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Bands of the Unearthed Midnight Theater
Gravedigger Grimm enjoys his music like he enjoys his movies...filled with creepy crawlies! So if you like horror themed music or the best psychobilly/spookysurf/horrorpunk/deathrock around, then check out some of these bands...
Gravedigger Grimm is quoted as saying......"the best band to rock and upright
bass!!!" Is there anymore that needs to be said? HELL YES! The
Koffin Kats have been playing for only a few short years now and already they
are commanding high sales over most of their label mates on Hairball8/Psychobilly
U.S. Records...and Grimm knows because he sells them from time to time.
The Kats come from a place that has done a lot to breed loud and aggressive
music, and a place filled with classic pop-music history in general...DETROIT!
With the likes of people like Iggy and the Stooges and the MC5, you're bound to
have a very tight, energetic, and aggressive sound if you choose rock'n'roll as
your drug of choice, and the Koffin Kats have done just that! Playing in
their area with the likes of Nuke and the Living Dead (see below), and playing
all over the country with all kinds of psycho-heroes like the Nekromantix (Grimm
was at that show, btw), Demented ARE Go, the Buzzcocks, etc., the Koffin Kats
are rapidly making a name for themselves as one of the most talented bands to
come out of the genre in years! With a sound all on their own, it's really
hard to compare them to anyone else but if you want to hear some of their
influences, check them out at their myspace by
clicking here.
Other than that, you are urged to seek out and attain your own copy of INHUMANE
by the Unearthed Midnight Theatre's favorite band to rock an upright, the KOFFIN
KATS!!! Salvation is now on compact disc. For fans of the Stray
Cats, Demented ARE Go, Elvis Hitler, and the Misfits.
The Brimstones play trashed out 60s garage rock
mixed with surf instrumentals and a little bit of uncle scratch. Playing vintage
instruments they have shared the stage with Demented Are Go and ? and the
Mysterians. Take a look.
Demented Are Go are
exactly as their name implies. One of the most horror influenced psychobilly
bands around. Once you get a glimpse of lead singer Sparky and his make up
you'll know what we mean.
Gein and the Graverobbers are one of the
greats when it comes to spooky surf bands around. Not only that but they are
friends of the show as well. As a matter of fact, Gein was gracious enough to
offer the use of not only his music but that of another band he is involved
with, The Phantom Creeps. It is their song that opens the show each week.
Black Cat Rebellion have been
around for a short while now in the Central Indiana scene, but have made quite
an impact. Mixing rockabilly with a lot of 80's deathrock influences helps
them come out with a sound that both swings AND scares! Members of the
band hail from all kinds of wild Indiana acts such as Blaster the Rocket Man,
and the Cadavers! Although they can be found at a lot of Indiana joints
like Melody Inn or Bubba's Bowling for
Punk Rock
Night in Indianapolis, they recently just came back from a highly
anticipated tour out west! Grimm was fortunate enough to make
friends with them back while doing a feature on them during the first season,
and owes them a great debt for helping him find true love (or was it true love
finding him?). Although they already have quite a large following, it
couldn't hurt for YOU to check them out right now. So click on the picture
above to visit their official site or
click
here to visit their myspace page where you can sample some of
their dark rock and roll! For fans of the Cramps, the Gun Club, and a
little bit of Social Distortion.
Nuke and the Livind Dead have been
horrifying Detroit for a while now....an' that ain't no easy job! With
their new CD, "Dig This!" finally out, horror-punks everywhere can finally have
a better impression of the chaos that ensues when these bad boys take the stage
on ususpecting audiences! Grimm can tell you from experience, if you don't
wanna get hit with beer all night, don't dance in front of Nuke, but if you're
not worried about what you're gonna smell like when the cops pull you over, just
have at it and have a rockin' good time! With songs like "Brew Crew" (also
the name of the fan club), it's not hard to see what we're talking about.
Playing with other soon-to-be legendary horror rockers like the Koffin Kats, the
Necrophilicons, and Country Bob & the Blood Farmers, these bunch of horrorific
hooligans are sure to be a favorite on the Unearthed Midnight Theatre! So
check em out at the link above or
click here
to check out their tunes on their myspace site. For fans of Graves-era
Misfits, the Damned, the Cramps, and Elvis.
WOW! What can be said about
the Cryptkeeper Five that hasn't already been said about some of the other
greatest rock'n'roll bands of all time? Good God do these guys pack a mean
raunchy punch! Hailing from Trenton, New Jersey, these cats know what real
rock'n'roll is all about! They have just about what every good rock act
needs, and Grimm's personal favorite R&R instrument, the SAXOPHONE! And
besides having drums, bass, and a three guitar lineup, they also rock the ebony
and ivory too! As you may have guessed by now, there are more than 5
members. Actually there are 7 members, and we bet they're sick of hearing
about it. They're also the only NJ residents that Grimm's ever met who
DIDN'T have a story about the Jersey Devil......weird in itself. This is
good ol' rock'n'roll, the way it used to be, the way the Sonics, Screamin' Jay
Hawkins, or even Screaming Lord Sutch would have liked it. Swingin' and
swanky and raunchy as hell, the Cryptkeeper Five have got what it takes to be
rock legends. click the link above for their official site or
click
here to check out their tunes at myspace.com. For fans of
the Misfits, the Ramones, Eddie and the Cruisers, Screaming Lord Sutch, and
Bruce Springsteen and the E-street band........no seriously!
PERSONAL FRIENDS of Gravedigger
Grimm and the rest of the Unearthed Midnight Theatre, these dark lords of
Virginia are well on their way to wowing fans of horror rock all over the world!
That's no joke either, what with tours all over the US and Europe! With a
singer/songwriter duo like T.B. Monstrosity and Argyle Goolsby, this group of
mishapen monsters are, we believe, destined to take the place of the Misfits in
horror music mythology! If you think we're kidding...we DARE you to make
it to one of their shows. You'll know exactly what we're talking about
when you see Goolsby bellowing out crimson 'balads' like "These Walls" and "the
Torn Prince", or when T.B. howls "Hellraiser" or "Dying Day". But don't
let these sentimental and sympathetic tunes confuse you....they can also really
put the PUNK back in HORRORPUNK! It's very easy to see on tracks like
"Murder in the Pumpkinpatch", "Nosferatu", or "Reanimated"! Another band
that unfortunately gets grouped into that dreadful pigeon-holing title of
"Misfits-clones", but to HELL with that! These fiends are going to turn
quite a few more heads in the near future and really shake off any harmful
titles like that for good! Check them out NOW at the link above or sample
some tunes at myspace.com by
clicking here.
the
Lurking Corpses are a definite favorite of Grimm's, and not only because he's
good friends with the lead singer, Lord Vladimir Von Ghoul, but they also pack
one hell of an old-school horror-rock punch! Mixing a lot of old spook
rock with 80's death-metal, these creeps tell disturbing (and usually graphic)
tales of withches...mummies...and various body-parts concerning some of your
favorite monsters...you'll see what we're talking about if you get the chance to
pick up their debut album, 23 Tales of Terror. But while you're at it,
keep your eyes peeled for their upcoming second full-length, This Blood's For
You! Von Ghoul croons out wonderful horrorpunk classics like "Meet me in
the Graveyard" and "When Your Body Dies", while Count Lupos Lycanthrope the Mad
shreds his guitar along with the Leper, on bass, for gems like "Sweet
Lycanthrope" and "Bucket Of Flesh". Baron Boneripper of the Hills has to
be seen to be believed on the drums, as well.....such charisma! So do not
wait any further, please check them out by clicking the link above, or visit
their myspace by
clicking here. For Fans of early
Misfits, Slayer, and King Diamond/Mercyful Fate.
BY
THE GRACE OF GOD (or is it by Satan???), we have our very own AUTHENTIC 80's
Deathrock band on our roster! Originally starting in Bakersfield, CA in
1983, these gloomy punks were first discovered by none other than Dead Kennedys
frontman, Jello Biafra! He signed them to Alternative Tentacles Records,
invited them to play a few shows with the likes of the DKs, the Butthole
Surfers, and 45 Grave, put out a 7-inch and hopefully prosper.....well, things
didn't work out that way, unfortunately, due to them DISAPPEARING! But
never fear, members have since gotten together to try and pick up the pieces and
make sure that the fans truly got what they deserved by putting out this
complete discography, self-titled, repectively. It features everything off
the 7-inch from before as well as a few unrealeased tracks, and a few others
that were recorded in recent years! Biafra even does some of the liner
notes, himself, and Grimm is inclined to agree with him that these guys were
definitely well equiped to run along with the Bat Cave crowd, but had plenty
more punk energy to really outlast some of them. Just one o' those "what
would have happened if" kinda things that we'll never know, but thankfully we
can enjoy what was and what may be in the future! Check them out at the
link above or
click here to sample their music on myspace!
For fans of early Christian Death, early TSOL, Agent Orange, UK Decay, and
Bauhaus.
These
West-coast rockers really bring an original sound to swingin' horror-influenced
rock...in fact, their debut EP is titled "Songs for Swingin' Corpses".
With a vocalist that brings to mind the likes of Roy Orbison, Dave Vanian, and
Lux Interior, it should be easy to see why these guys have gained such a good
following while only being around for a short time and having limited releases
(the above mentioned EP, and the pictured "Nice To Creature" single).
Almost every song is named after old B-classics like "Amazing Colossal Man" and
"Ghost in the Invisible Bikini" and are loaded with the great feeling of
rock'n'roll generations of the past. A lot of Rockabilly...a little
punk...a whole lot of soul, Ghost Train is sure to gain a lot of attention from
fans of the genre and we are proud to have them on the show.....and you gotta
love anyone who rocks the Echo Theremin!!! For fans of the Damned and the
Cramps and a little bit of the Big Bopper.
The
Crimson Ghosts are a breathe of fresh (dead) air when it comes to tribute
bands.....especially Misfits tribute bands. Yes that's right, if it wasn't
bad enough that most critics think every band that plays horror rock is a
"Misfits-clone", there are still many bands that get crap even for covering the
Misfits openly. But the difference with the Crimson Ghosts is simply
this...THEY'RE A SURF-INSTRUMENTAL MISFITS TRIBUTE BAND! What does that
mean?!? That means you get to hear all your favorite Danzig-era Misfits
classics like "Halloween", "Attitude", "Hybrid Moments", or "Where Eagles Dare"
done the way people like the Trashmen or the Ventures would have liked to hear
them....completely saturated in Reverb played by fender guitars, and surfin'
their way on down to the graveyard! Featuring members from other great
Necro-tone bands such as Gein from Gein and the Graverobbers, and John Kozik
from the Phantom Creeps, this spooky-surf super group is keeping the memory of
the original horror punks alive, only with a lot more reverb. Also, look
for a couple of Samhain covers on there as well! The songs actually lend
themselves quite well to being done instrumentally, anyway. So click the
link above to check out their site or
click here
to sample some tunes at myspace.com. For Fans of Danzig-era Misfits
(duh!), Gein and the Graverobbers, the Ghastly Ones, and the Ventures.
WWWWWWWWATCH OUT, FIENDS!
There're some new superstars of horrorpunk on the big black black and they bring
us 13 Tales of Terror just in time for Halloween! And if you're like the
rest of us, including
Undead Johnny, EVERYDAY IS HALLOWEEN! So
why not just go on over to their myspace right now and give em a listen by
clicking here!
Calabrese brings us a thick, full, pounding sound all the way from Phoenix, AZ,
and BOY are they a'Rumblin'!!! Their new album, 13 Halloweens, very much
brings to mind the likes of Blitzkid and AFI, though Grimm can tolerate the
vocals much more than from the latter mentioned band. Some may compare
them to the Misfits, which is cool, but they shouldn't be overlooked because of
that. They have a sound that is very heavy, very thick, and VERY melodic,
which separates them quite a bit on their own. Using sound clips in their
songs from films like "Monsters Crash the Pajama Party" and "Brain that Wouldn't
Die", it's clear that these demonoid greaser-punks are not taking themselves too
seriously and are really trying to give us horrorgeeks a fun time! For
fans of Graves-era Misfits, AFI, Tiger Army, and Blitzkid.
Arising from the ashes of the
Graves-era Misfits, our second generation drummer of Jersey's original spooky
kids, Dr CHUD, is back and sicker than ever! This time switching to vocals
in favor of the sticks, he actually pulls off a much better job than a lot of
'fits fans would expect. The good doctor has a very heavy and melodic
sound with a knock-out stage presence to match. Among the stage setup can
be seen many pumpkins, half-decayed corpses, and if that's not creepy enough,
you can always take a look at the band! On guitars is another old school
New Jersey horrorpunker, Dr. Fetus-eater, and a dark haired, dark eyed, tougher
than death temptress who only goes by....Rebecca! And if all that wasn't
enough, Goolsby and Rhea M., from Blitzkid are filling in on bass and drums,
currently. Goolsby, himself actually appears on the first album (pictured
above), "Diagnosis for Death," out right now on CHUD's own BLOODWORK Records!
In fact, the album has been released recently on LP on purple vinyl with an
extra track so make sure to check it out when the good Doctor and his X-Ward
come to your town! The main thing to keep in mind when first listening to
this new incarnation is not to expect it to be the Misfits. However, fans
of the Misfits will not be disappointed with the songwriting as CHUD, himself,
was a cowriter for much of the Graves-era work. He actually grew up and
went to school with Glenn Danzig, Jerry Only, Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein,
Eerie Von, Steve Zing, and everyone else from the gang. And although some
"hardcore" Fiend-Club members will balk at what they may consider a man riding
the coat-tails of Mr. Only.......no offense, but it is a pretty impressive
effort compared to someone who hasn't released an original song since 1999.
Blasphemy? Maybe.....but Dr. CHUD's W-Ward is definitely a force in the
blossoming world of horrorpunk to be reconed with! For Fans of Graves-era
Misfits, 80's Alice Cooper, and Blitzkid.
P.S. We love Jerry Only, and everything he does and no harm is intended by this review!
And look for a whole lot more on these FAB-FIENDS as well! COMING VERY SOON!!!......
