I’ve always been a fan of old school Death Metal, Grindcore and Horror / Gore / Splatter / Exploitation flicks from the ’60s, the ’70s and the ’80s. I consider myself a Goregrinder, since I’ve been playing drums in a couple of Goregrind projects for over 20 years. If you’re into bloody and gory B-Movies, morbid themes, primitive Death Metal and Grindcore, IMPETIGO is the ultimate example of sickness translated into music. Formed in Illinois in 1987, IMPETIGO is one of my all time favourite bands and a major influence in the Grindcore and Goregrind scene. These guys released two of the most important albums of these genres: “Ultimo Mondo Cannibale” in 1990 with a stronger Grindcore approach and “Horror Of The Zombies” in 1992 with a more marked Death Metal touch. In both cases IMPETIGO released two masterpieces impregnated with many references taken from the underground cinema. Here we have the “Horror Of The Zombies” reissue released by Vic Records, a total of 53 minutes including the 10 songs from the original tracklist and 2 live bonus tracks from the 1992 show at the Club Baby Head in Providence, Rhode Island. As usual in their entire discography, IMPETIGO pay homage through their lyrics to all that is morbid and perverted: serial killers, horror / gore movies, cannibalism, zombies, necrophilia, violence etc. Not only, “Horror Of The Zombies” offer us an interesting selection of samples taken from: two interviews with serial killers (Henry Lee Lucas and Daniel Rakowitz), the Ruggero Deodato’s classic “Cannibal Holocaust”, the Jim Van Bebber’s masterpiece “Deadbeat At Dawn”, “Guinea Pig 2: Flowers Of Flesh And Blood” by Hideshi Hino, “Flesh For Frankenstein” by Andy Morrisey, “The Wizard Of Gore” by Hershell Gordon Lewis and “Let Sleeping Corpses Lie” by Jorge Grau. Musically, “Horror Of The Zombies” is a collection of classics, starting with ‘Boneyard’, a song that defines the beginning of groovy Goregrind with an obsessive and punky D-Beat structure: the perfect invitation to a non stop headbanging in the name of putridity. ‘Cannibal Lust’ and ‘Defiling The Grave’ are an overdose of fast and grinding brutality in the vein of “Ultimo Mondo Cannibale” and the mighty REPULSION. ‘Cannibale Ballet’ is the Goregrind answer to VENOM’s ‘Manitou’: a tribal hymn with drums and bizarre growlings. ‘Mortuaria’, ‘Trap Them And Kill Them’, ‘Wizard Of Gore’ and ‘Staph Terrorist’ are a great example of old school Death Metal and Grindcore, a mixture of mid tempos and crazy accelerations. Then we have ‘I Work For The Streetcleaner’ and ‘Breakfast At The Manchester Morgue’, two very long tracks that combine obscure and gloomy Death / Doom slowdowns à la AUTOPSY, rotten Death Metal parts and fast brutal outbursts. The production is solid, heavy and professional with a very audible bass and a great guitar distortion. There are tons of memorable riffs and sharp solos too. The drumming is intense with some great double bass parts, rollings and blastbeats. This album reeks of putrefaction and decay in every single minute. Stevo’s vocals are outstanding: schizophrenic screamings, phlegmy growlings and some effected parts. Ultimately, IMPETIGO are the Godfathers of Gore, the first band – along with MORTICIAN – to use Horror movie samples on almost every tracks. If “Ultimo Mondo Cannibale” and “Reek Of Putrefaction” for Goregrind reach the levels of “Scum”, “Horrified”, “World Downfall” and “From Enslavement To Obliteration” in terms of Grindcore, “Horror Of the Zombies” can be considered without any doubt the “Harmony Corruption” of Horror / Death / Grind / Gore Metal. If we talk about the Horror and Gore themes, this album is as important as “Season Of The Dead”. Are you looking for something sick? Get a copy of “Horror Of The Zombies” without hesitation. The maggots crawl in Satan’s name, defiling the grave… More info about IMPETIGO you will find at www.facebook.com/impetigoosdm, label contact: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063485232579