If you don’t like loud punk rock with messages in the lyrics, then stop reading now, because that is what this band is all about.
If the year was 1980 then I would actually be ‘introducing’ this band to you as a new group, but the reality of it is that 36 years after Screaming Dead originally started off, the horror punk rockers are starting to achieve things that they wouldn’t have expected to.
In 1980 Screaming Dead, a horror punk band from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, started a journey that many wouldn’t have thought would still be going in 2016, but, nonetheless it is.
These veteran rockers first released an EP in 1982 with ‘Valley of the Dead’ which was followed in 1983 by ‘Night Creatures’ and then in 1984 with a cover version of ‘Paint It Black’ by the Rolling Stones. Screaming Dead’s early songs appeared on the UK charts and the Indie charts and this generated a fan base for the loud and powerful Cheltenham rockers. All three of these songs are to this day played at concerts, although they have been tampered with and ‘improved’ in order to deliver them in a more powerful way. Screaming Dead split up in 1985, reformed in 1997 (touring Germany twice), disbanded again in 1999 and in 2014 yet again reformed with a new guitarist and high intentions than ever before.
Starting out playing some low profile shows and generally re grouping as friends and band members, Screaming Dead’s sound started to evolve almost automatically and if you listen to their older recordings compared to their new ones, you would appreciate this change whether you liked the music or not. Fast forward to 2016 and Screaming Dead are recording new songs and reinventing old classics.
The Resurrection EP is a mixture of the bands ‘old classics’ and new, aggressive, hard hitting tunes. Necroaria, one of the newer songs, starts this five song EP in a classic way. Damned Generation, a fan favorite, comes in at second and presents a prime example of the bands early hits. Night Creatures and 20th Century Vampire bring brilliance and Paint It Black ends the EP with the only cover of the song that is arguably better than the original.
Soon to be touring Canada, Screaming Dead are taking their new sound to foreign land to rack up a group of overseas fans. Catch them at Rovin Fest in Cheltenham at the end of July or see them at one of the countries biggest rock events on the main stage at Blackpool’s Rebellion Festival in August. If you can’t make them then keep an eye out for them because they get around the country…
Screaming Dead deliver songs for damned generations and if you are a punk fan then I recommend that you check this band out. They’re back from the dead.
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