Crawling out of the tombs like some bastard offspring of ABBATH and WEDNESDAY13, Splatterpunk is the latest offering from Finland’s SCARECROW. The band rose from the crypt back in 2002 and have been consistently delighting us with tales of horror orientated metalpunk ever since!
Splatterpunk features sixteen metalpunk tracks with touches of Black and Extreme Metal vibes throughout. The trio of Jack13, Ruho and Lima are certainly doing their own thing by stretching their ghoulish claws across various genres. This could have been too ambitious but SCARECROW comes across as a complete Frankenstein’s monster channelling the rampage and fury in their loud and boisterous manner.
Stand Up And Die hits you like a freight train. This short and highly energised track with the additional background vocal chants is an instant channelling of what MOTORHEAD accomplished by bringing the punks and the metalheads together in yesteryear. This offering certainly binds these ligaments together once again.
Mark Of The Werewolf could have been a blues rock number from the slight distorted intro but this is full on horror orientated punk at its finest with touches of THE MISFITS and some synth elements thrown in for good measure too. This is a high-octane track and is as frenzied and hectic as one would expect when being under the influence of a full moon.
ZMB1 through to four respectively feel like SCARECROW’s homage to the late and great George A Romero’s living dead films and follow on as intervals between other songs. These are a joy to listen to but could have quite easily been lost if they were on the album as back to back tracks.
ZMB1 instantly remind one of the mighty zombiecore antics of SEND MORE PARAMEDICS yet with the bonus of the guttural prowess and ethereal background vocals.
ZMB2 is very MURDERDOLLS orientated throughout the verse, then morphs through the use of the guttural vocals featured within.
Nocturnal Bird feels to me like a chopping block of other tracks such as MANOWAR’s Battle Hymns and KISS’s Journey of 1000 Years. There is a lot going on but as an album closer its very melancholic, atmospheric and latches itself onto you like the cold embrace of death.
This album is extremely fast paced, raw, and gloriously gory. The album itself soon comes to a close with the running not much more than half an hour. That, however, is no bad thing in this case. The adrenaline leading seamlessly from track to track works well. The entire album is totally killer and not filler.
If you prefer your metalpunk or horrorpunk at the heavier end of the spectrum then this album is totally for you.
Rating: 9/10
Words: Martin White
Splatterpunk is out now.
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