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All Music Guide:
Amebix, now recognized as one of the most influential heavy bands ever, was born in England during the summer of 1978. Originally trolling their minds and coming up with the thought provoking moniker the Band With No Name, the group of dirty, broke punks recorded a trashy six-song demo and managed to sell a meager four copies of it. Opting for the name Amebix, the band released a track from the demo called "University Challenged" on the first edition of the obscure compilation series Bullshit Detector.
Life was chaotic from start to finish for Amebix, because they were really living the lifestyle that their lyrics and image portrayed. Guitar player Stig writes on the gatefold of the posthumous album of live and studio recordings The Power Remains that "none of us signed off the dole in all the years we were together." Living in squats (abandoned buildings) and other unstable accommodations, eating out of the garbage, scamming and hacking out a living by any means possible, it's amazing that the band were able to amass equipment and practice on a somewhat regular enough basis to last for nine full years. However, through all of the strife and chaos, the band were astoundingly prolific, recording enough material (including bootlegs and posthumous releases) for seven full-length albums, two 7" records, two compilation tracks, and the previously mentioned Band With No Name demo in that period of time.
Prior to 1983, the band's lineup changed quite a bit. In one humorous incident, shortly after the release of the Bullshit Detector compilation, the band added a fellow named Martin to their roster in the drummer role. One of the fringe benefits of Martin's being in the band was that he invited the whole group to come live with him in a manor house in Dartmoor. Unfortunately, the owners of the house (Martin's parents, who were away at the time) weren't aware that Martin had extended this kind offer to the band. Upon returning home, the horrified parents booted Amebix into the street and sent Martin away to an institution to be "corrected."
The Baron and Stig, the core of the band, added synthesizer player Norman to the mix and moved to Bristol in 1981. By 1983 they had acquired a stable drummer named Virus, who left the band Disorder to join Amebix. 1983 saw the release of the Who's the Enemy EP, the Winter 7", and the first LP No Sanctuary on Spiderleg Records. Norman appeared as the synth player on the two 7" records, but was replaced by a fill-in player on the full-length album. After a brief tour, the band returned to England and in 1984 signed on a new synthesizer player named George. With George filling the synthesizer position for the remainder of the band's existence, the band hit the road again for a short tour, and upon their return kicked Virus out of the drummer's chair.
The final band lineup was secured in 1985 when drummer Spider joined the group. After disputes with Spiderleg, the band had gotten a deal with Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra's label Alternative Tentacles just prior to the drummer Spider's arrival on the scene. Arise hit the stores with the Alternative Tentacles imprint in 1985. Alternative Tentacles didn't mesh with the band either, and they left the label after the release of Arise. In 1987, the masterpiece album Monolith was released just months prior to the breakup of the band.
During and since the actual life of Amebix, a number of bootlegs and retrospective have come to the surface. Although both the official and unofficial albums are completely obscure among the mainstream culture, Amebix have been tremendously influential in the hardcore, crust punk, and metal underground scenes. Artists as divergent as Sepultura, Neurosis, and Deviated Instinct pay homage to these original masters of the blending of metal, punk rock squatter lifestyle and political fury into a droning, pounding, ballistic crunch.
Wikipedia:
Amebix are an English crust punk/heavy metal band. Formed as "The Band with No Name," Amebix's original run was from 1978 to 1987, during which time they released three EPs and two full-length LPs. The group has reunited as of 2008.
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 style. Such notable bands as Sepultura, Neurosis and Deviated Instinct have paid homage to the band.
History
Amebix was initially formed by Rob Miller (a.k.a. 'The Baron') along with his brother Stig, Andy Billy Jug and Clive while in school in 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 six-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.
After this the band replaced drummer Andy Billy Jug with Martin, whose 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, Martin was removed by his parents from the band and relocated to London where he suffered a breakdown and was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. The song "Largactyl" was written about Martin's experience.
The band then recruited Norm (Screaming Heads, Phantasmagoria, NormYard) as a synth player and decided to relocate to Bristol, living in a number of squats. They recruited Disorder drummer Virus to play drums and finally had a semi-stable line-up. This line-up would record the first two 7"s (Who's the Enemy and Winter) and the 12" EP No Sanctuary. A fill-in synth player would appear on No Sanctuary, and in 1984 they would acquire a new synth player, George. 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. 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. 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 March 9, 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 June 3, 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 September 23, 2011 through the band's own label (Amebix Records) and Easy Action Records.
Influences
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.
