The band's earliest releases were post-punk, before beginning to adopt elements of heavy metal music on their debut album No Sanctuary (1983).

In 1978, Rob Miller was involuntarily discharged from his role as an Air Training Corps sergeant in 1978, due to being intoxicated while on duty when stationed in the Netherlands.

[2] In 1979, the band changed its name to Amebix,[2] which was the mantra given to Stig Miller when he was thirteen years old, by a Guru, in order help him stop misbehaving in school.

[2] In 1981, Miller and Amebix relocated to Peter Tavy and began living with new drummer Martin Baker in Glebe House, the former site of a Saxon burial ground.

Independent Music Chart, and gained them the attention of Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra, who signed them to his record label Alternative Tentacles.

[13] In 2019, Stig Miller and Mayorga briefly formed a band with Casey Chaos, recording eighteen songs but never releasing any or deciding on a name.

[14] In 2023, Stig Miller and Mayorga formed False Fed with Jeff Janiak of Discharge on vocals and JP Parsons on bass.

[16][18] The group however continued to differentiate themselves from the other groups in the genre, by continuing to use elements of post-punk, with Maximum Rocknroll writer Joao Seixas describing them as "expanding on what Killing Joke began with, a Motörhead-inspired sense of rock'n'roll songwriting, and adding a taste of what can be described as deathrock-oriented post-punk guitar atmosphere.

"[19] Amebix have cited influences including Bauhaus, Killing Joke, Joy Division,[20] Black Sabbath,[21] Motörhead,[22] Crass,[23] Brian Eno, the Stranglers, Devo, Pink Floyd, Accept, Mercyful Fate, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Magazine, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, T. Rex,[24] Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Sex Pistols, Hawkwind,[3] Stiff Little Fingers, Cockney Rejects, Procol Harum,[25] David Bowie and Bad Brains.

[26] Furthermore, the members of Amebix and first-wave black metal band Celtic Frost tape traded with one another, leading to some shared musical characteristics.

[16][28] They have been cited as an influence by musicians including Sven Erik Kristiansen of Mayhem,[29] Napalm Death,[30] Doom,[31] From Ashes Rise,[32] Gallhammer,[33] Rudimentary Peni,[34] Integrity,[35] Nausea,[36] Disclose,[37] Bolt Thrower,[38] Septic Tank,[39] Starkweather,[40] Mortiis,[41] Heresy,[42] Born Dead Icons,[43] Hellbastard,[44] Deathspell Omega,[45] SECT,[46] Winter,[47] Sepultura and Deviated Instinct.