2016, initially settling on the line-up of Al Winter (vocals), Mark Numan (keyboards), Peter Priestley (bass), Marcus Murray (drums) and Gary Jevon (guitar).

The decision to bring in more than one guitarist resulted in a broadened soundscape at the live shows, adding complex textures of guitar work in both the acoustic and electric arena.

In the latter months of 2017, This Winter Machine performed several times, including a support slot for German prog band Crystal Palace on 1 October 2017.

Drummer Marcus Murray left the band after their gig at the Summers End Festival in October 2017, with Andy Milner replacing him.

Described as covering themes such as time, loss and identity within a loose conceptual framework,[8] the band were originally hoping for a release date in 2018.

This Winter Machine embarked on their 'Tour of Clocks' across the UK on 29 July 2018, kicking off with a two-act set at the Cutler’s Arms in Rotherham, playing both albums in full.

April 2019 saw the departure of original bass player Peter Priestly and the introduction of Stuart McAuley who would play his first show with the band on 6 September, the first of a three-day consecutive run with German proggers KariBoW.

Alas, this was to be their final show of 2020 as their next scheduled appearance at Stourport SubFusion Festival was sadly pulled with just days to go due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

In July 2020 guitarist Scott Owens decided to leave the band and by early 2021, due to frustrations in getting all the other existing members together in the studio at one time in order to complete writing and start recording Kites, Winter decided an additional change of personnel was needed, recruiting Simon D’Vali (guitars) and Alan Wilson (drums), having previously worked with them on his solo project ‘Wynter’ and Dom Bennison (guitars) and Dave Close (bass) to continue forward as This Winter Machine.

Numan, Garbett, Milner and McAuley left to form their own project ‘Ghost of the Machine’ joining forces again with previous TWM guitarist Scott Owens and Harmony of Spheres vocalist Charlie Bramald.

Other special guests making an appearance include Peter Jones (Tiger Moth Tales, Red Bazar, Camel) and Mark Abrahams (Wishbone Ash) The new incarnation of This Winter Machine made their first ‘public’ appearance on April 24, 2021, during the YouTube online Fusion Festival ‘Light at the end of the Tunnel’, debuting three tracks from Kites: "The Storm", "Limited" and "Pleasure and Purpose".

The immediate response from the fans and critics alike was extremely favourable in both the UK and Europe [12][13][14][15][16] and within just four weeks since release, Kites sold more copies than both The Man Who Never Was, and A Tower of Clocks combined.

A demo version of the first track ‘The River’ was released as early as February 2022 and the striking cover art was revealed to the fans a couple of months later in April as the band started the initial stages of recording.

Also, the lengthy search for a permanent keyboard player finally came to fruition with the position being filled by the multi-talented Lee Perkins, the announcements of both Dom’s departure and Leigh’s appointment coming on the same day.

Cook had previously worked with Al Winter before the band’s debut album was even recorded, helping co-write parts of an original version of the sixteen-minute epic The Man Who Never Was.

In another guitarist shake-up, albeit an amicable one, Simon D’Vali chose to step back in December 2022 a few months into the process to spend more time with his family.

Whereas TWM traditionally had a twin guitar approach, it became clear that Cook's skills could cover both roles with relative ease, so the band settled nicely into a 5-piece lineup.

Following the success of Peter Jones’ guest vocalist slot on Kites, this time, André Saint, lead vocalist of Grace and Fire was this time invited to sing on the track ‘Change’ and Ade Fisher, guitarist from Stuckfish, not only played the guest solo on 'The River Part II', but he produced and mixed the whole album.

[17] [18][19][20][21][22][23] The concept behind the album is one of a sci-fi dystopian future and alongside the initial CD release was a special limited edition run of a short graphic novel outlining the story written by Al Winter and beautifully illustrated by Andrew Richmond.

Society has labelled them The Clockwork Men… More personnel changes were to come in January 2024 with John Cook leaving to concentrate on his own project ‘Age of Distraction'.

As a temporary measure, rehearsals began with Aaron Gidney from This Winter Machine’s good friends Grace and Fire stepping in to fill the role.

Two successful Scottish shows followed in Kinross and Glasgow respectively and in May of 2024, it was announced that Gidney would join the band as a permanent member whilst also remaining as guitarist for Grace and Fire.