For those of you who worried the last's review might somewhat signaled that Terminal Sound Nuisance might descend soon into postpunk refinement, rest assured that things won't go that far although you will be exposed to more postpunk in the future (because, you know, the 2010's and all that). But today we are going back to basics, to the source, to the perpetuation of what has made this blog great for years - or at least a decent and enjoyable read when you are in the bogs (the numbers tell me that this is actually the most sensible place to read about punk) - with a rather obscure recording: Robots of Death by Afterbirth. This thing is not even on Youtube, it's that cool a tape, one you will be able to use in punk trivia and act like an irksome and cocky twat in the process.
This album - as it is clearly an album rather than just a demo tape - was released in 2005, a time when crust was undertaking a transformation, definitely and irremediably leaving the 90's crust shores (beside some diehard and seemingly immortal bands like Visions of War or Profit and Murder) for the shinier, flashier neocrust or stenchcore revival sounds that defined the decade. To me it was a time of excitement, constant discovery, a time when tastes were shaped, formed, deformed, reformed, when your brain can still be considered as young and you are not a jaded bastard whining about Gen Z's (yet). It was a time when people still bought records from new bands before listening to them online, helped in their decision by the usually short description the labels or the bands themselves provided (needless to point out that some of them did lie about the quality of their production, a bit like your uncle Robert when he says he almost made it as a professional football player when he was a lad). These leaps of faith would sometimes result in amazing finds and lifelong love relations with Χειμερία Νάρκη or Coitus but could also end up being sore disappointments. At least surprise was of the essence which is not something that can often be said these days. But anyway, what about Afterbirth? How did they feat in the crust landscape of the mid-00's?
The band was from Edinburgh and the description provided at the time of acquisition it caught my attention for two reasons. First, it said that Afterbirth had members from bands I was familiar with, namely Paul who played in the 90's speed punk band Beergut 100 (mohawk required to get into this one) and the excellent heavy crust punk band Social Insecurity (that I wrote about ages ago here). That did make me feel at least a bit comfortable and "in the know" if not "part of the conspiracy". Second, it said that the band did a cover of Axegrinder, a band that I had gotten into recently and whose influence and legendary status I was starting to understand and grasp. Ironically Afterbirth covered "Grind the enemy", a song I had never heard then because I only knew the excellent '87 live recording they had uploaded on their long defunct website and the Lp that a friend gifted with Soulseek and an internet connection (those conferred a certains status in the 00's) had burnt on a cd for me. Little did I know then that it would remain, to this day, the one Axegrinder song that bands always cover (which stands as a little odd as I would tend to find "Final war" much more interesting to rework, although it does not have a boisterous chorus you can sing along to, which must be taken into consideration when the audience is predictably well pissed). Robots of Death was not Afterbirth's first endavours into the big scary world of punk music as they had recorded a demo in 2003, the songs of which appeared on a split Ep with Filthpact in 2004. As enjoyable as these three songs were, I see this tape as a significantly better offering.
By the time of the recording of the tape, the band had an international lineup with Polish drummer Artur (previously fin Juliette and then also In Decades Decline), Leos from Czech on the bass guitar along with Paul Social Insecurity on the guitar and Scalezy formerly in the mighty Mortal Terror and Sawn Off on vocals. I remember playing the tape for the first time and thinking that the production was quite unpolished, very direct and somehow unlike the cleaner productions that were becoming quite common then. It probably impacted my perception of Robots of Death and of the band as a whole then and made me think that this lot were more direct and basically punkier than most of the modern crust. Listening to it now, I realize that it's really not that raw but I still find the simplicity and spontaneousness it conveys rather endearing. There are bits where you can hear the distinct 00's crust leads and idiosyncrasies but Afterbirth at that point in time relied more on fast d-beat hardcore punk (the guitar's sound remains rather clear) with dirty metallic crust moments, a bit like a date between Extinction of Mankind, late 90's Hellkrusher and the Final Warning Ep's. The last number "Lead lined coffins" is a top-shelf old-school Misery-like mid-paced metallic crust anthem that you have to listen to if you are into the genre and want to be able to look at yourself in the mirror.
This is a humble, honest punk album that works on most levels and still stands the test of time. Afterbirth would recruit a second guitar player for the 2007 Lp Your Gods Vomit in Disgust, a decent work very representative of the crust sound of the time but that I thought didn't have the charm of Robots of Death. As mentioned at the beginning it was released on tape on Insane Society and on cdr on Crust Crusade which was the band's own label.
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