Zombie Apocalypse Song Free Download
Mirsad Langlais
Zombie Apocalypse is an American crossover thrash/metalcore band, formed by current members of Shai Hulud, Shallow Water Grave, and The Risk Taken, as well as former members of the 1990s New Jersey band Try.Fail.Try. In 1998, Shai Hulud members Matt Fox and Chad Gilbert created a zombie-themed band project, called Boddicker.[1] They recruited ex-Poison the Well guitarist Russel Saunders. Boddicker recorded a two-song demo in 1998 that was never released. Those two songs are now Zombie Apocalypse songs.
Their music is characterized by very short, thrashcore-like, fast songs thematically concerned with zombies and the apocalypse, as the band name would imply. Their lyrics have a political undercurrent that uses horrific imagery as a metaphor to touch on various political, personal, and social issues. They have released two albums: This Is a Spark of Life, on Indecision Records and featuring artwork by Dan Henk, and a split with Leeds, UK-based, and fellow zombie enthusiasts, Send More Paramedics, called Tales Told by Dead Men, released in North America on Hell Bent Records and in Europe on In at the Deep End Records. They also contributed a cover of "Welcome to the Jungle" to a Guns N' Roses tribute album released by Reignition Records.
In an interview with Lambgoat [2] Matt Fox revealed that an album is planned, and some songs have been written and a title decided. However, due to scheduling conflicts it is uncertain when the record will be completed.
Matt Fox has dedicated a large portion of his 40-plus years on the planet to music. Through a variety of musical styles, the guitarist and songwriter has been writing, recording, and touring since the '90s. As prolific as Fox has been, he's best known as the driving force of Shai Hulud, a band that has always masterfully married the worlds of hardcore and metal in their material.
Throughout the years, I've kept in touch with Fox and always cheered on his various projects. So, with Shai Hulud taking a break from the road after 26 years of steady touring, I thought it would be a great time to chat with Fox about the band's career. During our conversation, we also touch upon his other musical endeavors, and his love for film.
Correct. I was born on (or near) Long Island, in Smithtown, NY way back in 1973, the year KISS officially formed. I lived in Little Neck, NY until I was 5. As my father left my mother shortly after I was born (what a mensch, right?), she ended up moving to Florida with her parents when my grandpa got sick. The four of us moved to Pompano Beach in 1978, the year Annie Hall won the Oscar for Best Picture, and Superman with Christopher Reeve was released.
I started off playing drums, picking up guitars only sporadically. At about 13 my friend Joe (who years later formed and played guitar in Tension from South Florida) taught me a power chord, explained how it worked, and how to use it; I expanded and experimented from there. When I started regularly attempting to play guitar a few years later I was getting pretty into hardcore/punk, and my favorite bands at the time were my teachers and inspirations. I practiced to Bad Brains, Circle Jerks, Misfits, Descendents, Minor Threat, and Dead Kennedys records, and became a modestly competent player in regard to moving around the fretboard with some semblance of ease in power chord shapes.
Phase 2 of EvilAlive. I was pushing for the name Traumatic Chicken, but would have settled for Traumatic Death. No such luck. I was kicked out and replaced by a much better drummer named Eric who a few years later played drums in The Murrychesstoes for a stint.
Strongarm was/is a huge influence on me, musically and personally. The members that comprise the band, though I do not share their spiritual beliefs, are some truly lovely people. Having been friends with these fellas for years, when they found themselves without a drummer for one show in 1994, I was asked to fill in. I remember the show being a total blast and having a great time - how well I played, however, I have no idea. Incidentally, at this show in Tampa, FL is where I first met Steve Kleisath who joined Strongarm as their drummer shortly thereafter. Steve also ended up playing drums in Shai Hulud for a few years as well.
1995 saw you form Shai Hulud and record a debut demo which also featured bassist Dave Silber, vocalist Damien Moyal, guitarist Oliver Chapoy, and drummer Steve Kleisath. What did you guys set out to do with the band? Did you have a definite writing style you wanted to pursue right from the start?
Rob Moran of Unbroken heard the demo and signed Shai Hulud to Crisis Records, the Revelation Records subsidiary he had at the time. But soon after that happened, Moyal quit and future New Found Glory guitarist Chad Gilbert took over the vocal spot. Why did Moyal leave the band?
The first official Shai Hulud release on Crisis Records was the A Profound Hatred of Man EP in 1997. Listening to it today, how do you feel it captured where the band was at that point?
Even in retrospect I'd say it captured us fairly well. In addition to the recording being of decent quality (something at the time we had no concept of how to influence), the songs were very indicative of who we were, and a great foundation for us to leap from in regard to what we wanted to become. While that first EP established the band as something slightly different from what was prevalent at the time, those three early songs, ("Hardly," "If Born From This Soil," and "For the World") also showcased two of the main musical characteristics of what we hoped Shai Hulud would encapsulate: melodic and mean.
Shai Hulud's debut album, Hearts Once Nourished With Hope and Compassion, came out later that same year. You've been critical of this record in the past. What are the issues you have with it? I listened to it today and I think it holds up really well.
Chad, Oliver, and Steve all quit Shai Hulud after the split EP you did with Indecision. You obviously didn't throw the towel in, but did the thought ever cross your mind at that point since it was still pretty early on in Shai Hulud's career?
If the thought crossed my mind, it was only fleeting. Around this time Matt Fletcher moved to South Florida and joined the band. He and I were both very passionate about Shai Hulud. We were both driven to push forward, stronger than we had been before.
In 1998 some of the members of Shai Hulud brought in vocalist Ronen Kauffman (Try.Fail.Try) to form a side project called Zombie Apocalypse. You recorded a demo but didn't release something official 'til 2003's This is a Spark of Life.
We thought the name "Zombie Apocalypse" was ridiculous, utterly; of course it was available as a band name! Searching the internet, we only found the band Mortician had an EP called Zombie Apocalypse. Shocked such a silly term had already been used, albeit once (pre- the pervasive "zombie culture"), notably, that we could find, we claimed it as our name, an awesome and totally asinine name.
Circa 2000 Shai Hulud played with Try.Fail.Try and were totally blown away. Awesome band. I thought Ronen's voice and approach was so unique that he would be perfect to front Zombie Apocalypse. We asked him to join us at a diner somewhere in New Jersey.
As I recall, there was no demo, just our first EP, This is a Spark of Life, in 2003. We followed that up a couple of years later with a split EP with the UK "zombiecore" band Send More Paramedics called Tales Told by Dead Men. Fun stuff.
When Shai Hulud parted ways with Geert, our singer from 1999 - 2003, Fletcher and I wanted to focus on Zombie Apocalypse for a bit. We were already writing an album, and wanted to hit the road pretty full-on. As Ronen wasn't able to tour the way Fletcher and I wanted, Zombie Apocalypse was gently put aside while we rebuilt Shai Hulud. Zombie Apocalypse remained dormant for about a decade, until not too long ago. We plan on recording a new EP sometime this year. And hopefully, in theory, limited shows to follow as well. We didn't stay dead. That's what zombies do, right? Not stay dead? To quote George Carlin, "That's the problem with zombies, they're unreliable."
Okay, back to Shai Hulud. Vocalist Geert van der Velde made his recording debut with the band on the A Whole New Level of Sickness split EP you did with Another Victim in 2000. Where did you find Geert? What was it about his singing style that appealed to you?
At our second show, our first show in the Netherlands, I met Geert. He really loved the band. We had a great talk for quite a while before the show about music and Tolkien, and I was taken aback by how well and fluently he spoke English, and with an only subtle accent on certain words.
Two days later, if not the next day, at a venue in Germany, the promoter came into our backroom saying there was a phone call for Matt Fox. That's me! I didn't know anyone in Europe! It was Geert. He asked if he could come on tour with us. Just to help, and for fun, to be on tour with a band whose music he felt strongly about. I remember saying, "Sure, you can even try singing," an idea he dismissed on the phone. Next thing I knew, he was borrowing his mother's car and traveling around Europe with us for a month, singing for Shai Hulud.
Geert's vocals were exactly what we always wanted. Exactly. He had that natural, pissed-off person sound, like someone yelling out of desperation, not dissimilar to how you might yell to warn someone whom you wanted spared from life-threatening danger. He had the perfect mid-level tone, a beefiness, and ample and natural vocal distortion. We were all sold after that very first yell. Soon, Fletcher would return to guitar, and Geert would front Shai Hulud on his own. He saved the tour.
The band left Florida in 2001 and set up Poughkeepsie, NY, a city about two hours away from Manhattan, as the new home base for the group. My wife grew up there, so I know it really well.
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