Send More Paramedics
Encyclopedia
Send More Paramedics were a horror film
-influenced crossover thrash
band from Leeds
in the north of England
.
/comedy
Return of the Living Dead
. The band originally formed as a side project of Leeds band And None of Them Knew They Were Robots, but have gained a higher profile than And None of Them Knew They Were Robots, who have since split up.
The band played in the 1980s crossover style, what they described as "Zombiecore...a fusion of 80s thrash and modern hardcore punk", with lyrics about zombies and cannibalism, and are heavily influenced by zombie movies. On-stage, they dress as zombie
s and the drummer dons a Mexican wrestling mask
(a homage to the character in Brian Clement's Meat Market films with whom he also shares the name El Diablo). As part of this on-stage persona, band members claim to be members of the living dead.
The band performed at the 2005 Download Festival
, the 2006 Reading and Leeds Festivals
, were one of the first acts confirmed for 2006's Damnation Festival
and were the opening act for Avenged Sevenfold
at the Camden Underworld
. They also toured as support to The Offspring
. Their live show was described by Drowned in Sound
as "brilliantly ghoulish" and "mouth-agape entertainment of the highest quality".
Disc 2 of the 2006 album, The Awakening, is a concept disc, a zombie movie soundtrack, similar to the soundtrack in George A. Romero
's Dawn of the Dead.
They won the 'fresh meat' competition on Zane Lowe
's BBC Radio 1
show, leading to a "Guerilla Gig Live" performance on BBC Three
. The band's third album, The Awakening, featured guest appearances from Jeff Walker and Ken Owen from Carcass
.
The band announced their impending split in a Myspace blog in June 2007, which read:
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
-influenced crossover thrash
Crossover thrash
__FORCETOC__Crossover thrash, often abbreviated to crossover, is a form of thrash metal that contains more hardcore punk elements than standard thrash. The genre lies on a continuum between heavy metal and punk rock...
band from Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
in the north of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Biography
The name is a reference to the 1985 horrorHorror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
/comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
Return of the Living Dead
Return of the Living Dead
The Return of the Living Dead is a 1985 American zombie film that was followed by several sequels. The film was written and directed by Dan O'Bannon and starred Clu Gulager, James Karen and Don Calfa....
. The band originally formed as a side project of Leeds band And None of Them Knew They Were Robots, but have gained a higher profile than And None of Them Knew They Were Robots, who have since split up.
The band played in the 1980s crossover style, what they described as "Zombiecore...a fusion of 80s thrash and modern hardcore punk", with lyrics about zombies and cannibalism, and are heavily influenced by zombie movies. On-stage, they dress as zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s and the drummer dons a Mexican wrestling mask
Lucha libre
Lucha libre is a term used in Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries, for a form of professional wrestling that has developed within those countries...
(a homage to the character in Brian Clement's Meat Market films with whom he also shares the name El Diablo). As part of this on-stage persona, band members claim to be members of the living dead.
The band performed at the 2005 Download Festival
Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...
, the 2006 Reading and Leeds Festivals
Reading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm...
, were one of the first acts confirmed for 2006's Damnation Festival
Damnation Festival
The Damnation Festival is a one day music festival currently held annually at Leeds University, Leeds, England and organised by Gavin McInally. The 2011 edition of the festival will be held on November 5...
and were the opening act for Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California. Formed in 1999, the group consists of vocalist M. Shadows, lead guitarist Synyster Gates, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, bassist Johnny Christ....
at the Camden Underworld
Camden Underworld
The Camden Underworld is a music venue in Camden Town, London, England. The venue itself is a part of the World's End pub, being situated in the basement of the building.- History :...
. They also toured as support to The Offspring
The Offspring
The Offspring is an American punk rock band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1984. Known as Manic Subsidal until 1986, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Dexter Holland, lead guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, bassist Greg K. and drummer Pete Parada...
. Their live show was described by Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
as "brilliantly ghoulish" and "mouth-agape entertainment of the highest quality".
Disc 2 of the 2006 album, The Awakening, is a concept disc, a zombie movie soundtrack, similar to the soundtrack in George A. Romero
George A. Romero
George Andrew Romero is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter and editor, best known for his gruesome and satirical horror films about a hypothetical zombie apocalypse. He is nicknamed "Godfather of all Zombies." -Life and career:...
's Dawn of the Dead.
They won the 'fresh meat' competition on Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe
Zane Lowe also known as 'Zipper', is a radio DJ and television presenter. He was born in New Zealand and grew up in Auckland, where he was a presenter on the local music station Max TV, before moving to England...
's BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
show, leading to a "Guerilla Gig Live" performance on BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
. The band's third album, The Awakening, featured guest appearances from Jeff Walker and Ken Owen from Carcass
Carcass (band)
Carcass are an extreme metal band from England, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reunion was enacted in 2008 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons....
.
The band announced their impending split in a Myspace blog in June 2007, which read:
Members
- B'Hellmouth (Sam)- Vocals
- Medico (Duncan)- Guitar
- X Undead (Martyn)- Bass
- El Diablo (Stuart)- Drums
Full-length albums
- 2002 - A Feast for the FallenA Feast for the FallenA Feast for the Fallen is the debut album by English band Send More Paramedics.-Track listing:# "The Hordes"# "The Pain of Being Dead"# "Cannibal"# "Brains"# "Resurrection Cemetery"# "Kingdom of the Undead"# "Epulum"# "Necromancer"...
(In at the Deep End Records) - 2004 - The Hallowed and the HeathenThe Hallowed and the HeathenThe Hallowed and the Heathen is the second album by English band Send More Paramedics.-Track listing:# "The Hallowed"# "Bokor"# "Driven to Destruction"# "Desert of Skulls"# "Zombie Crew"# "No Fucking Joke"# "Half-Life"# "I Can Feel Myself Rotting"...
(In at the Deep End Records/Hellbent Records) - 2006 - The AwakeningThe Awakening (Send More Paramedics album)The Awakening is Send More Paramedics's third full-length album. It was released in 2006 on 'In At The Deep End' Records.# Everything Is Not Under Control - 2.57# Follow Your Programming - 1.39# Sever - 3.16# Blood Fever - 2.29# Twilight Of The Flies - 2.29...
(In at the Deep End Records)
Split albums
- 2005 - Tales Told by Dead MenTales Told by Dead MenTales Told by Dead Men is a split album by English crossover thrash band Send More Paramedics and American crossover thrash/metalcore band Zombie Apocalypse.-Track listing:# "Just Meat"# "God I Hope the Data Is Lying"# "Breaking Off Fingers"...
with Zombie Apocalypse (In at the Deep End Records/Hellbent Records) - 2005 - South of Heaven, North of England EP with The Nothing (Thirty Days of Night RecordsThirty Days of Night RecordsThirty Days of Night Records are a record label based in Leeds, England.-Current:* Abraxis* Alaska* Breaking Point* Brotherhood Of The Lake* Burning Love* Closure* Crossbreaker* Cyvoid* Dreaming in Oceans* Eaststrikewest...
)
Compilations
- 2007 - Send More Paramedics A cassette collection of unreleased tracks/covers and a re-release of the band's first demo (In at the Deep End Records)
Music Videos
Send More Paramedics have made three music videos so far, "Zombie Crew," "Nothing Tastes Like This," and "Blood Fever," which is the third and most recent. The promo for "Blood Fever" was released February 16, 2007 on the director's site: http://www.adam-powell.com. The video is inspired loosely by the '80s horror film Night of the Demons and was directed by Adam Powell.Movie references
Many Send More Paramedics songs reference zombie movies. Below is a table outlining these references. (incomplete)| Song | Reference |
|---|---|
| The Hordes | The chorus, "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth," is the Dawn of the Dead tagline Tagline A tagline is a variant of a branding slogan typically used in marketing materials and advertising. The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product , or to reinforce the audience's memory of a product... . |
| The Pain of Being Dead | The name of this song references a line in the movie Return of the Living Dead Return of the Living Dead The Return of the Living Dead is a 1985 American zombie film that was followed by several sequels. The film was written and directed by Dan O'Bannon and starred Clu Gulager, James Karen and Don Calfa.... , in which the character "Ernie Kaltenbrunner" asks a rotting zombie woman who has been torn in 2 and tied down to an embalming table about why they eat people, the zombie states "not people, brains", they eat brains. Ernie asks why they eat brains and the half zombie says "the pain". Ernie asks "what about the pain" and she answers "the pain of being dead". |
| The Night Has a Thousand Eyes | This is a cover of the theme music Theme music Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits... to The Return of the Living Dead. |
| Zombie vs Shark | This is a reference to the movie Zombie Flesh Eaters by Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for his directorial work on gore films, including Zombie and The Beyond , although he made films in genres as diverse as giallo, western, and comedy... , in which a female scuba diver witnesses an altercation between a shark and a member of the undead. |
| Burning the Body | This is a reference to Zombie Flesh Eaters 2, in which the corpses of the deceased return to the world of the living as a result of burning one of the infected cadavers. The lyric "zombies stumble through the traffic" refers to the final scene of Zombie Flesh Eaters in New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... , where the undead plague a bridge, and due to budget restrictions, the film makers couldn't afford to have the traffic stopped. Also, a sample from the movie can be heard at the start of the track. |
| Follow Your Programming | This is a reference to the movie Zombie Flesh Eaters 2, in which the military blocks off the zombie infestation using force. |
| Resurrection Cemetery | This song is a reference to Return of the Living Dead Return of the Living Dead The Return of the Living Dead is a 1985 American zombie film that was followed by several sequels. The film was written and directed by Dan O'Bannon and starred Clu Gulager, James Karen and Don Calfa.... , about a specific scene in the film where a gang of 'punks' go to congregate in the local cemetery (bearing the name "Resurrection Cemetery" on its gates). Later on, zombies begin to crawl out from their graves and hunt down the gang. |
| Brains | Opens with a sample of dialog from Return of the Living Dead Part II Return of the Living Dead Part II Return of the Living Dead Part II is an American zombie horror comedy film that was released in 1988. It was written and directed by Ken Wiederhorn. The film was released by Lorimar Motion Pictures on January 8, 1988, and was a minor box office success, making over $9 million at the box office in... ("They want brains? We'll give 'em brains.") |