Siblings Of Samhain – Trioxin EP

Almost four decades ago an obscure low budget zombie movie was made, no one expected to it to make much money, certainly no one expected it to become a cult classic whose themes, dialogue, soundtrack and unique additions to zombie folklore would still be having an impact all these years later, but somehow The Return Of The Living Dead managed to achieve this. The latest addition to the lasting impact of this movie is the Siblings of Samhain’s new EP, Trioxin, that is due out on the 27th January via We Are Horror Records.

So if you’re going to do a tribute to the Return Of The Living Dead then the the original theme from the first movie would seem to be a good place to start, a much heavier but surprisingly faithful version of the music that ran after the the first canister was breached and all hell broke loose with the brain obsessed undead running amok. From here we are into original songs and the Trioxin EP heads off through the five films made to date, although I will have to take their word for some of this as I lost interest in seeing any further sequels after the disappointing third instalment.

Back From The Dead captures the feel of the original movie and elements of it’s soundtrack with a twist of 90’s Misfits thrown into the mix, along with the obligatory (and welcome) movie sample at the end. They Want Brains is a tribute to the comedic second installment, a track that is far more sinister than that movie ever managed to be and keeps the grey matter flowing nicely. Die For Her is where this EP starts to outshine the later inferior sequels, in this case the disappointing zombie love story that was the beginning of a serious decline in quality, with a fairly brutal slab of horror punk with all the minor chords you could wish for.

Zombie Soldiers Are Go is the point where the movie comparisons stop as parts four and five are widely regarded as being terrible ideas that just cash in on the original film’s good name, although that hasn’t stopped Siblings Of Samhain putting a good old chunk of anthemic horror punk together. Finally we get to Z, that features Zombie thrashers Send More Paramedics guitarist Medico. This final track is a chugging slab of zombiefied goodness that is scarier and more entertaining than the much derided fifth installment ever could be.

The obvious and predictable route to go down would have been covering songs from the original soundtrack, and as it featured The Damned, TSOL, Rocky Erickson, The Cramps and 45 Grave that wouldn’t necessarily have been a bad thing. Instead Siblings Of Samhain have delivered a six track EP of, with the expception of the opening track, original material that pays tribute to a unique movie and it’s increasingly inferior sequels, whether the later movies deserved a tribute is a debate for a another day, but for now this is a brain chomping six pack of horrorpunk that helps keep the movies legacy alive, or should that be undead? You can pre-order your Trioxin fix through We Are Horror Records, and don’t forget… In case of emergency, call 1 (800) 454-8000.