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Reviews
Terrorizer
Jan/Feb 2004 - 8.5/10
Certain
questions need answering. Like, why, in 'Dawn Of The Dead', did
main protagonist
decide to turn on the escalators in the shopping mall? And, more
importantly perhaps, how the blood-splattered hell has what's
essentially a piss around hardcore-retro-zombie-thrash act made
an album as magnificent as this? Send More paramedics debut 'A
Feast For The Fallen', had it's moments yet was held back by a
four-pack-of-Hofmeister-and-ten-Lambert-&-Butler production
job that made it sound like a bad C90 copy. Here, however, the
turning has taken place in spectacular fashion: with punchy production
from the ever reliable Paul Yeadon and Johnny Carter, the 'medics'
Cryptic Slaughter meets Tom Savini attack sounds positively ravenous
for brains and human flesh. What's more, there's grisly tuneage
aplenty here; 'Zombiecore' may be the first undead beatdown anthem
in recently living memory, whilst 'Burning The Body' us a horrifying
smorgasbord of Exodus crunchy riffage and shoutalong infectiousness.
Run for your fucking lives, people, or at least get a good headshot
on, cos' otherwise there'll be no stopping this bunch. (Jim Martin)
- SMP also get mentioned in Ian Glasper & Pete Yardley's top
five playlists (Deaf Metal) in this issue.
Kerrang
KKKK 31/01/04
They may appear to be the drooling deformed offspring of Slayer
and The Misfits, with their arsenal of psychotic thrash riffs
expertly welded to short sharp, shocking hardcore song structure,
but Send More Paramedics are their own, entirely novel creation;
something warped and wonderful, born of wide-eyed inspiration,
not fame-hungry desperation. And when you realise that virtually
all of the Leeds-based quartet's songs are about zombies, the
bloodstained penny drops and Send More Paramedics, like any band
worth half a decaying skull, are the best idea you've heard this
week. When a disturbing number of our homegrown bands remain tethered
to their influences, regurgitating the looks and the sound of
their heroes, we need maverick mentalists like Send More Paramedics
more than ever. What sounds like more fun? Another dose of dull-but-worthy
Toni & Guycore, or a band that sound like a knife fight in
an asylum and have song titles like 'I Can Feel Myself Rotting'.
'The Hallowed And The Heathen' is every bit as fun as rising from
the grave and terrorizing your buck toothed banjo-totin' neighbours.
The undead are on the march and, this time, nothing can stop them.
(Dom Lawson)
Flex
Your Head (Canada)
Disc
Of The Week 29/02/04 - 06/03/04
The UK's Send More
Paramedics is not your run-of-the-mill hardcore band. Nor is the
band run-of-the-mill metal/metalcore or whatever else is en vogue
these days. Typical? Fuck no! With The Hallowed and the Heathen,
Send More Paramedics has created the soundtrack to every single
one of your "flesh-creeping," zombie/B-rated horror
movie nightmares.
Send
More Paramedics' sophomore album displays a huge leap in growth
over their debut effort, A Feast for the Fallen, the recording
effectively capturing the group's focused and mature, hook-filled
chunkiness. In essence, this band of undead, brain-eating metal
maniacs fuse equal parts mid-80s Bay Area thrash metal (along
with a hint of Kerry King-inspired riffery) and straight ahead
hardcore, creating what is hands-down one of the finest examples
ever of the "crossover" genre. Send More Paramedics
transcend well beyond any accusations of "gimmicky"
with an album that's hewn from solid steel, heavier than a motherfucking
blood-splattered tombstone.
Without
doubt, the highlight of The Hallowed and the Heathen is "Zombie
Crew." As a matter of fact, one might declare "Zombie
Crew" the best crossover song ever. If lyrics like "Do
the zombie shuffle like an old-school ghoul. We're the backups
from beyond, we're the cannibal crew. We're the rockin' resurrected
and we've come for your head. Let's party like we're fuckin' dead,"
doesn't convince you of the band's brilliance — check your
pulse, you might still be alive.
Metal
Hammer Jan 2004 - 8/10
A slab of zombiecore anyone?
The fact that Send More Paramedics smeat themselves in makeup
was a worrying possibility that they would be churning out dreary
goth nonsense but - no! They sound like Minor Threat mixed with
Prong mixed with Ministry (with the drum machine switched off)
and every song they record is about the threat of having your
brain eaten by zombies. Which obviously in Leeds is something
that's going to be at the back of your mind most of the time.
There is an unashamedly 80's thrash metal vibe to this record
and the over-driven Big Black bass line of 'Driven To Destruction'
gives way to woolly mammoth sized Slayer riffage. So throw your
pseudo goth shit in the bin and get into zombiecore as quickly
as (un)humanly possibile! (John Duran)
Q
Magazine
March 2004 -
4/5
Blame Kurt Cobain. Pre Nevermind, before
tiresome "thinking man's metal", it was perfectly acceptable
for rock bands to sing about demons, dungeons and doom. And though
The Darkness 's huge success may spark the beginning of the anti-fun
backlash, Send More Paramedics represent the laudable next step
backwards. These four young punks have abandoned the UK hardcore
scene in favour of regurgitated '80s thrash metal riffs and songs
about zombies, brain-munching and gore. Yes, it's silly - even
Justin Hawkins would baulk at penning a lyric as foolish as "we're
rockin' to some red-hot lixx and fleeing from those redneck hicks"
- but grunge ore nu-metal was never this entertaining. Paul Brannigan
Artcore
#21 - 5/5
Continuing their Slayer influenced Zombie Metalcore with a more
indepth approach to the lyrics this time around, delving into
historical aspects and the socio-political messages of the films.
Send More Paramedics worship at the altar of late Eighties Thrash
Metal as much as eating brains and living human meat. The vocals
still remind me of Flux Of Pink Indians, with high pitch bark.
Nicely desolate spooky artwork, throughout and song title of the
album has to be; 'Desert Of Skulls', Waaarrgggh!
Mass
Movement #16
How does that old saying go "Be All That You Can Be?"
I guess the Undead Mosh Crew took that adage to their rotting,
decaying hearts and decided to manifest destiny. Words just cannot
convey how good this record is. The Slayerisms that were evident
on their first record are still there, but have been reigned in,
used as a foundation on which to build layers of HC, 80’s
style Crossover and thrash metal. "The Hallowed…"
is all that I’ve been playing all day and every day for
the last week. Probably the best UK record of the last two (and
the next two?) years, and if they’re this good on their
second album, I can’t wait for the third, fourth, fifth,
just bring them on…TIM
Die
Shellsuit Die - 5/5
The second album from Leeds zombie core metallers SMP is quite
simply fantastic. For those of you who aren’t familiar with
these guys SMP blast along a hook in 80’s thrash metal not
dissimilar to Slayer. These guys are heavily influenced lyrically
by zombie movies (the band name is a line from Return Of The Living
Dead) and for those of you raising a questioning eyebrow. Put
it back down!! It just doesn’t matter. As an accompaniment
to the amazing musicianship the lyrics don’t descend into
mere joke parody. You take them seriously when they tell you they’re
‘gonna eat your fucking brains’. There are beat downs,
guitar virtuosity that would make Steve Vai blush and chorus’
that beg to be yelled at the top of your lungs. I picked this
album up after catching them live in Middlesborough and their
show itself has to be seen to be believed. I implore you to get
this album by any means necessary. It’s a refreshing change
to a lot of the safe nu-metal dirge that the youth listen to these
days. The fact that these guys are home-grown talent makes me
feel warm inside. Arguably, the best band in the UK at the moment?
On this evidence it’s hard to find anything to convince
me otherwise.- (by Lee)
Rancid
News #5 - 4.5/5
So how does a band top an almost perfect debut? Well they write
a better record of course. Amazing SMP have succeeded where just
about everyone else (including myself) expected them to fail.
How do you keep the zombie thrash thing going on for more than
twenty minutes without it getting tedious. The answer is in 'The
Hallowed And The Heathen', where the undead learn how to introduce
a healthy does of hardcore into thrash proceedings allowing them
to keep creating awesome songs. If this is the kind of music we'll
get if zombies were to rule the earth then I'd happily start eating
human flesh tomorrow. (edd)
Playdead
#8
Ok, you know these by now right? The second installment of zombie
core from SMP, and lets face it, it was always going to brilliant,
how could it be anything less? It's not too dissimilar from the
last album, 'A Feast From The Fallen', it's all old school thrash,
Slayer style, with ace riffage and break downs and the ever present
zombie lyrical gems like Cranial Blowout's "Cranial blowout!
Skull pops with a revolting sound! Cranial blowout! Bits of brain
tissue all around!" If anything it's faster, harder, more
accomplished and more intense, and although it occasional lacks
the genius of a song like 'Brains' on album 1, there's no doubt
whatsoever that this album is a work of bonafide classic metal
brilliance, you just have to listen to 'Zombie Crew' and 'I Can
Feel Myself rotting' to know this. If you haven't seen these guys
live yet, well you know what to do; in terms of the show they
put on I doubt there's a more entertaining band in the world right
now. Period. Although I'm guessing that with album two from a
supposed 'joke' band there's always gonna be some kind of inevitable
back lash, but with tunes like this they can just forget it, SMP
rock like no other and that's all there is to it. (MB)
Direct
Hit Zine
Sadly
this is my first experience with the guys and my jaw dropped when
I realised how good they are and what I’ve been missing.
Read tonnes of interviews with them in loads of zines, but sometimes
you can’t just believe the hype – well in these guys
case you can – they fucking rule. They play mostly fast
thrash and have as much in common with the likes of MINOR THREAT
as they do with big bands like SLAYER and all the crossover stuff
from the mid 80’s. This CD sends surges of energy through
your body and you’d be hard not to react. If you read between
the lines you’ll see more than just a transcript for a horror
flick, you’ll see how fucked up humanity is. Again great
layout/graphics.
Rock
Sound Feb 2004 - 7/10
One of the elements ist in transition from the thrash metal years
to the nu-metal era was the element of sheer, mindless fun. Thrash
was never about bemoaning your fucked-up childhood pr the fact
that daddy never bought you a pony. it was about hyperspeed riffage,
screaming vocals and the expenditure of youthful energy. SMP know
this, and their second album harks back unashamedly to the bloody
best of early Exodus and Testament, while indulging a brilliantly
juvenille fascination for cheap zombie flicks. "I'm going
to eat your brain!" howls vocalist B'Hellmouth on 'Zombie
Crew', and that's ther kind of sentiment it's hard to argue with.
All this would be irrelevant if the band didn't shred, but their
grasp on the thrashwise idiom is near flawless and likely to have
the listener slamming off the walls in atavistic glee. (Joe Stannard)
Centerfuse
(USA)
Holy fucking shit balls, this album is awesome. I was pretty into
the Zombie Apocalypse/Send More Paramedics split, but this full
length offered by Send More Paramedics blows their split tracks
out the door. It's more of the late eighties style thrash metal,
but with less-than-subtle Zombie Themed songs and some dirgy parts.
The singer's voice sounds like Matt's from Shark Attack! the music
is heavy and awesome, the drums are perfectly simple, and there
are some sepultura-esque riffs thrown in here and there -- and
they have a song called Zombie Crew that is like a nerdy Youth
Crew song about zombies moshing and shit. It's awesome. there
are some pretty good two steps in there with the thrash parts
too. If it wasn't for the zombie/gory lyrics, I would guess these
guys were singing about skateboarding. Like I mentioned in the
other review, these guys are from England, like to sing about
'Bies and sound awesome. Definitely Highly recommended to anyone
interested in hardcore, metal, thrash, zombies, skateboarding,
skiing, ice skating, and parasailing.
Profane
Existence #46 (USA)
No offense to 45 GRAVE, but if they ever film a remake of “The
Return of the Living Dead”, SEND MORE PARAMEDICS should
do the soundtrack. This is mighty ghoulish speed-metal, and these
Brits are on a major b-horror flick bloodfeast of a tangent. To
think, just in time for Halloween! Musically, this mimics ‘80’s
thrash-metal, similar to early SLAYER with a splatter of ACCUSED
style hardcore, and some BALZAC to boot. I like this the same
way I like SAMHAIN or GWAR, that’s with a big hunk of cheese!
(Mr. H)
Gagged
& Blindfolded #2
Definitely more accomplished this album. Recorded better, the
vocals have been toned down a little, but don't worry SMP are
still an intense whirlwind of metallic thrash. Now after a whole
album about zombie eatin' and graveyard ghouling I was worried
lyrically these guys would incur a few problems but this niche
band have come up trumps taking zombie analysis even deeper (listen
to 'Driven To Destruction'). Spot on brains fuelled trashy madness
with more if a gang-like atmosphere this time. Fav number being
'Zombie Crew' - 4.5/5 (Tim)
Collective-Zine
I really wanna review this without saying the
words “thrash” “speed” or “zombie
soaked” but it is impossible. Coming complete with spooky
intro, this is a pure blast fest of fun. I'm not really impartial
here because I love speed metal, especially of the zombie kind.
If these guys had lower guitars and metal instead of hardcore
vocals they would be an awesome death metal band. As it stands
they are an awesome metal/hardcore/rocky horror show band. I'm
so glad they don’t take themselves seriously in the slightest
and are doing this blatently for fun, also of note is this doesn’t
even make them a parody of the bands that actually believe in
this kind of stuff. If
you want your face ripped off, or you hate your housemates, this
is the record for you. Love your metal this is… oh just
buy it already you metal heads!!
The
Communion
What Gorerotted are to the death/gore world, Send More Paramedics
are to the UK thrash/hardcore scene...a combination of excellent
musicianship with an equal dose of quality song crafting AND a
sense of humour which doesn't detract from their credibility but
perhaps excensuates it...."The Hallowed To The Heathen"
has pushed the 'Paramedics to a level they couldn't quite manage
on their first record, and this album is quite frankly, superb.
Zombiecore-a-go-go! The
main thing you notice about this release is the dramatic step-up
in production values over "A Feast For The Fallen".
The first album was a great one - catchy, fun, and showcased their
talents as musicians and song-writers, but sadly the polish was
wiped off with a large dose of not-so-great production. This time
around however it's a different ball game, with the sound-quality
setting off an excellently written album. There
are a few more tracks this time round which is also a big plus,
as one of the other (slight) drawbacks on "A Feast..."
was that it was over too damn quickly (supposing you don't count
the 20min spoken word excerpt which closes!), whereas this time
you really get a feel of what they're doing, and there's less
repetition in both the sound of the riffs and the song structures.
They
do thrash, they do hardcore, they have gang-shouts and even Johnny
Rotten-esque snarls on "I Can Feel Myself Rotting"...this
album moulds it all together and delivers it with a hefty splattering
of blood and guts - "Easy Meat" and "Cranial Blowout"
just go to prove that it is possible to have fun making good music.
I'll
be interested come December to see whether or not we're given
any more tasty slices of UK thrash mayhem like this, because this
really is a treat. 9/10
Leedsmusicscene2
The rotting undead have once again unleashed a strain of bastardised
Slayer-worshipping Bay Area hardcore onto the unsuspecting masses.
Everything is in place, from the gothic organ choir music intro
to the abundance of 80's thrash head favourites, the pinched harmonic.
Strap yourselves in, it's gonna be a blast. The
overall production to this latest offering is a little cleaner
than the debut but the vibe to the album is still straightedge
pioneers Minor Threat meets 80's metal gods Slayer. Gruff barked
vocals that easily could be Ian MacKaye gargling with an acid
mouthwash followed by a vinegar chaser. The guitar work is truly
fantastic, from double quick time muted chugging to full on Slayeresq
shredding, it's mind-boggling stuff, the only comparison I can
come to for the speed and technical ability on the guitar work
would be Propagandhi's Chris Hannah. This
album is a little more progressive than the earlier offerings,
breaking the full on thrash hardcore, with full on epics like
"The Time Before I Turn", which shows this band not
to be a one trick pony. Lyrically,
you get the usual gore drenched post apocalypse Zombie theme.
I think I may be dumbing this down, maybe the Zombie is a metaphor
for all the brainwashed slaves out there, and the pessimistic
view that we are all destined to 2.4 children, a house in the
suburbs, a job that we fucking hate, 2 cars in the drive and 2
weeks in Zante every year, being brainwashed by the media that
this is our ultimate destiny. Just like brain dead Zombies. Or
maybe they just like Zombie films and playing thrash, I dunno
- make your own mind up. What ever the case may be, this is ace
beyond aceness! Get it bought! - 4.5/5
Revoltzine
- 4/5
"SEND MORE PARAMEDICS are members of the living dead, cannibalistic
zombies consumed with an unholy desire to devour living human
brains. Their music can best be described as "Zombiecore"
- a hideous fusion of 80s-style thrash metal and modern hardcore
punk, contaminated and deformed by an obsessive fascination with
all that is worst about zombie b-movies." This is the blurb
on the front of the Paramedics website, so what else do you need
to know?
For
starters, if you heard their debut, "Feast For The Fallen"
forget about it, this release completely blows it away on many
levels, most notably in terms of production as now everything
is chrystal clear and beefed up for a full on monstrous sound.
Secondly, the songs are much, much faster, and much more cohesive
with some great solos thrown in. Lyricly the album is totally
off the wall and well worth a read through of the provided words.
Lastly, the album has been fantastically packaged by the label
with some cool accompanying artwork.
Europunk
This is the attack of the undead. These guys describe themselves
as ` A brain-splattered and gore-drenched 80's style thrash metal
hardcore band with an obsession for zombie b-movies`. Any more
questions? Fast, frightening and a bit crazy: that’s how
I would describe this IATDE release (iatde017). The
organ intro sets the tone and immediately sends us right back
to the 80`s. Fasten your seatbelt, here we go! I know there exists
at least one previous CD to this one but I haven’t heard
it yet. The only thing I’m sure about is that it’s
probably not much cleaner than this one. This CD has an incredible
trash touch and they could not have done worse on a prior album...I
love it! The vocals remind me of `Slapshot` or `Minor Threat`
but the rest has definitely nothing to do with all that. `Desert
of Skulls` is the first track I focused on because of the fantastic
guitar tracks (quick time muted rocking & a real evil solo
part - just like straight out of a splatter movie). `Zombie Crew`
is a nice one too with a beginning reminding of a zombie army
marching on, followed by cool old-school inspired parts mixed
with old-fashioned solos on the guitars...the vocals still sound
like the ones of an 80`s straight-edge hc band - wow, what a mix!
Lyrically
speaking there is no big surprise: the usual blood drenched zombie
stuff about apocalypse, dead human flesh and rotting skulls. The
cover and inlay perfectly fit with the music on this CD, using
purple and black as only colours and creating the same insane
atmosphere around the CD as on the CD itself. What I like best
about it is the picture of the band members where you can foresee
what these undead may look like when standing on stage...they
possibly use as much make-up as Misfits, Avenged Sevenfold or
Alkaline Trio. I’m looking forward to seeing them live soon.
I recommend this band to every zombie movie fan.
With
Love, The Underground (Germany)
This is the best SLAYER Record to come out since "Reign In
Blood"! Well, actually it wasn't written by SLAYER but I
guess they would appreciate it. The guilty parties are B'Hellmouth,
Medico, XundeadX and El Diablo from Leeds, UK. And eventhough
I find it embarrassing to sing about zombies all the time I do
like the record a lot because the band sounds very raw and the
production suits the addational hardcore vibe the band has. There's
a split with MY WAR available soon which you should watch out
for. If you are into intense metal with a hardcore edge, and who
isn't, this is a must have. The only question that keeps my mind
busy is : where to go from here? But I guess they'll just beg
for more flesh and march on...
PunkRockTheory
(Belgium)
Send More Paramedics indeed… as a matter of fact send all
the medics you can find to whatever venue these guys are tearing
apart cuz you’ll need all the hands you can get to get the
job done.Send
More Paramedics got together in 2001 and have been spreading their
zombiecore ever since. They quickly gained notoriety and recorded
their debut “A Feast For The Fallen” in 2002. And
now, after two years of refining their skills, these guys are
back with “The Hallowed And The Heathen”, a thrash
fest for those of you looking to sink their teeth in one. Picture
a hardcorepunk band playing Slayer riffs while staying true to
their punk roots vocally and then add an unhealthy fascination
for horror flicks and you’re looking at SMP… not a
pretty sight indeed but pretty cool to listen to nonetheless,
especially during “Zombie Crew” and “Burning
The Body”.
Yo
London
Joke band or men of vision? SMP jack so many riffs it's untrue,
but the end product is incredible. Zombie obsessed to the max,
you know it from the name through to the song titles ("I
can feel myself rotting") through to the lyrics ("I'll
show you what it's like to fucking feel the pain of being dead,
every fucking day" - No Fucking Joke). The stand out track
on the album has to be "Zombie Crew" which put the hugest
smile on my face when Nick played me it in All Ages. They do tread
a fine line between intelligence and humour but they tread it
well. I was wondering what this band would do after "A Feast
for the Fallen" because it is extremely easy for bands like
this to wear a joke out very fast (remember Good Clean Fun?) but
the new album is much more clever and varied than their previous
outing. The aforementioned "Zombie Crew" and "No
Fucking Joke" prove this band can do alot more than jack
SOD and Slayer riffs. There are kernels of lyrics on this album
that make me believe that this band is using the zombie theme
to say something, I cite songs such as "Half Life" which
is about nuclear war. If you're into fast music and thrash metal
then pick this up, if not I suggest you see them live so they
can convert you! (JM)
Ox
Magazine
March 2004 (Germany)
In At The Deep End sind mir als Label ja
noch von den schwer anstrengenden THE DEVILS in Erinnerung und
auch SEND MORE PARAMEDICS sind nicht gerade das Paradebeispiel
für eine leicht zugängliche Band. Musikalisch erinnert
es an diesen 80er Thrash-HC-Bands, dazu ein ganz eigener Sänger,
dessen etwas quäkig kreischende Stimme doch etwas Gewöhnung
bedarf, dann aber um so besser kommt. Textlich drecht sich alles
um Zombies und Artverwandtes. Ging mir am Anfang ziemlich auf
die Nerven, hat sich aber mit jedem Durchlauf mehr einen Platz
im CD-Spieler gesichert. Antesten. - Ollie Fröhlich (7)
Audiocratic.com
The UK’s best zombie-core ghoulsters are back with their
second release on IATDE records and definitely have some more
gruesome brutality to achieve. After an eerie intro, SMP blast
in with ‘Bokor’ sounding rather more old school than
their previous release, with gang like vocals in places and playing
at a fast tempo. Lyrically the band are all about the unknown
and grizzly death, but they certainly have skills and play their
hearts out (most probably literally too). Each song weird or disturbing
in its own way, although strange but true, they are rather catchy
and the awesome guitar work really hooks you into the songs, a
truly impressive feature. The band has obviously been working
hard since releasing the last album. The old school nature that
the band have based their style on really works well for them
and with some excellently executed guitar solos, they certainly
have an axeman on the team! Send More Paramedics deliver blow
after blow of zombie like vengeance (in the form of songs) and
have showed a marked improvement since ‘A Feast For The Fallen’.
I can see this band adding to their underground fan base and possibly
touring further a field and gaining an even bigger reputation
for their dark madness! If you haven’t heard this band already,
do so soon, before the zombies come and get you!
As
Ice (Holland)
When I saw the band name "Send More Paramedics" I expected
some weird screamo/emo band... but SMP sure as hell isn't! No,
they bring you 80’s trashmetal combined with hardcore punk.
Think of bands like Sacred Reich and Slayer mixed up with bands
like Minor Threat and Out Cold. Although I must admit it sounds
a bit more trash than hardcore to me, but who cares these 14 tracks
rock as hell. I really appreciate the 80’s trash a lot so
for me this is best of both worlds and that probably goes for
anyone else who can appreciate 80’s trash. One thing I noticed
when I checked their website is their “obsession”
of Zombie movies and it seems like their shows usually have a
Zombie/Splatter movie theme with blood / brains / etc. flying
around… Adding this all up I must say that these guys really
made me curious and I hope we can check ‘em out soon here
in Holland!
Inside
Knowledge (Holland)
Never
thought it would be possible to create an undead hybrid of old
Slayer (“Show No Mercy”-era) and DRI. The second full
length of Send More Paramedics is even better than their debut,
and they have added some hands and feet from recently deceased
victims. They must have since with only your God given limbs it’s
impossible to be this fast. Brutal slashing riffs, which would
make any thrash metal follower, have a wet dream. It’s as
intense and insane as a bunch of zombies drinking beer on the
fact they are dead. It’s just not healthy to like this band…
man I wished they would play some Dutch shows soon.
Martijn Welzen
Punknews
Ok, so this starts with atmospheric chanting. It's all very Hammer
horror. First song's choppy metallic hardcore, which strangely
reminds me a lot of A New Way To Trust's Dead Addict's Eyes. Probably
similar influences. Continues on with same frentic thrash as Feast
For The Fallen. Oddly enough, the lyrics seem more serious than
the first album. Scrub that, Zombie Crew just came on. Youth crew
shout-outs and the music goes the same way - especially guitar
work. Makes a change from the normal SMP sound which picks up
again afterwards. again, the lyrics do seem to be more concerned
with the feelings of zombies than the general b-movie style of
FFTF. Damn, that's a weird sentence. Burning The Body's another
stand out track. Finishes up with more chanting. No story though?
I was looking forward to the next SMP zombie story. The above
might make you think that I don't like this album. Don't get me
wrong, I do. It's a great album which has got me tapping the steering
wheel and finger pointing when I'm driving. It's just not as good
as Feast For The Fallen, and that was never going to be an easy
album to follow. If you haven't got Feast For The Fallen yet,
get that first. If you have already got it, definitely get this.
Skratch-
Nov 2003
Send More Paramedics are four self-styled horror-core maniacs
who sent shockwaves through the U.K. thrashcore underground back
in 2001 after their first live show on Halloween in Leeds. Clad
in stylish Zombie outfits their suped-up thrash metal riffs were
a blow to the senses, thanks in no small part to a few bottles
of ketchup and the odd prosthetic limb! Thankfully then, THE HALLOWED
AND THE HEATHEN carries on where their debut left off, taking
a Divine Intervention-era Slayer, pumping in a modern hardcore
aggression and incorporating a glorious obsession with zombie
B-movies (see the beatdown-tastic "Zombie Crew", "I
Can Feel Myself Rotting" and "Cranial Blowout").
While it can get a little samey after a while, the vocals getting
a little too monotonous half way through, it's still an intriguing
release from a very intriguing band.
Logo
Magazine
Touting the World’s Greatest Ever Band Name (as far as we’re
concerned) and thrashing their way through a ferocious shitstorm
of thrash and hardcore aesthetics, Send More Paramedics are evidently
not here to make up the metal numbers. Okay so their obsessions
with the dark side are a little obvious (severed heads on stage,
a drummer called El Diablo - you get the message) but away from
such an adolescent thirst for shock and gore their knee-buckling
riffage and rip-roaring punk ‘tude are a debilitating, engrossing
spectacle. Brutal, intense and focused, ‘The Hallowed and
The Heathen’ may scream nothing more than laughable shockcore,
but pull back the tokenised sloganeering and you’ll find
aptitude in abundance.
Hardcoremusic
(Belgium)
This album I received is certainly one of the most weird things
I ever received or reviewed! Send More Paramedics is based in
Leeds, UK. They define there music as “Zombie-core”
– a hideous fusion of 80s-style trash metal and modern hardcore
punk, contaminated and deformed by an obsessive fascination with
all that is worst about zombie b-movies! … I think I’ve
nothing to bring in against this description! ‘The Hallowed
& The Heathen’, that’s what this full-length is
called, is recorded at Pristine Studios in Nottingham in August
2003 and was released by In At The Deep End Records in February
2004. It’s hard to compare this band with another cus they
are really unique! The music actually sounds great, I think maybe
this could be one of the weirdest albums in your collection if
you would buy it! Only one thing: these guys are obsessed by zombies,
so watch out! They will try to murder you!
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$16
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