THERES NO LIGHT AT THE END OF THIS TUNNEL CD Album - (2011)

Review by Paul at initonit - September 2012
(initonit.tumblr.com)

I’ve been following ATLS for quite a few years now. I like their brand of punk-influenced black metal/grind. This album is the natural result of the band’s progression through many split releases – they have honed their sound into a blackened mass of pure hatred – and it sounds amazing. The lyrics are black metal in style, but influenced by the social and mainly environmental concerns of the band’s punk ethics. This is Rudimentary Peni, but darker. The music is very low-fi, a chaotic blend of growls, blast beats and pounding, thrashing, head pummelling drums. This is the sound of a world dying and the few pauses for breath it takes leads you into a false sense of security before ATLS unleash hell onto you once again.

Review by Jake at Profane Existence - May 2012
(profaneexistence.org)

The first time I listened to this CD I ripped it from the mailbox on my way to pick up four truck-loads of manure in a truck I borrowed from my in-laws who don’t seem to feel the need to have a car stereo that showcases the detailed work of awesome bands. The only speaker that worked was a small one behind my head. Fail. Fast-forward to post shit shoveling. Popped this in a proper CD play and was blown away by the intensity. Musically I’m reminded of CREATION IS CRUCIFICTION with less math and more fire and the vocals at times remind me of GORGOROTH when Pest was doing the vocals. The riffing is really aggressive and creative without any wankery to muddy up the intensity the drumming brings to the mix. It’s an interesting mix of blackmetal, doom and hardcore (I think I’ve actually heard the term blackcore once) with some grind thrown in. Lyrically the intensity is kicked up a few more notches. On the first page of the booklet is a preface that gives a little back story that explains the theme of the lyrics, which centers around ecology, speciesism and general destruction of the planet due to our selfishness and shortsightedness. I know some people would consider these guys extremists because of their views, but I’m a fan of this kind of passion in music. I wish more bands would sing more about fucking things up and less about getting fucked up.

Review by Power It Up Records - October 2011
(power-it-up.de)

Uk's blackcore gentlemen AFTER THE LAST SKY with there first full length. 11 new songs .. black metal inspired grind with epic doom, sludge parts .. a real outburst of anger, full of raging guitars, tight fast drums, desperate vocals, deep grunts and even some blackish scream .. A bastard of Neurosis/ Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Dystopia. A blast !!!!!

Review by Alex Deller - August 2010
(collective-zine.co.uk)

SATAN have adopted the Iron Lung line-up of just two fellas playing drums and guitar whilst bellowing their fucking heads off. While similar to that band's fast blasts or a de-teched Discordance Axis, these guys have no frills about them and the pace never seems to dip below a hell-for-leather charge headlong toward oblivion. It's totally fucking relentless, and when coupled with some interesting "shit or get off the pot" words about not allowing life to pass you by you're left with a rather tasty morsel.

For some reason I was expecting some sort of epi-crust thing from After The Last Sky, but instead they're a far more interesting mix of grind, crust and metal, recalling perhaps a sprightlier, modernised take on what Confrontation were doing all those years back. Both of their songs address the issue of climate change, the first sending out the rather stark message that while we're all being told to sift through our recycling and carpool with coworkers, big business is chucklingly sending our planet to hell in a handcart far quicker than we can rinse out yoghurt pots. Cheerless but true, and a neat way to round out this brutal little offering.

Review from Crucial Blast - US Label
(crucialblast.net)

Debut album from this blackened British grind/sludge/crust band, who are pretty much unknown over here on these shores despite being active in the UK underground for several years now. You should check these guys out pronto, though, if yer into sickeningly heavy sludge and dire apocalyptic warnings, 'cuz these cretins have knocked out five tracks of insanely heavy anarcho-violence on this five song record that blends together urgent and grim anarcho punk with hyperblasting black metal and awesomely epic crusty doom. They remind me of the old UK band Hard To Swallow, who were also an uncatagorizeable mix of grind and sludge and other elements a little harder to pin down, but After The Last Sky bring a big helping of BLACK METAL to the proceedings, as they shift between gloomy, bass-heavy parts that are reminiscent of Amebix to frantic, dissonant raw black metal riffing and ultrafast blastbeats a la Marduk with insane sounding screeched vocals that sound like someone screaming, weeping and blowing their fucking appendix out simultaneously, switching so abruptuly that it blows yer hair back, and just when the grindy black metal seems on the verge of going so fast and becoming so freaked out that someones head is going to explode, the band falls back into a crushing, majestic doom riff that just flattens you. The song "Fire!Salvation!" is one of the highlight of the album with it's frenzied grinding buzz and heartwrenching melodic lead that's played over the slow part, but all of these songs are crushing and raw and vicious, all the way up until the track "I Weep For The First Bluebell Of Spring" where the buzzing, psychotic black metal gives way to a somber acoustic guitar part that eventually builds into a crushing, droning Mogwai-esque crescendo. From there, the last track, "Land Of Gluttony And Rape" breaks out some awesome epic guitar leads over one of the album's most chaotic tracks, blasting black metal that winds knots around itself with tangles of choppy, intricate riffing, finally downshifting into bloozy, swampy sludge before dissipating into a cloud of ambient noise that lingers for several minutes before fading into blackness.

Review from Terrorizer Magazine - April 2010
(truecultheavymetal.com)

Yet more intense necropunk has seeped out from the world's wounds. From blasting crustgrind to apocalyptically slow Extreme Noise Terrorisms After The Last Sky have all the bases covered for this 12" EP.
And it all fits, it all wallows in the diseased tanks of human misery and grief. (7.5) AB

Review from Ancient Spirit webzine - Dec 2008
(www.ancientspirit.de)

We are not entirely sure what the review says (as we don't speak German), but we scored 11 out of 12 - so that can't be bad!

Na wenn das mal kein globales Szene-Produkt ist! Mit Superfi (UK), 6am, 7am (UK), Right To Refuse (UK), Circus Of The Macabre (UK), Crucificados Pelo Sistema (D), Zaraza Productions (PL) und Blastwork Records (Malaysia) sind satte sieben Underground-Labels an der Produktion des ersten, reinen AFTER THE LAST SKY-Releases beteiligt…wenn das mal nicht für nen Szene-Zusammenhalt spricht!!! Hinter ATLS verbirgt sich eine bestialische, brutale und sehr starke UK-Formation mit Leuten von Bands wie INERT, STONE GOLEM und kurzzeitig gar CLOVEN HOOF (der Drummer war dort 2007 aktiv), die sich musikalisch überhaupt nicht so leicht einfangen läßt. Das Grundgerüst besteht zu gleichen Teilen aus Black Metal, Grindcore und Death Metal und wird durch etliche Schübe aus den Bereichen Doom, Sludge, Punk und Post-Metal zu einem recht einzigartigen Gebräu vermengt. Im Prinzip könnte man sagen, dass BRUTAL TRUTH, GRIEF/EHG, ABC DIABOLO, frühe/mittlere NEUROSIS, ANAAL NATHRAKH, INTEGRITY, DOOM und IMPALED NAZARENE als Taufpaten von 'And This Is Progress?' durchgehen würden, wobei man ein richtiggehend auffallendes technisches, fast proggiges Grundgerüst nicht von der Hand weisen kann.

Besonders zu gefallen weiß auch die Tatsache, daß die Band es einerseits formidabel versteht, in weniger als einer Minute klarzumachen, wo der Bartel den Most holt. 'It´s All Over' und 'There´s Plenty More Fish In The Sea' sind schlicht zwei hervorragende kurze Blackcore-Erruptionen (so nennt die Band scheinbar ihren Stil), wobei Ben´s viehische Vocals sehr zu Gefallen wissen! Andererseits verstehen es AFTER THE LAST SKY auch sehr stark, ausladende, höchst abwechslungsreiche und kaputte Epen mit 7, 8 oder gar 10 Minuten zu kreieren. Dabei möchte ich besonders das überragende 'I Weep For The First Bluebell Of Spring' hervorheben, da es einfach völlig beeindruckt, fesselt und begeistert.

Also greift euch flugs das Vinyl bei der Band ab (afterthelastsky@yahoo.co.uk), denn ansonsten geht euch ein echtes Underground-Perlchen durch die Lappen…hoffentlich ergattert die Band bald einen vernünftigen Deal!!!
Hage, 11 Punkte

Review from 'Musketeer of Death'- January 2008
(www.musketeerofdeath.nl)

UK Blackcore pioneers After the Last Sky already released a foretaste of their upcoming album to be released later this year. This promo contains 2 tracks. "It’s all over" is a real outburst of anger, full or raging guitars, tight fast drums, desperate vocals, deep grunts and even some blackish screams. Musically it’s somewhere between grind and math with a crusty taste. "Land of gluttony and rape" is an epos of 6’50" and is a more diverse song. The raging speeds are mixed with slugging doom sounds that really breathe destruction and misery. It kind of reminds me of the early Thee Plague Of Gentlemen stuff. The use of the sample is also a positive addition. All in all this is a delicious starter on what will follow on later in 2008.

Review from Initonit zine #22 - December 2007

Lycanthrophy are fantastic. Dual Female/male vocals they are pure grind aggression. This is face shredding stuff indeed. Its unrelenting politcal brutality, and with an improved production this would be perfect. Joe Pesci aren't as good, but their abysmal production lets them down somewhat anyway. From this they sound like an adequate grind band, but I'd like to hear more to give them a chance. From The Ashes are great. They're fast as fuck and they grind like fuck thats all you need to know. After The Last Sky are a kind of Black metal version of punk and grind, in a political kind of way. And it works a treat. Their songs are well crafted metal tracks. Overall a great record.

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4-WAY SPLIT 12" - (2007)

Reviewed by Steven @ Crucifados Pelo Sistema Records - September 2007

Great 4 way split lp .. lycanthropy - all the way from the czech republic .. female fronted blasting crust .. its just fast .. from the ashes - 9 tracks of swedish grindcore, crust .. brutal as fuck .. joe pesci - new kids on the block from the uk .. not unlike bands as yacopsae .. hit you with 5 mins worth of no production grindcore taken from the practice room .. after the last aky - the uk's very own blackcore pioneers are back with crushing political metalgrind .. all in all 30 songs .. a must have for all diy grind lovers .. great ..

Review from Initonit zine #23 - February 2008

ATLS play metallic grind/blackcore/black metal with brains and fast bits, metallic punk - whatever you want to call it. It's bleak and aggressive, but lyrically, the band learn towards the crust side of things with social and political concerns coming to the fore. There's a lot of old school grindcore in the sound too - of which I'm a hugs fan. Carcass and Bolt Thrower fans will love it. Inert have some ace metal artwork on display here, and come more from the Morbid Angel side of the grind coin than the Napalm Death/Carcass one. In other words, they play good solid death metal, and stand up pretty well next to ATLS.

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AFTER THE LAST SKY / INERT (SPLIT CD) - (2004)

From 'Burning Black' Webzine, Reviewed by Alvaro Pacheco P. - June 2006 (www.burningblack.net)

This split Cd compiles the first After The Last Sky work, "The Essence of our Art is Hatred" released in 2004 and Inert second demo, "The 3 AM Conspiracies" released back in 2003. Both bands belong to the most brutal and savage depths of the UK’s Underground. The first half of this disc, the first three tracks to be precise, belongs to After The Last Sky. This band started as a trio called Animosity in 1997, releasing four works before changing its name. The band, currently a quintet, delivers at this split brutal doses of their "Blackcore" (the term they use to refer to their raw blend of Death, Grind, Sludge and Black Metal). Opening this first half is "Art School Lebensborn" a mid to fast paced piece of grinding brutality, full of Sludge references and inexplicit Black Metal structures, which is reflected in the grim, brutal vocal work of Benjamin Hoare. "Dragons Teeth Harvest" continues with a strong piece of chaotic Black/Grind Metal, with complex structures and brakes that will take your breath away, the vocals are still blackish but adding some Deathly grunts and even some clean voices, which sound slightly similar to Phil Anselmo adding some Pantera-like atmospheres. Closing this first half is "Regretting Those Drunken Words", my favourite track (starting by the name) and the longest one of this half, with six minutes fifteen seconds of mutilating "Blackcore", this track also includes the most visible Black Metal influences, which is reflected in intense dark guitar lines, but the Sludge is also present during the whole song (sounding even Doom in some passages), with varied structures and some harsh guitars.

The next four songs belongs to Inert, this band delivers a somewhat Blackened Grind/Death Metal, but their music still fits perfectly into the Death/Grind parameters, it sound more inclined towards the traditional Grindcore than anything else, including even the obligatory B rated movies samples. Musically this work embraces the fast velocities and infernal atmospheres, with obscure, blasphemous down tuned auras driven by the turbulent, blurry guitars, maybe Cryptopsy could be a good point of comparison, but more varied and slightly more obscure. The vocal work here is as brutal as the whole music, mixing low grunts with occasional high pitched grim vocals. The voice of Mr. Hoare sounds as insane as his work with After The Last Sky (yes, here’s the connection). The production of both works included in this split is very powerful and well sounding, not completely flawless but strong enough. Another interesting detail is the cover art; both covers are included in this split, so you can get the original artworks of those releases with this Cd… A great work and a wise move of Circus Of The Macabre Records. (AP)

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AFTER THE LAST SKY / INERT (SPLIT CD) - (2004)

From 'Pull The Chain' Webzine, Written by Georges - Dec 2005
(www.pullthechain.be)

Two newcomers of the new sick generation of metal bands rising from the land of Queen Elizabeth on one record. Both acts seem to have the same singer but despite the presence of this screamer in both projects there are some differences between After The Last Sky and Inert musical worlds. Inert are nothing more and nothing less than pure extreme death grind metal. Main influences can be searched in their land mates Napalm Death. Inert’s musicians are doing their thing pretty good: grinding death metal or perhaps should I say death grind core with some vicious gore parts that nicely compliment the band’s lyrical conception. Nothing new but a nice contribution to the genre. After The Last Sky are for my opinion another story, the overall effect of this first half of the split is just that little bit more original, that little bit more gruesome and thus for my opinion that little bit more promising. It’s eventually quite hard to pinpoint the sound delivered throughout those three songs, let’s say some harsh brutal death metal, grinding surroundings the whole coupled with Macabre orientated vocal works. Musically After The Last Sky are less brutal in their grind tinged death metal approach but their (multi faced) song structures make their music quite different from what we have the use to listen to in this scene. A good split.

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AFTER THE LAST SKY / INERT (SPLIT CD) - (2004)

From the BBC Web Site (Demo Doctor Section), Written by Mick Cooper - Nov 2005
(www.bbc.co.uk)

It took me a while to figure out [before and after playing!], but this is actually two bands, two separate efforts on the same disc. Death Metal, I surmised, since Inert's artwork featured 3 ghouls chewing on a business mans corpse! Bleeeeaaaaarrrrggghhh!!!!!!

After the Last Sky, a 4-piece are up first, conveniently the lyrics are reproduced [let's face it Death Metal isn’t exactly the most accessible of music], along with a brief synopsis of the track and website directions! So thorough!

Inert are a 5-piece and Conqueror Worm has a menacing intro which jumped suddenly to full-on grindcore - I would have liked to have built in more slowly, like Slayer’s Hell Awaits. Oblivious to the Threat and Empire of the Dead feature more film audio, which does add to the songs…You do get a better idea of what the song is about after hearing it. www.inertuk.cjb.net

Truthfully, I’ve never really been all that into Death Metal, I made exceptions for bands like Carcass, Death and Cradle of Filth due to them being something different from the norm, but these efforts seemed good enough in comparison, and seemed to add a little something different than what I remember the scene having to offer. Of course, two full albums later, the novelty could just as easily wear off, but for now, I give them both a thumbs up!

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AFTER THE LAST SKY / INERT (SPLIT CD) - (2004)

From Zero Tolerance Magazine (Issue 003), Written by Danny Lilker - Jan/Feb 2005
(www.zero-tolerance.co.uk)

This issues winner! ATLS play chaotic metalcore worthy of any band with four words in their name,if you get my drift. Tortured dual vocals agonise over a bed of dissonant and quite often hyper bedlam that’ll be sure to get your heckles up.

Inert play slightly more traditional death/grind again with dual vocals, opting for a more straight ahead and brutal approach. It seems (and I could be wrong)that thereare some incestuous relations here, unless it’s a coincidence that a certain Ben and Simon appear in both line-ups. Find out more at www.afterthelastsky.co.uk

5 (out of 6)

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AFTER THE LAST SKY / INERT (SPLIT CD) - (2004)

From Terrorizer Magazine (Issue 128), Written by Paul Schwartz
(www.terrorizer.com)

Amusingly enough, this up-from-the-underground split-featuring two fledgling British brutality-mongers can easily be divided by reference to each act's choice of samples. For where ATLS's choice of one from "Withnail And I"s more amusing scenes is refreshing like their jagged, Iron Monkey-and-Gorguts-aware hardcore downer-grind, Inert's use of the tried and tested "When theres no room in hell..." clip only serves to reinforce the feeling that their four tracks of goregrind could do with being less "faithful" to their forbears.

7 (out of 10)

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AFTER THE LAST SKY / INERT (SPLIT CD) - (2004)

Review by Paul @ Raw Nerve (rawnervepromotions.co.uk on-line review)

After the Last Sky were previously known as Animosity for those keeping a watch on this site, and this name improvement is justified by the fantastic opening song ‘Art school lebensborn’ as well, smashing across not unlike The Red Chord in places, combined with something a lot more death / grind, and just generally weird with some of the discords and downbeat sections. I also hear the influences of Hard To Swallow, Incantation and early Carcass in there. ‘Dragons Teeth Harvest’ continues this rather off the wall vicious attack with big off kilter rhythm stabs, hints of hardcore and black metal in the blend to further confuse, but mostly lots of seering vocal rants, double pedals and down key thuddery, which is sludged up in the third track ‘Regretting those drunken words’. Massive doom encrusted slow notes open this one up, which then goes off on many different tangents, all depth chargingly heavy. The music of the apocalypse has arrived.

Within the first 90 seconds of this 4 track from Nottingham 5 piece Inert, I hear some good improvements. Some good harsh riffs, and the sound reminds of early Cryptopsy, the vocals are incredibly vicious and "Conquerer Worm" is relentless throughout. The carnage continues after the opening sample of "Oblivious to the threat", with the more chuggy and off kilter patterns, this song comes across as a mix between Bolt Thrower for the hypnotic fast picking, Konkhra for the odd timings and early Carcass during the breakdown, a nice healthy mix of top quality influences. Production makes some of the subtleties a little tough to pick out but is solid enough to help Inert pummel their evil Death Metal rantings out. "Empire of the dead" starts with the sample that Mortician fans will recognize from the title track of "Zombie Apocalypse", which is a surprise if none of Inert have heard that before, but it works well with the song. "Haunted" reminds me a little of "Hammer Smashed Face" era Cannibal Corpse, with the constant bludgeoning drum style, and the deep vocals in this song (the best of the four in my opinion) are awesome. Inert certainly hold their own in this half of the split and it’s great to hear 2 original bands in the UK death metal scene.

Good stuff.

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AFTER THE LAST SKY / INERT (SPLIT CD) - (2004)

Review by Darran Ali (Live4metal.com on-line review)

This split EP comes to me as an unknown quantity. I didn’t know the two British acts, but it’s always a pleasure to get to hear some good extreme nastiness piped out of this small island. To be fair, the extreme and the nasty were the two things that jump straight down my throat as soon as this 25 minute EP rattled out of its shadowy hole.

After the Last Sky were first with their furore, self termed “Blackcore”, sounds like it could be a militant black civil rights movement back in the 1960’s, who knows?. One thing is for sure the delivery of the music is probably as powerful and radical as my spurious association might suggest. Bearing in mind the band believes “The essence of our art is hatred”, (this also being the title of their side of the EP) strong minded severe disdain for exploitation and tyranny is probably an issue with After the Last Sky. Acting as the obvious outlet for the band’s personal views and perception of the world at large, gives the narrative, an impassioned focus. These are diatribes denouncing society’s crass existence, in part and tales of drunken woe for the plainly titled ‘Regretting those Drunken Words’. The “Blackcore” manifests itself in the form of as many repugnant mutations as you would care to take on. As and when the mood takes them, you could find yourself up against some harsh blackened death metal or feeling the full blasts of some grinding crust, or just the same be battered to a pulp by some thick sludge burdened doom; it’s as easy as that! The three songs on the EP opens with ‘Art School Lebensborn’ and at the first coughs up its raw disjointed blasts and awkward rambling passages of sludge induced noise. Torturous stuff to say the least, it’s not easy to describe all the shafting music styles any better than what I said early, but at all times this remains so dark and intimidating in its approach, it’s like watching Nosferatu (1929) while addled on the narcotics of your choice.

Moving in to the domain of Inert, things become slightly more hectic tempo wise. A crusty punk element is coupled with a grindcore guise. Ben on vocals is the common factor of the two groups as he is the vocalist in both. I think he may have a whole bunch of razors stuck in his throat. They are ripping his voice to shreds, it sounds about as ill as you can get, sort of like the vocals in Goatsblood, this is actually more of the case for After the Last Sky but there isn’t a huge difference between the two. However for Inert Ben is backed up by some deeper backing growls laid on by bassist Simon, adding a different dimension. Inert are probably slightly harsher than After the Last Sky, mainly because they are more relentless in the crusty grind department. This is in essence a kind of cross between Napalm Death and Hard to Swallow, so it goes without saying that it is brutally British. Both bands when the blast beats are pummelling down bring a spirit of raw necro hysteria in true black metal fashion, it feels cold and blunt throughout. Inert’s last track ‘Haunted’ has a suffocating atmosphere about it, an industrial wilderness of depleting emptiness. This actually runs through the whole EP a dire desperate quality that adds to the ruthless, tormented music.

Both bands have spawned out of the same kind of festering filth and the two share a lot in common. After the Last Sky will slow down to a rotting corpse pace at times and this is the major difference. But both play with the darkest attributes of metal, blasting away with unadulterated scorn, and making sure that what comes your way will not be the easiest of sounds to digest- extreme music in its raw and necessary form.