Amebix

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Amebix
Also known as The Band with No Name
Origin England
Genre(s) Crust punk
Years active 1978 - 1987
2008 - present
Label(s) Spiderleg Records
Heavy Metal Records
Alternative Tentacles
Moshpit Tragedy Records
Associated acts Zygote
Website amebix.net
Members
Rob "The Baron" Miller
Stig
Ray Mayorga
Former members
Andy Billy Jug
Martin
Virus
Ric Gadsby
Norman
Clive
George
Jenghiz
A. Droid
Spider

Amebix, formed in England in 1978 as "The Band with No Name", were a band that many consider to have started the sub genre crust punk. Their music, heavily influenced by Motörhead (and to a lesser extent Lemmy-era Hawkwind), Black Sabbath, Venom, and early Killing Joke, combined with an ethos and worldview akin to Crass, represented their non-traditional lifestyles.

Their music blended hardcore punk and heavy metal into a form of early thrash metal. They were the forerunners of crust punk and a thrash metal pioneer. Such notable bands as Sepultura, Neurosis, Napalm Death, and Deviated Instinct have paid homage to the band.

Contents

[edit] 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.[1]

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', 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.[2]

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.[3] This line-up would record the first 2 7"s (Who's the Enemy EP and "Winter") and the 12" (No Sanctuary). A fill-in synth player would appear on the 12" EP No Sanctuary, and in 1984 they would acquire a new synth player, George.[4] While recording the No Sanctuary EP at Southern Studios they met Jello Biafra of American punk band Dead Kennedys and punk label Alternative Tentacles. They became Tentacles' first UK signing with the Arise! album in 1985. The final line-up would come together in 1985 with the addition of Spider on drums.[4] 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 Sarejevo before the collapse of Yugoslavia.

Spider, George, and Stig went on to perform in Zygote.[3] Vocalist Rob Miller now lives on the Isle of Skye where he works as a self-taught swordsmith.

According the 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.

[edit] Members

[edit] Current lineup

  • Rob "The Baron" Miller - vocals, bass (1978-1987, 2008-present)
  • Stig - guitar, backing vocals (1978-1987, 2008-present)
  • Ray Mayorga - drums, percussion (2008-present)

[edit] Past members

  • Ric Gadsby - bass (1978-1979)
  • Andy Billy Jug - drums (1978-1981)
  • Clive - bass (1979)
  • Martin - drums (1981)
  • Norm - keyboards (1981-1984)
  • Virus - drums (1981-1985)
  • Jenghiz - keyboards (1984)
  • George - keyboards (1984-1987)
  • A. Droid - keyboard and synth (1984-1987)
  • Spider - drums (1985-1987)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio releases

[edit] Demos and compilations

  • 1979 – Amebix demo (self-released)
  • 1987 – Right to Ride demo (self-released)
  • 1993 – The Power Remains LP (Skuld Releases)
  • 2008 – No Sanctuary: The Spiderleg Recordings LP+7"/CD (Alternative Tentacles)

[edit] Live albums

  • 1985 – No Gods
  • 1986 – No Masters
  • 1997 – Make Some Fucking Noise

[edit] References

  1. ^ Metal Archives
  2. ^ Ian Glasper, The day the country died: A History of Anarcho Punk 1980 to 1984, London, Cherry Red Books, 2006 (ISBN 1-901447-70-7), p. 200.
  3. ^ a b Rock Detector
  4. ^ a b Yahoo! Music

[edit] External links