Jamey Rottencorpse And The Rising Dead – The Rise Of The Dead

Jamey Rottencorpse and the Rising Dead scored second place so far on the facebook-question of GGG about the favorite european horrorpunkband. That made me curious about them. I’ve already heard about this guy and his band, but I never really heard the music before. Except for some clips and videos on youtube. So this was the first time that I actually sat down and listened to it. Jamey Rottencorpse and The Rising Dead is a german constellation that has been around since 2009. They’ve played around the country and shared the stage with many different bands. Even though I haven’t followed their career personally, they seem to have come a long way in the german horrorpunk scene and became quite well known.

At the beginning of this album there is a spooky intro. I like intros, and I think every album should have one. But what surprised me was that the following song seems to be quieter than the intro. Don’t know if it has to do with the recording-quality or something. But with such an intro, I thought a loud song full with attitude would come out the speakers, to present the band. It didn’t. The first song is good though. I find myself nodding my head to the beat as it goes on and I really like it. It’s nothing special, very basic and maybe not the perfect song to open up a debut with, but still a good tune – especially the guitar and the background vocals. The second song called Dance ‘till You Die has a very happy punk sound. It’s different to the other songs on the record that are more about being badass. I can imagine this to be a nice song to play in the park in the summer. The tune called Somewhere Under The Graveyard is actually pretty cool. Thanks to the well known melody from “Somewhere over the rainbow” I do get the urge to sing-a-long with it. I like the idea to reinvent such a song. I’d say the vocals are at its best on this song too. Zombie Girl is another song that could be something like a hit on this debut. The next one is I Can’t Sleep. I have no idea what Jamey tried to do with his voice on this one, but it really doesn’t sound good at all. I’m sorry guys. I think it could have been a really nice tune if it wasn’t for the vocals, ‘cause the beat is good and the music is solid. Strange And Scary is my favorite on this album. The music is good and so are the vocals. And the sound effects in the background really fit to the song. I guess I can say almost the opposite about Radioactive Zombies. There’s nothing wrong with the vocals here at all, but the music and melody itself almost made me fall asleep. It’s very uninflected. And when I hear a title called Radioactive Zombies, I do expect something with a bit more action.

The Rise Of The Dead has 14 tracks including the intro, an outro and two skits. 8 out of 10 songs start with movie quotes, there’s everything between Robocop and Evildead, so I thought there would be more variation in the content of the lyrics. They are well written, but all I could understand from them was that almost every song was about zombies and the undead. Except from the song called Movie Maniacs where Dracula and Frankenstein are mentioned. I have to be honest and say that I did expect a bit more after all I have heard about the band. The whole attitude of the debut is pretty much about being badass. I don’t buy that from just listening. So I guess I should try to go to a show and see them live on stage and let them try to convince me. Like this, I just don’t believe it. But all in all, the full-length-debut of Jamey Rottencorpse and the Rising Dead is still an album you should check out. Maybe for your next halloween-party!?

6,66 from 10 Tombstones

Tracklist:
(Length: ca. 35 minnutes)

Intro

The Devil And His Band

Dance ‘Till You Die

The Rise Of The Dead

Skit – Bloodbath

Movie Maniacs

Somewhere Under The Graveyard

Skit – Education

Come And Die With Me

Zombie Girl

I Can’t Sleep At Night

Strange And Scary

Radioactive Zombies

Outro

Review by S.G.