Amebix - Redux

Amebix was initially formed by Rob Miller  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  around their local area, during which time they recorded a six-track demo tape. Using his role as part-time writer 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 and this was the first time Amebix made it to vinyl. Some line-up changes occurred including one guy being removed from the band after being diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. They went on to record a couple of 7" singles and a 12" before being signed to Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label. They recorded the first album "Arise" with them and then move on to the Heavy Metal Records label for the "Monolith" album in 1987. That is where their story becomes interesting, known as a crust-punk band by some and a filthy, sleazy metal band by others, Amebix didn't seem to fit into either scene particularly well. After all they were influenced by Motorhead, Hawkwind and Black Sabbath but also had a deep appreciation for the punk and gothic scene at the same time, especially bands like Killing Joke. They were even quoted on one occasion as saying they liked the music of Venom but it has been denied since then. So Amebix were in an odd place musically, too punk for most metal heads and too metal for most punks, this made them one of the very first crossover punk-metal bands.

However the band self-destructed in the late 80's but it got a rebirth after The Baron and Stig reformed Amebix with Nausea/Soulfly drummer Roy Mayorga in 2008. They went out on a small tour and were stunned to learn how much of a following they still had and how much of an influence they had on people from many genres of music. They decided to head back into the studio after the success of the tour and record new versions of 3 classic Amebix tracks, "Arise!", "Winter" and "Chain Reaction". This has cause cries of "cash-in" from some critics and while it may seem like a unnecessary step to take, their effort has been worthwhile because it has put Amebix back into the minds of many. These versions of these classics sound cleaner and at first I was a bit put off by that, at first I thought the songs lacked the bite of the originals and in a way I still think they do but after a few spins I began to dig these new recordings. "Arise" is of course still a killer tune but lacks the energy of the original, "Winter" comes off a little better showing a bit more gusto and "Chain Reaction", one of the most black-metal sounding tracks from the band sounds as evil as ever as is my favorite re-recording of the three on "Redux".  Any Amebix fan will want to buy this but for casual listeners I would stick with the originals. The big question is how are the new recordings going to stand up, the news is they are tentatively working on a new album. There is also a live album and DVD release in the works, now that will be essential. "Redux" is out now on Profane Existence Records...............7/10
Official Amebix Site
Official Amebix @ Myspace
Profane Excisence Records
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