Zombie Inc., A Dreadful Decease

I’m looking at the track listing for Zombie Inc’s debut full-length, A Dreadful Decease and one can’t help but feel that they have some inside knowledge in the realm of zombies — more importantly the step-by-step process for full planetary takeover on the part of the undead. More likely, they have watched their fair share of zombie flicks and B-grade horror movies.

This band of miscreants (featuring ex-Pungent Stench growler Martin Shirenc) uses a blend of OSDM and modern death metal to regurgitate what I can only assume is text pulled verbatim from Zombie 101: Book on Total Planetary Annihilation (I totally made that up). At times punishingly up tempo and at others bludgeoning and crawling, A Dreadful Decease is one of those albums that you just throw on at any old time, sit back and enjoy the show. Of course, the band would be remiss if they didn’t include the obligatory movie sound byte here or there — they do so, but sparingly so as to not become too much of a cliche.

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we. “The Chaosbreed” leads off with a short clip announcing the dead have begun to return to life before settling into a mass of churning riffs ultimately ramping up the tempo to a decent clip as the vocals come in. It’s quickly followed by “Deadtribe Sinister” and “Challenge of the Undead,” both of which use a solid helping of modern death metal to describe the rampant spread and grouping of the undead as they strike fear in the hearts of the breathing.

The act of consuming the living’s flesh, innards and ooey gooey brains are outlined in the triad of the groove-filled “We Must Eat!” (which also features some great lyrics, by the way), the monolithic bludgeon of “Bloodrain Overdose,” and the violently awesome “Grim Brutality.” Between those three songs, all hell literally breaks loose as the zombies rip, tear and feed on the panicked populace, oh, and the band destroys your ears with massive riffs and thundering drums.

The final set of songs (tracks 8 – 10) describe in exacting detail the end of the living as the undead swarm the continents. “Horror Fills this Hollow Earth” couldn’t have a better title. The track is full of familiar riffs and bruising drum work that will have you snapping your undead neck in no time. The title track starts off with a frenzied bit of guitar work and plenty of double bass before the guys settle into a galloping groove. Closing out the album is “Planet Zombie,” and you can pretty much guess what that means — the living are no more.

The Dreadful Decease is one of those albums that’s a little tongue-in-cheek, but also serious enough to not come across as goofy. Zombie, Inc. are determined to deliver a solid helping of death metal solely focused on the undead. I think they’ve done quite well, since I’ve been spinning this album for a couple of weeks now.