The Hallowed and the Heathen,
Send More ParamedicsI know I'm going to get flamed for this...but fuck it, I really don't like Send More Paramedics. What I've heard I dislike and 'The Hallowed And The Heathen' is a record choc-full of gimmicks and cliches; a thrash-fest glossed over with zombies and gore which is all style and very little substance. They may well be great fun live but I've not seen them, so all I can base my opinion on is the recorded stuff I've heard - and to me it's tuneless crap.
It's no secret I prefer my music to have some kind of melody in there and I'm sure had other members of Punktastic reviewed this it would have a different score (maybe one will, who knows?), but I cannot see the appeal of SMP at all. Lyrically it's crap ("A mind of rage, a face of hate, a need to kill and mutilate", anyone?) and musically it all pretty much sounds the same, so for 37-minutes you have the same metal solos and 100-mph drum beats thrashing from your stereo. The vocals are too high pitched and, to be honest, if it wasn't for the inlay there'd be no way of knowing this was indeed a 'zombie'-band. Lines are barely audible at times, and the music, albeit is individually well performed, comes across as devoid of any fresh ideas. Each song is built around the same premise, thrown around the usual lyrical cliches you can associate with the undead.
Somewhere along the line SMP have gained a large fanbase, which must be down to the live show. If I saw them maybe I'd be converted, but somehow I doubt it. I'm sure In At The Deep End will sell a lot of copies, get SMP in a load of magazines and hopefully it will expose the far superior bands on their label. But with a society based on image, SMP are 'cashing in' - intentionally or not. So there. How do you sell records and get mainstream exposure? Dress up as zombies. You don't have to have any songs kids, it's all image-based. Real pity...because while this is a good idea, for me it doesn't work. On record it's a PG-13 remake of a George Romero classic - and that's not a good thing.
Let the abuse commence.
www.sendmoreparamedics.com
Paul
