AFTERBIRTH

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal • United States

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Afterbirth biography
Hailing from New York, Afterbirth are a North American progressive death metal band based in Long Island. Formed when its members were just teenagers, the quartet originally existed from 1993 to 1995 and reactivated in 2013, consisting of founding musicians Cody Drasser (guitars), Keith Harris (drums) Helmet's David Case (bass) and Matt Duncan (vocals). Afterbirth's sound followed in the footsteps of brutal/technical death metal pioneers (and fellow Long Islanders) Suffocation and Pyrexia, and with the release of a rehearsal tape in 1993 and 1994's Psychopathic Embryotomy demo, the band garnered underground praise and historical notoriety for Duncan's unprecedently-deep guttural vocals.

Though the group split in 1995, Afterbirth found a new lease on life nearly two decades later when the Pathos Productions record label reached out to Drasser about reissuing their two demos on what would be the 2013 compilation Foeticidal Embryo Harvestation. After securing the unanimous blessing of his old bandmates, Drasser reconvened with Harris, Case and Duncan to jam together for old times' sake and found their chemistry unchanged, with a notable spike in aggressiveness and technical prowess. Afterbirth's new sonic approach fused the brutal death template of their first incarnation with progressive metal, jazz and space rock, and the classic lineup released a 2014 demo of both new and re-recorded songs demonstrating their progress (later reissued as an expanded EP the following year). However, personal and creative differences once again reared their heads as in their youth, leading the band to acrimoniously dismiss Duncan.

Afterbirth carried on as an instrumental trio for a few years, with their debut LP fully recorded but unable to find a label willing to commit to it. The trio rectified this by recruiting Artificial Brain's Will Smith into the fold in 2016 as vocalist and lyricist, himself hugely influenced by Duncan's vocal style. Afterbirth signed with Unique Leader Records in early 2017, a partnership which yielded The Time Traveler's Dilemma later that year and Four Dimensional Flesh in 2020, both of which received positive critical press. Smith's conceptual vision fuelled the revitalised Afterbirth, lyrically less gore-obsessed than their early days and more a series of impressionistic vignettes inspired by science-fiction and horror. Afterbirth jumped labels to Willowtip Records in 2021, which released their third full-length, In But Not Of, in 2...Hailing from New York, Afterbirth are a North American progressive death metal band based in Long Island. Formed when its members were just teenagers, the quartet originally existed from 1993 to 1995 and reactivated in 2013, consisting of founding musicians Cody Drasser (guitars), Keith Harris (drums) Helmet's David Case (bass) and Matt Duncan (vocals). Afterbirth's sound followed in the footsteps of brutal/technical death metal pioneers (and fellow Long Islanders) Suffocation and Pyrexia, and with the release of a rehearsal tape in 1993 and 1994's Psychopathic Embryotomy demo, the band garnered underground praise and historical notoriety for Duncan's unprecedently-deep guttural vocals.

Though the group split in 1995, Afterbirth found a new lease on life nearly two decades later when the Pathos Productions record label reached out to Drasser about reissuing their two demos on what would be the 2013 compilation Foeticidal Embryo Harvestation. After securing the unanimous blessing of his old bandmates, Drasser reconvened with Harris, Case and Duncan to jam together for old times' sake and found their chemistry unchanged, with a notable spike in aggressiveness and technical prowess. Afterbirth's new sonic approach fused the brutal death template of their first incarnation with progressive metal, jazz and space rock, and the classic lineup released a 2014 demo of both new and re-recorded songs demonstrating their progress (later reissued as an expanded EP the following year). However, personal and creative differences once again reared their heads as in their youth, leading the band to acrimoniously dismiss Duncan.

Afterbirth carried on as an instrumental trio for a few years, with their debut LP fully recorded but unable to find a label willing to commit to it. The trio rectified this by recruiting Artificial Brain's Will Smith into the fold in 2016 as vocalist and lyricist, himself hugely influenced by Duncan's vocal style. Afterbirth signed with Unique Leader Records in early 2017, a partnership which yielded The Time Traveler's Dilemma later that year and Four Dimensional Flesh in 2020, both of which received positive critical press. Smith's conceptual vision fuelled the revitalised Afterbirth, lyrically less gore-obsessed than their early days and more a series of impressionistic vignettes inspired by science-fiction and horror. Afterbirth jumped labels to Willowtip Records in 2021, which released their third full-length, In But Not Of, in 2023, featuring guest appearances from Th�tas' Cory Monster, Nightmarer's John Collett and Gorguts' Colin Marston.

Afterbirth are warmly recommended to fans of Lykathea Aflame, Blood Incantation, Lunar Chamber, Edenic Past, Gigan and Defeated Sanity.

- Gordy, December 2023read more