|
Reviews
Kerrang
KKKK
You’ll already be familiar with Leeds’ favourite putrefying
thrash band Send More Paramedics: and you can rest assured that
they still want to ingest your cranial juices while playing gonzoid
retro thrashcore. This split release pairs them with kindred spirits
Zombie Apocalypse, who hail from the rotting core of the Big Apple
and are guaranteed to get your limbs flailing for one last mosh
before you’re overrun by the undead.
Terrorizer
8/10
Forget straightedge, NYHC and emo/screamo; zombiecore is where
it’s at. The dead will inherit the Earth and this is the
soundtrack as two undead punk crews slug it out on this festering
maggot-filled split. Zombie Apocalypse feature Matt Fox and Matt
Fletcher from Shai Hulud delving into their deepest living dead
fantasies with stunning results. Pulverising hardcore punk blasts
propel their fetid tales of life after death way beyond the grave
and far into the pitch black night. Meanwhile Send More Paramedics
are not ‘Dawn Of The Dead; style shambling, mindless walking
dead. Instead, their zombie hardcore is ‘28 Days Later’
- running at you, teeth gnashing, fingers clawed, eyes red with
blood lust. The bastard children of George Romero and Slayer,
they deliver once again; their thrash punk is the perfect accompaniment
for manic mindless flesh-eating hordes.
Ox
Magazine (Germany) 9/10
Bei manchen Split-Releases wundert man sich schon uber die Zusammenstellung,
doch bei der Send More Paramedics/Zombie Apocalypse CD passt alles
wie die Faust aufs Auge. Zwei irre Bands, die nur uber das spassige
Leben von Zombies singen: Menschen fangen, sie fressen und andere
lustige Dinge eben. Das Ganze verpackt in grossartige Musik, wobei
Send More Paramedics sich hemmungslos bei Achtziger-Thrashmetalbands
bedienen und den Riffs noch eine zusatzliche Portion Speed verpassen,
um dann den abgefahrenen hysterischen Gesang uber allem thronen
zu lassen. Zombie Apocalypse, bei denen interessanterweise zwei
Nasen von den im direkten Vergleich langweiligen Shai Hulud mitmischen,
sind musikalisch ahnlich, aber eher im hardcore - oder Rockbereich
angesiedelt, der Sanger kommt kraftiger, spannende abwechslungsreiche
Songs, kurtz: perfeckt! Tipp der Ausgabe
Room
Thirteen 12
out of 13
Probably
the two of the finest purveyors of zombiecore, Leeds’ Send
More Paramedics and New York's Zombie Apocalypse have managed
to create a split album soundtrack to zombie B-Movie from hell.
Up
first are Zombie Apocalypse, the side project of the legendary
hardcore band Shai Hulud's Matt Fox and Matt Fletcher. Whilst
Shai Hulud are on hiatus, Zombie Apocalypse are blasting out ferocious
metalcore tinged with imagery of cult horror films. The first
two tracks Just Meat and God I Hope The Data Is Lying in typical
hardcore style smash into the listener like a pack of the living
dead waiting to eat your brains. Breaking Off Fingers almost reads
like Cannibal Corpse song as the gore obsessed lyrics verge on
death metal. Inserts from zombie cult films make this a creepy
record to listen to. Tale Told By A Dead Man switches between
spoken word delivery and vocals worthy of shredding vocal chords.
Leeds
own Send More Paramedics are certainly giving the Americans are
run for their money touring with the awesome Avenged Sevenfold
and tours lined up with goth punks Tiger Army and pop punk legends
The Offspring, the nutters from up North have got everything going
for them. From The Void sounds like Slayer jamming with The Misfits
with Minor Threat vocals, giving it more of bonkers sound. Funeral
has Danzig-esque lyrics being roared at break-neck pace that would
make the evil Elvis smile with murderous intent. Send More Paramedics
are definitely the missing link between Eighties thrash metal
and old school hardcore punk. This spilt release is brainlessly
heavy and the two bands complement each other so well. The dead
will walk tonight and this is the sound that will raise them.
Metal
Hammer 7/10
Zombiecore (a mix of hardcore punk and thrash with lyrics about
undead creatures that subsist in grey matter, if you hadn’t
alreadly guessed) is ruled by the superb Send More Paramedics,
who are a fucking blast, mixing up Slayer, Minor Threat and Suicidal
Tendencies. New songs such as ‘Zombie Versus Shark’
could easily have come from last year’s superb ‘The
Hallowed & The Heathen’. Zombie Apocalypse, however,
deal in a particularly brutal. executed hardcore, ‘Tales
Told By A Dead Man’ with it’s cheeky Slayer steal
and demented piano solo lifts.
Mass
Movement
Hubba,
hubba, been looking forward to this bugger for a while. The unholy
split, the sharing of the record, the undead war between Mass
Movement favourites SMP and Zombie Apocalypse (who is memory serves
me, contain members of the legendary Shai Hulud), and it was worth
the wait. Zombie Apocalypse kick things off in grand fashion,
with a fast and furious HC metal thrash attack that tears the
top off your cranium, exposing the cerebellum for those who follow
to feast upon…Send More Paramedics. Now taking into account
the law of supposed HC averages, by now SMP should suck (and yeah,
the “trendy” kids have already tried to start the
backlash. Morons), but since when was there a rule that wasn’t
designed to be broken? Exactly, and SMP shit all over the rulebook
with five tracks of bone crunching destruction that just keep
getting better and better…All together now, “What
do we need?” “BRAINS..” Tim Mass Movement
4Q
Radio 9/10
Well
probably the best way for this world to end would be a Zombie
Apocalypse and the best way to start this split E.P would be the
way that New York’s own undead citizens Zombie Apocalypse
do!!!
Although the opening track (Just Meat) is only a mere 48 seconds
long, Z.A do enough do destroy anything in their path with there
blisteringly fast riffs and hardcore edge and certainly will grip
you by the fucking throat.
The next three tracks follow suite and don’t give you time
to breathe using mind boggling time signatures which put me in
mind of Sikth.
Z.A cap off their part of the split with the title track to the
album which happens to be pretty much as long as all their other
songs put together. Unfortunately this song bored me to DEATH
and I feared that I may fall asleep before getting to hear the
rest of the album. On a good note, there is a very interesting
jazzy piano solo in the song and a riff from Slayer’s South
of Heaven.
Enter Leeds’s very own Zombie Crew, Send More Paramedics.
I don’t think these guys will ever disappoint!!! ‘From
The Void’ kicks off in traditional Paramedics style thrash
with gobby, shouty vocals but also seems to be a bit catchier
than their previous material. By just looking at the track names
you know you are being graced with another cold slab of genius.
Such as the frantic ‘Zombie versus Shark’, which if
my memory serves me correct is a memorable scene from the movie,
‘Zombie Apocalypse’!!!
Paramedics finish the album off in style with ‘This is the
Place of Wailing and the Gnashing of Teeth’, sounding similar
to Sick of it All whom I’m sure have been an influence of
theirs somewhere along the line.
Overall I’d say SMP come out on top, but if it wasn’t
for this split E.P I wouldn’t have heard ZA and they are
a very fucking good band.
Gimme the shotgun bitch…………I’m off
to get me some zombies!!!
Mosh
N Go
Holy shit. Who can argue with a CD that features the Cthulhu Calls
by the Bastard Shit Banshee Choir of the rotting Larynx? With
some damned powerful riffage, some pint spilling fast as fuck
drumming and such driving shredding that leaves your rotting brains
spinning in the broken skull it calls home - Zombie Apocalypse
fucking rule!!! They play with such ferocity you can only praise
the Lord that they aren’t climbing out through the speakers
and devouring your very soul as they turn your head with the magnificence
that is the fact they were formed by founding members of Shai
Hulud!! Send More Paramedics grace the second portion of this
split release and they play their trademark zombiecore soaring
riffage and scarring shredding accompany haunting lyrics sang
with eerie malice. There is not a dull moment as these corpses
from Leeds tear their way through the living flesh of my ears
and pound some gore tastic music upon my pitifully pulsating carcass.
You can tell I’m trying to keep this in theme, but all this
release needs is honesty and it’s the truth when I say ‘your
life will be better when you buy this record’!!! The awesome
hardcore never ends on this release and the musical interlude
between bands offers merely as a means to heighten the anticipation
of waiting for the next song! Get it while the taste of brains
is still fresh!!
You're
Not Alone Zine (Holland)
Well
is this an interesting combination or what. The very best from
the UK in the past years combined with a new and upcoming band
from the USA with quite some remarkable names in it. Zombiecore
seems to be the next big thing in hardcore if you hear these 2
bands. So first Zombie Apocalypse ... this is a side project of
Matt Fox and Matt Fletcher both founding members of Shai Hulud.
Brutal metalcore with zombielicious lyrics is the result and it's
quite in the line of Shai Hulud bit it does have just that extra
something that makes it more interesting then Hulud's latest album.
After 5 songs SMP takes over and does that convincingly. Their
zombie thrashcore is faster and I guess a bit more accessible
then the ZA kind of metalcore. Personnally I prefer the SMP songs
cause these guys keep on improving themselves with every release.
It resulted in a UK tour with The Offspring! It's very cool to
see that this kind of bands got the chance to support such a big
name. But they deserve it and if you like thrashy (metal)core
with lyrics dealing with the living dead you better check this
out very quick cause this is definately your thing.
Optimum
Impact
If
you saw my Send More Paramedics gig review in last month’s
issue you will know that SMP won me over in a matter of seconds.
Tales Told By Dead Men is a split release with US zombiecore rockers
Zombie Apocalypse, is available to buy now and I can’t think
of many better ways to spend a few quid this month – go
on – get into the Halloween spirit and rock out with the
walking dead. The
first half of the album belongs to New Yorkers Zombie Apocalypse,
and is a full-throttle thrash treat to any hardcore fan –
a breath of fresh air. Opening track Just Meat steams in with
fast neck-breaking thrash and a chugging break. It blasts by before
you know it and sets the mood for the rest of the album. God I
Hope The Data Is Lying is next and keeps up the speed with some
wicked riffs thrown in for good measure. Zombie Apocalypse vocals
are coarse and throaty with a vicious and ravenous taste. Track
three is Breaking Off Fingers and is a really wicked and melodic
tune whilst uncompromising on the thrash. An awesome dance-floor
filler. Up next, Murder Be A Lady Tonight is a roaring track which
rips through and seizes your full attention with its unrelenting
riffs. Zombie Apolcalypse close their half of the album with Tale
Told By A Dead Man, bringing down the whiplash pace and delivering
a steadier and sinister tune with clever riffage with an eerily
calm edge.
I
really like the sound of this band and will be investing in the
debut release This Is A Spark Of Life as soon as possible!
Into
the second half of Tales Told By Dead Men and Leeds zombie crew
Send More Paramedics storm into play with the bone-crumbling From
The Void. SMP are here to feed on the brains of the living and
build upon their army of the undead, and their methods of persuasion
are second to none! With a riff that grips you by the throat The
Void kicks in with grinding crunching guitar and drums and then
races into a thrashing verse. This track is awesome and is so
bloody catchy you’ll find yourself singing along to it all
the time! This leads nicely to Zombie Versus Shark, another gore-fuelled
tale of the two murdering species wrapped in wicked chugging guitar
and hard hitting drums. Track three is Funeral, another powerful
track screaming ‘I will nail you down’ to all the
living listeners. Take heed folks, for SMP have gained strength
from every feed and are all-powerful! Nothing Tastes Like This
is next and is a howling cry from the flesh eaters, encompassing
a furious guitar solo and a pounding chorus. Wrapping up the album
is This Is The Place Of Wailing And The Gnashing Of Teeth, and
the epic title is self-explanatory of course! What a way to close
the album, this delicious and incorporates punk verse and bonafide
zombie screams, the best of which is the last thing you hear.
A
slice of hardcore heaven, Tales Told By Dead Men is possibly one
of the most ghoulishly awesome albums you could buy this year
– it is so different to anything in the mainstream and technically
superb that you WILL bow down to the undead and join the zombie
crew.
Blazewave
Swap
strings for guts and plectrums for razor sharp teeth, and you’ve
at least got an idea of what’s about to discharge from your
speakers if you’re lucky, or unlucky enough, depending on
how you look at, it to own “Tales Told By Dead Men”
the split CD from America’s Zombie Apocalypse and England’s
very own Send More Paramedics, hailing from deepest darkest...
Leeds. Enough
of the pretentious intros, for those who aren’t in the know,
Zombie Apocalypse are a side project of Matt Fox and Matt Fletcher
of Shai Hulud fame. It would be too easy to assume that the Zombie
Apocalypse half of the split will sound a bit like Shai Hulud
but with a zombie theme, but it’s not far off the mark.
Add some almost obligatory zombie B movie samples to some ultra
slick, straightforward Hardcore, complete with breakdowns and
shout-a-long chorus’s and you get Zombie Apocalypse. The
opener “Just Meat” sets the pace, and it doesn’t
lose any of it until their last contribution, “Tales Told
By A Dead Man” where the zombies slow things down a little
for a more mellow number, which even includes a short piano solo!
Between
the two halves for the split, track six to be exact, there’s
a 20-second sample of what sound like something from a graveyard
scene in a cheesy gore flick, the phrase “calm before the
storm” comes to mind. Unless you were already familiar with
Send More Paramedics, prepare to have you head torn off. This
is the real deal; if you think Send More Paramedics are some kid
of joke, walk away now otherwise you’re going to get hurt!
From the opener “From The Void” right until the end
track, amusingly titled “This Is The Place Of Wailing”
it’s non-stop carnage. Ripping 80’s Thrash riffs,
Punky vocals, with an underlying Hardcore rhythm, you get the
picture. It’s not pretty, but if music to wake the dead
by is your thing, then get your teeth into this cracker. Delicious.-
91/100
Playdead
So
this is teh latest instalment of the ongoijng work of genius that
is Send More Paramedics, fresh off tour with The Offspring and
back with a split album with some Americans called Zombie Apocalypse.
Well let's talk about them first, containing a few members of
Shai Hulud, these guys have picked up the Zombie baton and run
with it. What we get here is a speeded up old scholl hardcore
twist on the whole thing. Fans of Shai Hulud will be happy with
a few elements on this because it maintains some of the bands
trademark sound, the twidlly guitars, the harsh vocals, only a
lot more punk and alot less metal-core. You get the idea, these
guys hold their own on their half of the split. So what of The
Paramedics, well no surprises here, just the continued onslaught
of great tunes. Highlights here have to be the lyrically inspired
'Zombie Vs Shark' and for the sheer amazing-ness of the riffs
and guitar wotk 'Nothing Tastes Like This'. So more of the same
from SMP and some brutal tunes from ZA, you couldn't really ask
much more as this delivers on every level it would probably claim
too.
Scanner
Zine
A couple of bands that make the MISFITS look like perfect, conservative
Republicans. Thinking about it, that is maybe not too far from
the truth! ZA is the side-project of the founding members of SHAI
HULUD. It's not too dissimilar from the last HULUD album in fact,
just a bit more Metal-laced with gorier lyrics. Theirs is a pretty
monstrous, Christian-mauling sound. The final of the band's five
tracks, 'Tales Told By A Dead Man' slows things down and incorporates
textures that provide a neat contrast to the all-out Zombie-core.
I really rated SMP's last album but here, they sound a bit restrained
- possibly a result of following the blast of ZA. Still, they
puke up a broiling, zombie-uniting, caustic and tight-as-fuck
HC/Metal hybrid. Think SLAYER, COC… I'm sure you get the
picture! A great match of bands, noticeably different from each
other but bonded together to create a musical zombie holocaust.
Organ
The decision was clear, we couldn’t stop here, we had to
face our fear, zombies everywhere, no, we’re not at a Funeral
For a Friend fan convention, not those kind of zombies devoid
of musical taste and sucking up any old crap that’s marketed
at them, no no, those are consumer zombies, the living dead on
the circle line. These zombies want to stomp your metal-loving
ass into the dirt – we got ourselves a live one here, pass
the brown stuff if the square bottle and pull up a chair, let
the good Doctor Organ tell you why you need it. Are you sitting
comfortably/? You are? Good, then we shall begin……
wooooooAAAAAAARTGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH RIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPING,
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHH – A zombie filled zombie
grilled zombie gilled extreme metal b-movie double headline tantrum
fest – get in the body bag, dressed to kill, stand still,
seize control. ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE vs SEND MORE PARAMEDICS….
Actually the boundaries are a little blurred if you’re not
paying full attention. Zombie Apocalypse are from new York, they’re
a Shal Hulud side project, they’re violently extreme and
layered with colourful detail, the kind of musical detail that’ll
animate your lifeless mind…. Only what’s that eating
at your insides? Talking of Zombiecore, never mid your eaten insides,
here comes another slice of Send More Paramedics, straight out
of Leeds and taking on the sharks – look at those eyes,
they’re something dead inside – feeding frenzy, feeding
frenzy, feeding frenzy…… You get five tracks from
the first band, six from the second. The Paramedics follow the
Zombies with a pincer movement of punky speed metal hardcore and
an extreme take on the thrashing zombie moshfest. They will nail
you down, they will nail you down, they will nail you down, get
off the sidewalk now, metal coming through…… the result
– everyone won! The sharks, the zombies, the apocalyptical
paramedics and the whole set of wailing gashing teeth and cake
munchers and rip crunchers and both teams won, a game of two halves,
metal was the winder, obviously the lads done well, credit to
them - Nice one, not for the fainthearted emo kids….. Now
who ate all the Jaffa cakes while I was writing this and swans
were landing on empty lakes like some virtue indisposed, no refuse
for the damned!
Die
Shellsuit Die
Leeds based thrashers ‘Send More Paramedics’ have
teamed up with New York’s ‘Zombie Apocalypse’
(including members of Shai Hulud) to produce a b movie horror
and gore filled lightning fast metal record. For
me, Send More Paramedics are the better half of their EP. Their
no holds barred thrash metal approach to song writing is infectious
and you can’t help but nod along in appreciation with the
amazing riffs and fantastic blood drenched lyrics. Not that Zombie
Apocalypse are bad by any means. They too have some great riffery
and share the same passion for horror which again shows in their
great lyrics. Its just Send More Paramedics tip the scale for
me. If you like horror movies, thrash metal and have a bit of
a sense of humour, I urge you to check out this split EP. Highlights
for me are opening track ‘Just Meat’ and the spoken
word-esque ‘Tale Told By A Dead Man’ by Zombie Apocalypse
as well as SMP’s ‘From The Void’, ‘Zombie
Versus Shark’ and the final track ‘This is the Place
of Wailing and The Gnashing of Teeth’. Top Stuff!
Alternative
Nation
Lord.
I hate stuff like this, and yet…well, it’s got something,
it really has. This isn’t just my love of all things zombie
speaking, it’s something different. There’s plenty
to dislike about Zombie Apocalypse: the ‘I don’t wash
my hands after going for a piss’ vocals, the ‘we’d
wear spandex if we could get away with it’ guitar licks,
the fact that it sounds like they’re playing in a shed full
of gravel…but they know what they’re doing. The whole
manages to be a lot greater than the sum of its parts. Christ,
I like this. Anyone who’s a fan of hardcore is going to
go fucking mental. Send More Paramedics are like a better version
of Zombie Apocalypse. They’re a lot more fun, and they have
a song called Zombie vs. Shark. I mean, really. This more than
makes up for the occasional bout of ‘listen to me give myself
a sore throat’ yelling that the band try to ruin their songs
with. Sorry guys, it’s not working. You’re good. Get
over it. Standout tracks here are the aforementioned Zombie vs.
Shark, and ZA’s God I Hope the Data is Lying. Another highlight
is the unexpected piano which sneaks its way into Tale Told by
a Dead Man. This is an enjoyable, high-energy album with a larger
helping of brains than one might expect. Tuck in.
Tasty
Fanzine
25 minutes of zombie themed hardcore punk rock anyone? Yes fucking
please! For those unfamiliar with these bands (shame on you!)
they are two groups of un-dead rockers hear to lay it on the line
to us humans with tales of how they devour rotten flesh, their
desire for brains (no I don’t mean intelligence) and how
us sweaty sacks of flesh will generally meet our miserable ends.
When a record contains such song titles as ‘Breaking Off
Fingers’ and ‘This Is the Place of Wailing and Gnashing
of Teeth’ you get the general picture. This is in short
a beltingly great, blood soaked soundtrack to our almost certain
impending doom and endless bloodshed at the hands of the rotten
bodies of those whom will never rest.
Drowned
In Sound
What
began as a rave has become a plague: when continental nutjobs
Zombie Nation jettisoned their bleep'n'glitch masterstroke 'Kernkraft
400' (note: the group's name was Zombie Nation, not the other
way around) back at the turn of the millennium, nobody could have
predicted that only five years later the punk rock fraternity
would have been blighted by a similar contagion. Thankfully, the
containment forces at In At The Deep End have captured two zombie-core
crews and rendered them only aurally violent. I say 'violent'
– this is probably the most intense experience this side
of living Dawn Of The Dead. Zombie
Apocalypse stagger forth, shoulders hunched and mouths bloodied,
from New York City; no doubt they're remnant undead from the horrors
that stalked the city in Zombie Flesh Eaters (or Zombi 2, b-movie
aficionados). Their music is both devastatingly brutal and compositionally
taut – that members have served time, albeit while alive,
in hardcore luminaries Shai Hulud is entirely evident. The breakneck
thrash of 'God I Hope The Data Is Lying' is an immediate highlight
– power-violence via rotting fingers and yellowed teeth
– but their parting shot 'Tale Told By A Dead Man' is the
most satisfying effort in the long-term, a considered slice of
prime hardcore that all but the most melodically-minded of punks
will adore. To death. Send
More Paramedics should require no introduction: if you've seen
them and lived then you'll be all too aware of their punk-rock
potency. How corpses can animate themselves with such energy is
mystifying, but the quality of comedy gold-titled efforts like
'Zombie Versus Shark' and 'This Is The Place Of Wailing And The
Gnashing Of Teeth' is absolutely obvious. Sure, they'll make you
laugh with their shouts of "FEEDING FRENZY!", but the
jokes are but a charade: lower your guard and they'll slit your
throat and empty the brain from your skull. And eat it. All of
it. With 11 tracks (okay, one is something of an interlude) in
just 24 minutes, Tales Told By Dead Men offers the listener not
one minute of respite: this is tough, talented, and utterly terrifying.
Buy it and shit your pants.
Subba
Culture
This
joint venture is more of a double-sided EP than a juxtaposition
of the two 80’s- zombie-core-influenced-thrash-metal-bands
(phew), with the album clearly separated into two halves by an
intermission track. The eleven tracks are (mercifully) short explosions
of hectic hardcore, and one can immediately hear the similarity
of the two bands’ and the signatures of a genre which certainly
isn’t for the masses, maintaining very much a cult following.
From
the outset, ‘Just Meat’ drops the listener neck-deep
into the manic assault of Zombie Apocalypse. Don’t expect
any pause for breath, the most you can hope for is for the guitar
to hang for an instant before Zombie Apocalypse descend back into
their fervent attack. With each listen however, you do begin to
sense a subtlety (strange as it may sound) to the madness, an
orchestrated blend of screaming and guitars that creates a rhythm
to make you want to pound your head against the wall (in a good
way). Title
track ‘Tale Told by a Dead Man’ is more melodic than
most of the album, creating an eerie effect as voices mumble,
scream, and shout over the power chords. The track is the longest,
and in my opinion, the most mainstream track, which may appeal
to a slightly wider audience. Kicking
in after the intermission are Leeds-based ‘Send More Paramedics’,
sounding reminiscent of an early System of a Down but again without
the pause for breath, and high-pitch guitar riffs that wouldn’t
sound out of place on Nintendo F-Zero. SMP started playing live
in Halloween 2001 and employ zombie-influenced theatrics in their
shows (think green face paint, and fake blood, judging by the
picture on the album sleeve). Final
track, ‘This Is the Place of Wailing and The Gnashing of
Teeth’ encapsulates the best qualities of SMP, a medley
of gritty guitar, incoherent, literal spewing of song lyrics and
an un-limitless enthusiasm to perform. by
Alex Pepper
Screaming
Tarts
Send More Paramedics and Zombie Apocalypse are both bands that
revel in camp horror – particularly the former, who even
style themselves as the living dead in their stage shows. They
each contribute five tracks to Tales Told By Dead Men, a release
which is an unsubtle tribute to zombies and what they do best
- generally killing and eating people and being scary and/or disgusting
– which no doubt can only be good if you like that sort
of thing.
On an initial listen, Send More Paramedics appear the more interesting
band. They play thrash metal of a sort that hasn't been heard
since the late 1980s, with a liking for ultra fast riffs and sudden
changes of direction, along with a suitably impressive high speed
solo in "Nothing Tastes Like This". In the strained,
throaty vocals and short songs however they take cues from hardcore
that might better have been left out. Although their subject matter
also happens to suitably grace innumerable b-movies their dark
sense of humour is always on display – they seem to know
how silly their music is, and revel in it.
Zombie Apocalypse at first appear even less subtle than Send More
Paramedics, bludgeoning their way through the first half of the
album at lightning speed. Unfortunately their vocalist is even
worse than the Paramedics' affecting an extreme hardcore style
that implies he can't actually sing. A closer listen to their
music however reveals something quite remarkable. Rather than
your average short punk song which tends to be written to be short
and fast, their songs sound like full length thrash metal pieces
with complex structures which have then been sped up by at least
five times so they race past like a psychotic ghoul on an unholy
motorbike. "Just Meat" and "God I Hope The Data
Is Lying" are masterpieces of compression book-ended by deliberately
silly samples (possibly taken from cheap horror movies?) featuring
a very educated sounding middle-aged man. It shouldn't work, but
it does. Suddenly they change direction entirely with "Tale
Told By A Dead Man", which is played at a normal speed almost
throughout and features the vocals synchronising with what sounds
like another sample to tell the story. Somehow, they seem also
to have included brass instruments and a bit of bluesy keyboard
which sound totally in place. Tales Told By Dead men is pretty
extreme stuff, but "zombiecore" played this well is
bound to find an audience.
No
Front Teeth
11
track split CD: 5 songs from each band with a short interlude
track between bands. This is a fucking hysterical release...it's
pure disarray from start to finish and while both bands are certainly
suited and comparable in many ways, they each deliver their pandemonium
in a different way. Both are fast as hell, chaotic as fuck and
heavy, heavy, heavy but I find ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE to have a more
hardcore/metallic sound than SEND MORE PARAMEDICS and that's really
no surprise since it features members of SHAI HULUD. They deliver
a more thrash-soaked bedlam at insane speeds with bass-heavy breakdowns.
SEND MORE PARAMEDICS play what it knows as 'Zombiecore' which,
when I first heard that expression, thought would be a mixture
of punk and Psychobilly and while it does have dashes of that
it's way heavier that I initially imagined and when I saw their
show I was stunned by the energy. They steal the show for me on
here because they are so hugely punk-saturated and present their
madness so individually...but the whole release is a fucking killer,
literally. It's dark, threatening and sadistic and it's so great
to hear some new music full of rage and balls...no whining here!!
Unpeeled
This
is their half of an album split with Zombie Holecaust and while
SMP rock, rawk and ROCK, they’re also subtly nasty with
neat lines in bombast, crisp chording, runaway, exploding drum
sounds and more hooks than a Captain Hook reunion. From the off,
“From The Void” they’re into an early Queen
go metal ga-ga, iron control, catchier than a zombie bite, sharper
too. Every single one of the five tracks here being absolutely
spot on, the fave being the cinematic reference thud n slash fest
of “Zombie Vs Shark”. Go here, www.iatde.com and go
now..
Random
Magazine 4
out of 5
For anyone not in the know Zombiecore is the unholy union formed
when hardcore meets Death metal in a brutal back alley knife fight,
hack each other to pieces, sew the apendages back on randomly
and reanimate the corpses. Zombie Apocalypse and Send More Paramedics
are rapidly raising themselves to the forefront of this latest
craze and In At The Deep End have wisely decided to release a
split album "Tales Told By Dead Men" to showcase their
talents. "Tales
Told By Dead Men" kicks off with with five tracks by New
York band Zombie Apocalypse. Opening
track "Just Meat" sets the bands stall out admirably.
Combining harmonic riffs; that wouldn't sound out of place on
early Cannibal Corpse or Carcass records; with a brutality reminiscent
of NY hardcore legends like Agnostic Front and Biohazard the track
pounds along for what must be all of a minute and leaves you breathless
for more. Where ZA obviously take their cue from Reign In Blood/
South Of Heaven period Slayer, Leeds locals Send More Paramedics
prefer to use Undisputed Attitude as their starting point. Somewhat
lacking the technical ability of their American counterparts,
SMP opt for a much more in your face and punky delivery which
more than works. Having failed to really find an identity with
previous releases, SMP have finally not so much carved themselves
a niche as smashed it wide open with a sledgehammer; leading to
their recruitment as tour support to the Offspring on their forthcoming
UK dates. Like
them or loathe them, Tales Told By Dead Men shows too bands rapidly
reaching the top of their game and you'd be well advised to check
this album out when it pours forth from the gates of hell on the
fifth of September!
Last
Hours
It was only a matter of time before Britain's premier Zombie fanatics
joined up wit Matt Fox and Matt Fletcher's (ex-Shai Hulud) side
project. I'm sure everyone knows the bands by now. Zombie Apocalypse
play a similar style of hardcore to Shai Hulud with a quite conventional
but still appealing thrash/break-down format; Send More Parmedics
on the other hand sound like an 80's thrash band with a necrophilia
fetish. In part routing for the home team and in part due to my
own musical tastes I do find the Paramedics portion more enjoyable.
I prefer the high-pitched 'Zombie' vocals and the cacophonous
choruses whereas Zombie Apocalypse sound to me just like a heavy
American hardcore band with songs about Zombies.
|
£8
€12
$16
£10