a tribute to amebix

amebix has broken up again. when i first heard them i was blown away. now as you all know i'm kind of young. i didn't live through the glory years of amebix. so when i read they were considdered a crust band you all know what i thought. bad d-beat meets speed metal. oh boy. but no! it was amazing! so dark, so raw, those vocals that went right to your soul. everything about it was amazing. this isn't crust i thought. this isn't punk or metal. it's...it's amebix. they can't be described. i got everything they recorded even the 1979 demo. i was more than a little surprised when i heard they got back together. they kept saying they didn't want to start again that all had been said. so i figured we'd seen the last of these guys. then when they reunited i and probably a few other people thought it was mainly for the money. they must have known a whole new generation likes them and maybe they'll do the repulssion thing and play some gigs for a few years without recording anything. then i heard they were recording an ep of previously recorded classics with a drummer from soulfly. i was like, what the fuck? i heard it. it was okay. disappointing as all rerecordings are. then i heard they were recording a new album. i didn't know what to think. would it just be an attempt to rip off past albums but with improved musicianship? would it be different? would it be worthy of the amebix name? well when i baught sonic mass i was reluctant to play it. what if it's bad? i asked myself. but i did it anyway. it was amazing. yes it was different. the sound was very different from the two previous albums or the singles. but that's why i loved it. a full review of sonic mass is coming with more detail on the music. it was an amazing album and probably the best of 2011. when i heard they broke up i had mixed feelings. sure it sucks when a band you love breaks up. but on the other hand maybe they did it at the right time. who knows if they could replicate the magic. honestly if they came out with another sonic mass in that it was just like it or another arrize or monelith they wouldn't be amebix. amebix evolvs. amebix isn't one type of music. amebix is..i can't describe it. but you can't simply call them one subgenre of extreme music. so maybe they called it quits at the right time. before they just released records to release records. so many great bands do that. they'll reunite and make a record that's a hollow representation of past albums and keep doing that til no one cares. then they'll just play old stuff and pretend the new albums didn't happen. not amebix. amebix kept evolving and came out with a great album. in conclusion we'll miss you amebix. you left behind 3 great albums and great eps as well. goodbye and good luck with whatever the three members do in the future. as you guys said on your final album, "these days will never come again."