Welcome to The Saw’s Butcher Shop! It’s Ya Girl, The Saw! We speak often of the ever-blurring lines between respective genres and sub-genres (a difficult thing for a categorical thinker). With some bands, it is crystal clear in which category they belong. But then there are other bands that force us to re-draw the lines, if not abandon them altogether. Afterbirth is one such band. And their new release, In But Not Of (October 20, 2023 – Willowtip) is a fine example for erasing everything we thought we knew about Extreme Metal categories.

Afterbirth formed in 1993, in Long Island, NY (not to be confused with Afterbirth, the Thrash band, from Massachusetts).  The band dropped two demos before disbanding in 1995. Afterbirth reformed in 2013, contributing to a compilation, and releasing another demo in 2014. The first two demos were straight-forward Brutal Death Metal, and the later demo was a bit more than that. 2017 saw Afterbirth’s first full-length studio album, The Time Traveler’s Dilemma, and it broke all the (superficial) rules! With a new vocalist – Will Smith (ex-Artificial Brain) – joining in 2016, Afterbirth were a personified example of blurred lines and a questioning of the status-quo. 2020 saw the follow-up studio release of Four Dimensional Flesh, a clear companion to its predecessor. And now, 2023’s In But Not Of, fits very well with the previous two, but pushes the (proverbial) envelope even further – so much tension; stretching but not breaking.

So, on In But Not Of, Smith’s vocals are nothing but pure SLAM low register, cookie monster gutterals (almost exclusively). However, the music at one time is also SLAM, but at another, its hugely progressive. Other times, it borderlines something other than Metal, all-the-while, the gurgling, chirping, undecipherable vocal delivery storms onward. Furthermore, In But Not Of (11 songs in 35 minute) is completely a tale of two-halves of a record. The first 5 tracks are SLAM, fused with progressive Death Metal – think Death, with a SLAM vocalist. The lyrics are abstract, dealing with space, time travel, and intergalactic discovery for the entire record, and its like the first 4 ½ songs are your space shuttle blasting off – forcing you through the atmosphere, brutally trying to get you away from earth’s gravitational pull. 

In the middle of “Vivisected Psychopomp,” the fifth track, you break into space and begin your weightless journey through space/time. “Hovering Human Head Drones” really begins a crazy, experimental phasing, which combines no less than a half-dozen differing forms of music. “Angels Feast on Flies” contains the only break in vocal delivery – while most of the song is bull frog gutterals, a more hardcore hollar is utilized as well. All the while, the progressive song writing seems more out of control than ever. By the time of the last two tracks – “Death invents itself” and “Succumb to Life” – you sense you are being pulled into orbit again; preparing for landing, but having no idea onto which planet, or in which universe! 

If you like progressive Death Metal (with SLAM vocals!), you’ll like about half of this record. But if you appreciate experimental, progressive, SLAM, Death Metal, Synthwave, Post-Metal; full scale, orchestral musicianship, then the back-half of the new album is for you. I think it’s a real experience to play In But Not Of through, in its entirety.  Really good stuff!

Afterbirth is:
David Case – bass (1993-1995, 2013-present)
Keith Harris – drums (1993-1995, 2013-present)
Cody Drasser – guitars (1993-1995, 2013-present)
Will Smith – vocals (2016-present)

Rating: 8/10! I love the vocals! And both halves of the new record!

Favorite Songs: Tightening the Screws, Devils with Dead Eyes, Angels Feast on Flies, Death Invents Itself  

Stay Metal,

THE SAW