UNBORN

Unborn were pretty much the first hardcore band in the UK to start playing Slayer influenced metal-core. They were probably one of the first bands (along with Congress and Liar) in Europe to adopt this style in a time where every other band wanted to play Texas Is The Reason Emo Rock or Earth Crisis style E-Crunch. The band was formed in 1994 by Patrick Rat Poole who first gained notoriety with his one-man band called Statement, and Nick Royles, formerly of Ironside and Sore Throat. The two met through writing to each other back in the 80s anarcho punk scene. It wasnt until the following year however that a full line up was solidified with the addition of Andy Wrighty Wright from Ironside, Voorhees and Blood Simple on Bass and Chris Meadows who played in Talisman with Rat. Chris also went on to be in Slavearc and Withdrawn. A second guitarist was added with James previously of Neckbrace. James played on the first seven inch but was replaced by Chay from Bob Tilton and Tribute soon after. Neither of them ever played live with Unborn. The band stayed as a four piece until 1998.Over the course of their existence Unborn played more shows in Europe than in the UK. In fact their first show was at the Geleen Hardcore festival in Holland. The bands debut release was a 7 on the band's own collectively run label, Sure Hand Records. The songs on the record were short, raw sounding and had a strong metal influence. Unborns lyrics always had a strong social/political propensity. The subject matter ranged from equality for women, revolution, anti-homophobia and animal rights. In fact every member of the band was vegan and lead a drug free life style.After a few shows in the UK, Chris left the band and was replaced by former Lifer and Blood Green drummer Craig Foden. As soon as Craig joined, the band embarked on a European tour with Feeding The Fire from the Netherlands. Due to logistical problems (the band all lived in different cities) and the various other projects the members were involved with, (Craig was in Slavearc and Blood Green, Rat had Statement and Cracked Cop Skulls and Nick was the main force behind the label) it was another two years before the Unborn recorded anything again. By which time Andy had left the band. A four-song EP was recorded for Germanys Lifeforce recordings. The songs on this record were longer and better structured, but lacked the raw hardcore aggression of the first release (not to mention the fact that there is no bass guitar on the recording). After the hiatus and the new release, a new line up was needed to inject a bit of life into the band. This came in the form of new bass player Karl Fieldhouse, who at the time was playing in Canvas and later went on to play in Thirty Seconds Until Armageddon and Born From Pain. A second guitarist was also added with addition of Nigel Morton, a friend of Craigs from his days in Lifer after Nigel went for the job of guitarist with them. Nigel and Craig both went on to play in melodic old school band Engage together. Nigel is currently in Rainydayfuckparade. The new Unborn line up played together for the first time at the 1998 Goodlife New years Eve festival in Belgium.Over the next two years the old logistical problem reared its head again and the band played very few live performances. Unborn played their last show as a legitimate band in 2000, once again in Belgium. There have been a couple of attempts to resurrect the band since, including the recording of a split 7 with Purification from Italy on which Rat handled the vocal and drum duties, Pete from Last Chance, Walk The Plank, Cracked Cop Skulls and Safeguard played guitar and Tom O'Brian of Charger, Safeguard and Cracked Cop Skulls played Bass. Nick was actually away traveling while this line-up was active and recording - he wasnt on the split CD with Purification. Its a real shame that Unborn were not more successful because they were a great band and very under rated, but over nine years they had almost as many line up changes as they had played shows. The band split up again in 2004 having not played a show since 2000. The Final Unborn line up was Rat - guitar, Craig - back on drums, Pete - Guitar, Katie Hallam Bass and Nick Royles - Vocals. From this final line up Craig and Katie are not doing anything musical at the moment. Rat is still doing Statement and Nick is in a D-Beat band from Sheffield called ATA.