First off is Zombie Girl, a Canadian Industrial side-project of scene veteran Icon of Coil (Sebastian Komor) & his partner Renee Cooper.  One part techno, one part rock n’ roll & and peppered with humorous lyrics throughout, one doesn’t feel the duo take themselves too seriously while still keeping in the spirit of their name.

If you fancy something heavier, may I recommend Japan’s Zombie Ritual, who DO seem to take themselves seriously (although they look plenty campy!). Very brutal Death Metal with many song titles with the word ‘Zombie’ in them - in case you forgot their schtick.  Kudos for a song called ‘ZomBeer’, however.

Another heavy duty entry to this list is the cleverly monikered Send More Paramedics, who mix elements of Grindcore and catchy Punk riffage into visceral concoctions all their own. The video I saw to ‘Blood Fever’ is actually quite decent - you can get to it from the Myspace page.

Fetid Zombie is a one man Deathcore project by graphic artist Mark Riddick notable not so much for the music but for the accompanying graphics. This guy has designed work for many underground acts so his stuff might look familiar. I dig it but be forewarned, ole’ Mark doesn’t appear to be much of a church-goer, if you know what I mean.

Anj is a Russian metal act that has a freaky video to the song ‘Gorbachov‘ that features a balding barbarian, big breasted honeys and - you guessed it - more zombies! They describe themselves as “Megadeth after five bottles of Russian Vodka” and will apparently be heading over here to the States for a tour sometime soon . . .

Other notable zombie acts I found were the aptly named Recently Vacated Graves, the NOT so aptly named Brazen Bull (They say it’s Viking Zombie Metal but their name sounds more like an alternative lifestyle club to me), and Zombie Apocalypse.  All heavy, with varying degrees of subtlety to their respective attacks.

Lastly, if all this zombie music has put you back into the mood to play some video games, may I recommend Zombie Grinder 60000 as my latest shoot’em up addiction.  Enjoy kiddies!

Now normally I could give 3 shits about ANOTHER young kid covering the National Anthem (a la Hendrix), but wait until you hear him tremelo pick the higher part of the song.  With ease.  And with more than a little confidence on the stage.  All I can say is WHOA, when this kid is old enough to drive himself to gigs, there’s gonna be a different type of battle of the bands in ole’ Phoenix, know what I mean?  Provided Phoenix can manage to keep him that long.

So support today’s youth, especially the ones with enough initiative to actually learn the REAL guitar and not some video game.  Thanks to Phoenix New Times where I stole this great action photo.

• Manowar - Gods of War: I’ve yet to see these guys live and I really want to.  “Black Wind, Fire & Steel” is probably my all time favorite.  Or maybe “Guyana: Cult of the Damned”.  These guys are the very definition of Heavy Metal.
• Mastodon - Blood Mountain: “Colony of Birchmen” just kills!  Heavy as hell, yet clean vocally & powerful to listen to.
• Edison Glass - Time is Fiction: See my review.  These guys are coming to town in a few weeks and I’ll be there.  Melodic alt rock/indie.  Great lyrics & nice textured guitars.
• Municipal Waste - The Art of Partying: Saw these guys live a while back, and was very impressed with them onstage, and off.  It’s great to see some quality Thrash type metal still being made.
• Thyrfing - Thyrfing: Viking Metal.   Large production values, great sound.  Nice symphonic & folk influences.
• Exodus - The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit A: I will probably do an all out review on this one as it freakin’ pummels.  Oldschool thrash legends’ newest CD and they haven’t lost anything!

Ah well, that’s all I remember at this point.  ‘Beowulf’ movie premiere tomorrow - which I’ll review of course.

•  Midnight Syndicate - Born of the Night: Found this baby used for about $6 bucks the other day.  It goes for about $20 or more on Ebay, so I’m a happy guy!  Great symphonic orchestrations with creepy sound effects and excellent mood.  This is NOT a sound effects CD but much more - a literal horror soundscape that grabs you in it’s talons and pulls you in.  Love this stuff!
• Roadrunner United All-stars sampler:  I’ve been jamming to “The Dagger”, ”Annihilation by the Hands of God” & “In The Fire”.  Gonna have to pick up the full CD now.
• Skinny Puppy : “Worlock” was rated number #1 on Yahoo Music’s 25 scariest music vids of all time, and thus - the song has stuck in my head.  I’ve played that video a few times this week to try to kill it, but so far - no luck.  You can check out the list HERE. Can’t believe Switchblade Symphony’s Clown video didn’t make the cut [no pun].
• Nile - Annihilation of the Wicked: Really been getting into these guys recently, especially “User Maat Re” and “Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten”.  Some of the best, and most brutal, Death Metal being made right now.

Was also jamming a Hardcore compilation CD featuring the Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks and Bad Brains, but can’t remember the name of it right this second.

Slower week for music than normal due to illness.  Spent more time sleeping than anything else, but what’cha gonna do, eh? 

• Midnight Syndicate - Vampyre: Symphonies from the Crypt: Harpsichords, creepy organs & sinister synths OH MY!  Really like “Blackest Rose” off of this disc.
• SkeletonWitch - Beyond the Permafrost: “Blackened Thrash” out of Athens, OH.  I’ve seen these guys live and they’re a blast!  This newest offering is destined to be a classic.
• Archenemy - The Doomsday Machine: Brutal yet melodic Swedish metal
• Pantera - Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboy’s Vulgar Hits!: need I say more?
• Therion - Gothic Kabbalah: Can’t get the song “Perennial Sophia” out of my head!  This is the apex of symphonic metal, in my opinion, and was one of the best live concerts I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing.

Not so many CD’s this time, but what I lacked in quantity I made up for in quality.

Stay tuned, going to see “30 Days of Night” tomorrow at a preview - will be posting a review that night [hopefully!].  I CAN’T WAIT!!

• Midnight Syndicate - Realm of Shadow:  Atmospheric & creepy cinematic-type orchestrations.
• Five Finger Death Punch - The Way of the Fist: Heavy duty aggro-metal with decent melodies.
• Ancient - Night Visit : Good ole’ fashioned Norwegian Black Metal.  Very underrated.
• Nile - Ithyphallic : The Gods of Death Metal do it again.
• Killing Joke - Killing Joke: pioneering Post-punk from England.
• Iced Earth - Framing Armageddon: Part Progressive, part old school Thrash.  100% awesome.
• 1349 - Hellfire: more Norwegian Black Metal done right.
• The Misfits - American Psycho: Horror themed punk.  Always a good choice this time of year.
• Cerebral Fix - The Tower of Spite:  Gotta love the Thrash, babies!

I would recommend any of these discs as they’ve all been excellent.   Can’t really diss anything I’ve heard this week, although the Killing Joke & Midnight Syndicate might not be for everyone who enjoys the rest of the music on this list.

Let me know what I SHOULD be listening to. . . I’m always open to new stuff.