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Amebix | |
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Background information | |
Also known as | The Band with No Name |
Origin | England, UK |
Genres | Crust punk [1] |
Years active | 1978–1987, 2008–2012 |
Labels | Spiderleg, Heavy Metal, Alternative Tentacles, Moshpit Tragedy |
Past members | Rob "The Baron" Miller Stig Andy Billy Jug Martin Baker Virus Ric Gadsby Norman Butler Clive George Jenghiz A. Droid Spider Roy Mayorga |
Amebix were an English crust punk band. Formed as the Band with No Name, the band's original run was from 1978 to 1987, during which time they released two EPs and three albums. The group reunited in 2008, released another full-length album in 2011, and disbanded again in November 2012.
By being one of the first bands to blend anarcho-punk and heavy metal music, Amebix are often cited as one of the key bands that helped to create the crust punk genre, and as being influential to many extreme meta l bands, especially black metal bands. [2] [3]
Amebix were initially formed by Rob Miller (a.k.a. "The Baron") along with his brother "Stig" Chris Miller, Andy "Billy Jug", (Andy Hoare) and Clive Barnes whilst at school in Tavistock Devon in 1978. Initially referring to themselves as "The Band with No Name" the band played extensively around the local area, during which time they recorded a four track demo tape. Using his role as part-time columnist in a local paper Rob Miller gave a tape to Crass when they played in Plymouth. The track "University Challenged" from this demo was then featured on the first Crass Records Bullshit Detector compilation LP.
Clive B and drummer Andy "Billy Jug" left the band and Martin Baker became Amebix' new drummer. Baker's parents' manor house in Dartmoor was then used to practice in. It was around this time that the band began to refer to themselves as 'Amebix'. According to an interview with lead singer and bassist Rob Miller, Amebix refers to the amoeba. However, Baker was removed by his parents from the band and relocated to London where he had a breakdown and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenica. The song "Largactyl" was written about his experience. [4]
The band then recruited Norm (Screaming Heads, Phantasmagoria, NormYard) as a synth player and relocated to Bristol, living in a number of squats. They recruited Disorder drummer Neil "Virus" Worthington (from Nailsea in Somerset) to play drums and finally had a semi-stable line-up. [5] This line-up would record the first two 7"s ( Who's the Enemy and Winter ) and their first album No Sanctuary . A fill-in synth player would appear on No Sanctuary, and in 1984 they would acquire a new synth player, George. [6] While recording No Sanctuary at Southern Studios they met Jello Biafra of American punk band Dead Kennedys and owner of the punk record label Alternative Tentacles. As a result, they became the label's first UK signing, and subsequently released the Arise! album in 1985. The final line-up would come together in 1985 with the addition of Spider on drums. [6] They signed to Heavy Metal Records for the release of 1987's Monolith, whose release/distribution difficulties led to the band eventually splitting, although they were to continue touring, their final tour ending in Sarajevo before the collapse of Yugoslavia.
Spider, George, and Stig went on to perform in Zygote. [5] Vocalist Rob Miller now lives on the Isle of Skye where he works as a self-taught swordsmith.
According to The Baron's Myspace page, Amebix have reformed as of February 2008. On 9 March 2008, Amebix reissued their last album Monolith as a sliding scale download through Moshpit Tragedy Records. Since reforming, the band have released the Redux EP, which consists of three rerecorded songs from the band's original incarnation, plus a fourth live track on the downloadable version. A new maxi-single entitled Knights of the Black Sun was released on 3 June 2011 which also featured the band's first ever music video. Sonic Mass , the band's third album and first full-length in 24 years, was released on 23 September 2011 through the band's own label (Amebix Records) and Easy Action Records. They disbanded on 28 November 2012.
In 2014, Rob "The Baron" Miller joined forces with Jon Misery (Misery), Andy Lefton (War//Plague) and Michel "Away" Langevin of Voivod to form Tau Cross.
Amebix took inspiration from Motörhead (and to a lesser extent Lemmy-era Hawkwind), Black Sabbath, and combined with an ethos and worldview akin to Crass. They were also influenced by various post-punk and gothic rock bands, including Public Image Ltd, Bauhaus, Joy Division and especially Killing Joke. Many have claimed that Amebix were influenced by proto-black metal band Venom; however, Rob Miller has denied this on numerous occasions.
Such notable bands as Sepultura, Neurosis and Deviated Instinct have paid homage to the band. [7] In an interview with The Guardian in 2016, the band was citied along with a number of other British anarcho-punk bands of the early 80s as being an influence to the American avant-garde metal group Neurosis. [8]
Bullshit Detector was the name of a series of compilation LPs put together by the anarcho-punk band Crass and released on their Crass Records label. Three editions were released between 1980 and 1984, consisting of demo tapes, rough recordings and artwork that had been sent to the band. The sound quality of the Bullshit Detector series was mixed, and was often very basic or poor as Crass would master the tapes directly to record without any additional production or enhancement. For Crass, the expectation of a polished performance was missing the point of the DIY punk ethic:
Subhumans are an English/UK punk rock band formed in the Warminster and Melksham areas of Wiltshire in 1980. Singer Dick Lucas had formerly been in another local band, the Mental, and other members had been in The Stupid Humans. The band's musical style is typically classified as hardcore punk or anarcho-punk.
Rudimentary Peni are a British anarcho-punk band formed in 1980, emerging from the London anarcho-punk scene. Lead singer/guitarist Nick Blinko is notorious for his witty, macabre lyrics and dark pen-and-ink artwork, prominently featured on all of Rudimentary Peni's albums. Bassist Grant Matthews has also written several songs for the band, though his lyrics primarily focus on sociopolitical themes. Very few photos exist of the band, as their albums feature Blinko's drawings instead, but Pushead published a few in an early edition of his magazine.
Oi Polloi are a punk rock band from Scotland that formed around 1981. Starting as an Oi! band, they are now generally more associated with the anarcho-punk genre. The band has become notable for their contributions to the Scottish Gaelic punk subgenre. The name comes from the Greek expression "οἱ πολλοί", Anglicized hoi polloi, meaning "the masses" or "the common people".
Spiderleg Records was an independent record label founded by UK anarcho-punk band Flux of Pink Indians in 1981.
Crust punk is a subgenre of punk rock influenced by the English punk scene as well as extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the early 1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on political and social ills. The term "crust" was coined by Hellbastard on their 1986 Ripper Crust demo.
Neurosis is an American post-metal band from Oakland, California. It was formed in 1985 by guitarist Scott Kelly, bassist Dave Edwardson, and drummer Jason Roeder, initially as a crust punk band. Chad Salter joined as a second guitarist and appeared on the band's 1987 debut Pain of Mind and then Steve Von Till replaced him in 1989. The following year, the lineup further expanded to include a keyboardist and a visual artist. Beginning with their third album Souls at Zero (1992), Neurosis transformed their hardcore sound by incorporating diverse influences including doom metal and industrial music, becoming a major force in the emergence of the post-metal and sludge metal genres.
Discharge are an English hardcore punk band formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The band is known for influencing several sub-genres of extreme music and their songs have been covered by some of the biggest names in heavy metal and other genres. The musical sub-genre of D-beat is named after Discharge and the band's distinctive drumbeat.
D-beat is a style of hardcore punk, developed in the early 1980s by imitators of Discharge, after whom the genre is named, as well as a drum beat characteristic of this subgenre. D-beat is known for its "grinding, distorted and brutally political" sound. Discharge may have themselves inherited the beat from Motörhead and the Buzzcocks. D-beat is closely associated with crust punk, which is a heavier, more complex variation. The style was particularly popular in Sweden, and developed there by groups such as Crude SS, Anti Cimex, Mob 47, and Driller Killer. Other D-beat groups include Doom and the Varukers from the UK; Disclose from Japan; Crucifix and Final Conflict from the U.S.; Ratos de Porão from Brazil; and MG15 from Spain. While the style initially developed in the early 1980s, a number of new groups working within the subgenre emerged in the mid-1990s. These include the Swedish groups Wolfbrigade, Totalitär, Avskum, Skitsystem, and Disfear.
Flux of Pink Indians was an English punk rock band from Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England, active between 1980 and 1986.
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Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, advocating direct action, animal rights, feminism, anti-fascism, and environmentalism. The band used and advocated a DIY ethic in its albums, sound collages, leaflets, and films.
Omega Tribe are an English anarcho-punk band, formed in Barnet, London in 1981. With the roles of Hugh Vivian on guitar and vocals, Daryl Hardcastle on bass, Pete Fender on guitar and Pete Shepherd on drums, their first EP, Angry Songs, was produced by Penny Rimbaud and Pete Fender for Crass Records in 1982.
Arise! is the second album by the British crust punk band Amebix. It was released on 14 September 1985 by Alternative Tentacles and reissued on CD and vinyl in 2000 with two bonus tracks recorded in 1987. The album was remastered a second time in 2014.
Monolith is the third studio album by the British crust punk band Amebix, released in 1987 by Heavy Metal Records. Shortly after its release, Amebix disbanded, and Monolith would be their final studio album until they reunited in 2008 and released Sonic Mass in 2011.
Who's the Enemy is an extended play and the first studio release overall by the British crust punk band Amebix. It was released on Spiderleg Records on 28 August 1982.
Sonic Mass is the fourth and final studio album by the British crust punk band Amebix, released on 23 September 2011 via the band's own label, Amebix Records. It was also their first full-length album since 1987's Monolith.
No Sanctuary is the first album by the British crust punk band Amebix. It was released in November 1983 through Spiderleg Records. It entered the Independent Albums Chart at No. 12 on 26 November 1983.
Tau Cross is a rock band founded by Rob Miller of England's Amebix.
Rob Miller, also known by the stage name the Baron Rockin Von Aphid or simply the Baron or Aphid, is an English musician and swordsmith. Beginning his musical career in 1978, he is primarily known as the lead vocalist and bass player of pioneering crust punk band Amebix. He also plays in the international supergroup Tau Cross.