ZOMBIFIED

An old-school death metal debut on a minor label that’s actually listenable and not just a wall of uninterpretable noise? They do exist after all! And a new death metal band with a logo you can actually decipher and you don’t end up squinting for ages trying to figure out what the hell it says. Excellent, they’ve got me on board already. Enter Zombified, a new 5-piece Belfast-based band delivering a meaty slab of well-played and well-written old school death metal, with each song lyrically (I’m assuming through the song titles) themed around the subject of … well, zombies. With a Carcass-like feel to the EP, in the form of fitting samples throughout from what I’m guessing are zombie horror films, the short sample-laden intro track ‘Infection’ setts the scene for the musical gore-fest to follow; a plethora of groove-ridden hefty guitar and bass riffs, frenetic but perfectly in time drumming and a raw guttural vocal style that you expect with such a style. ‘Outbreak’ effectively breathes new life into a rather over-done and over-copied genre. Sure, you hear some influences of Carcass, Autopsy, Napalm Death and even a bit of Suffocation in there, but Zombified clearly have their own take on the genre, and have spawned one monster of a debut; pretty impressive considering they only formed with a full line up in early 2010, and have already supported the likes of Suffocation. Okay, so the production could be better in places, but it’s certainly left me wanting to hear more, which is no bad thing, and if they can replicate this live, I can see them going far. Impressive.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Grindscene Records

Album

OUTBREAK

Review by Hannah Sylvester

RUNNING TIME:

11:33

RELEASE DATE:

23rd August 2010

TRACK LISTING

1) Infection
2) Morgue Angel
3) Amputheatre
4) Outbreak
5) Zombie Fodder

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

UK

"‘Outbreak’ effectively breathes new life into a rather over-done and over-copied genre."