No, despite sharing their band name with a Mortician album title, they're not a Mortician tribute band, thank christ. I remember reading about this band awhile ago and I was pretty interested in hearing it because it was being told that it was going to be Matt Fox from Shai Hulud's metal band. Emphasis on metal band. Now, metallic it may be, but this is basically Shai Hulud under a different band name with a rawer recording. Literally. 90% of this material sounds identical to Shai Hulud, and the other 10% is only mildly different as far as tempo/atmosphere/vocal delivery. But if you've heard Shai Hulud, you know what this sounds like. It's fairly intricate and melodic metalcore with screaming vocals, and it's definitely better than average with some amazing riffs. The chief difference is that the songs are all short as fuck, none topping three minutes, and most hovering at a minute or less. "This Day is a Spark of Life" and "March on to Victory" (the latter being the longest song at three minutes even) are powerful as shit, but some of the shorter songs are over before they even get a chance to start, so the all too brief 11 minutes shoots by in a flash. The production does hurt a little. It's kind of sloppy. There's a biting treble in there over the guitars, the vocals are sort of out front, the crisp percussion stands out because it's cleaner than anything else, the bass is hard to make out, etc. I can definitely deal with it without a real problem, but it would definitely harness more power with a smoother sound. It's only a quick EP from an obvious project band though, so I'm certainly not dwelling on it. The layout's fine. Bloody zombies, dark, sludgy colors, funny lineup names like "Revenge" and "Chemisty", crisp and legible text, and so on. I have no complaints. The lyrics reference things like death, rotting, and other such non-living characteristics, but really the messages tend to be totally serious and not at all what one might expect. Aside from a few mildly humorous tracks like the obviously titled "Bastard Shit Bastard", the lyrics are also very similar to Shai Hulud - just with a zombie-fied twist. "One lonely night I trembled, asking 'What purpose has an angel? And do we die forever? And how can this pain be so simple?' Smothered, like being buried alive, it's perverted, the burden of life. But we will push our hands to reach the air - only the dead say they're not scared. Bodies that move without minds, slaughtered while standing in line, but soon the time will come to rise up..." This is a great EP, but I can't say I understand what the point is. I mean, in all seriousness, this sounds like bits and pieces of songs that weren't used on "That Within Blood Ill-Temerped" with different lyrics put to the music. That's fine, but why release it as Zombie Apocalypse? I don't know. If you like Shai Hulud, and you should because they're one of the best bands on the planet, then you should dig this.
[Indecision]
Running time - 11:25, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Red, Black, and Blue, This Day is a Spark of Life, March on to Victory]
Indecision Records - http://www.indecisionrecords.com
