Way out on the west side of Scotland’s Isle of Skye, there’s a remote village called Torrin. With its 65 residents, ageless mountains that jut out over the cold sea and stone walls that seem to crop out of nowhere, the rural community seems eerily reminiscent of the creepy settlement found in The Wicker Man. Oh… also… it has shafts dug into the earth that may have been used in pagan ceremonies 2,000 years ago.* But, while Torrin is a place of quiet clam, should you find yourself wandering along one of its dirt paths, you might hear a thick CLANG CLANG CLANG resound through the hills. Were you to follow the echoes to the source, you’d find Rob Miller hovering over an anvil, forging a sword in the traditional style as used by the ancient tribes. While Miller is one of the last few who hold onto this bygone art, he’s also a father of an entirely different kind of art…
During the late 1970’s, in the English countryside of Devon, Rob along with his brother Stig, formed the “Band with No Name”, which eventually, after associating with Crass and sending mutilated pictures to a journalist who slagged them off, would form into the legendary amalgamation that is Amebix. Sort of a combination of the riffs of Black Sabbath, the growl of Motorhead, and the moroseness of Joy Division, Amebix created a unique sound that was almost as gothic as it was futuristic. One of the first bands to bring a metal heaviness to punk, Amebix tackled topics of class warfare, the effect of prescription drugs, and even meta-physics. Recently, after 20 years of inactivity, Amebix returned with a 2009 tour and 2010 EP release (Redux). To get the scoop on why Amebix rose from its ashes, Rob’s opinion of the “crust punk tag”, and the best sword for defending against a viking siege, Punknews interviewer John Gentile recently spoke to Rob Miller, Amebix’s vocalist and bassist after the day’s metal work was complete.
Source Way out on the west side of Scotland’s Isle of Skye, there’s a remote village called Torrin. With its 65 residents, ageless mountains that jut out over the cold sea and stone walls that seem to crop out of nowhere, the rural community seems eerily reminiscent of the creepy settlement found in The Wicker Man. Oh… also… it has shafts dug into the earth that may have been used in pagan ceremonies 2,000 years ago.* But, while Torrin is a place of quiet clam, should you find yourself wandering along one of its dirt paths, you might hear a thick CLANG CLANG CLANG resound through the hills. Were you to follow the echoes to the source, you’d find Rob Miller hovering over an anvil, forging a sword in the traditional style as used by the ancient tribes. While Miller is one of the last few who hold onto this bygone art, he’s also a father of an entirely different kind of art…
During the late 1970’s, in the English countryside of Devon, Rob along with his brother Stig, formed the “Band with No Name”, which eventually, after associating with Crass and sending mutilated pictures to a journalist who slagged them off, would form into the legendary amalgamation that is Amebix. Sort of a combination of the riffs of Black Sabbath, the growl of Motorhead, and the moroseness of Joy Division, Amebix created a unique sound that was almost as gothic as it was futuristic. One of the first bands to bring a metal heaviness to punk, Amebix tackled topics of class warfare, the effect of prescription drugs, and even meta-physics. Recently, after 20 years of inactivity, Amebix returned with a 2009 tour and 2010 EP release (Redux). To get the scoop on why Amebix rose from its ashes, Rob’s opinion of the “crust punk tag”, and the best sword for defending against a viking siege, Punknews interviewer John Gentile recently spoke to Rob Miller, Amebix’s vocalist and bassist after the day’s metal work was complete.
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