BLOODSUCKING ZOMBIES FROM OUTER SPACE - All These Fiendish Things

13 songs
43:22 minutes
***** ***
Schlitzer-Pepi

Bandpage

Punk? Horrorbilly? Shock rock? It’s not really easy to label Austrian band Bloodsucking Zombies From Outer Space, and that’s a good thing too! Since their inception seventeen years ago, the band has been quite busy, releasing eight longplayers and six EPs. They constantly grew more popular, especially in their native Austria and Germany they have already quite a fan following.

I wasn’t yet familiar with the band, but their name made me think of a grindcore band, which instantly tickled my curiosity. The band name is a combination of different film titles (Bloodsucking Freaks, Plan 9 From Outer Space...), and also the lyrics deal with spooky stuff like zombies, mummies, serial killers, vampires and the like. The piano intro, accompanied by thunderstorm noises and a deep voice, is just the right thing to set the mood for this very entertaining album.

The first track This Ain’t No Halloween Costume offers finest horror punk, reminding me of The Creepshow, but that might be due to the acoustic double bass often used by such bands. The chorus is catchy as hell, inviting right away to sing along. Up next is the pre-release single Bela Kiss that uses a similar modus operandi and is also a lot of fun. The guitar has a certain Eighties rock sound, and the spooky organ draws parallels to The Other. The songs are usually not very complex, with the aim to simply entertain. Even though I doubt that melodic emo punk has been an influence, Bloodsucking Zombies From Outer Space often perform a similar good times music the way it was popular from bands like Blink 182 at the turn of the millennium. Good Guy Rag Doll and Sleepaway Camp ’95 are two examples of such songs. Although most songs are really great, you should definitely check out the small hymn Rebel Heart and the pop sounding Night Flier. Only towards the end, two tracks somewhat tarnish the strong impression. Don’t Answer The Phone feels a little flat, and its chorus doesn’t feel all thought through. The concluding acoustic ballad God’s Own Mistake only saves itself very late with a Led Zeppelin rocking part.

Despite these few flaws, All These Fiendish Things is already a first highlight of the still young year 2019. And when it comes to the psychobilly genre, I like Bloodsucking Zombies From Outer Space more than for instance Mad Sin or The Meteors, as the Austrians are acting with a better sense of humour. Were it not for the two weaker tracks, one additional point would have been in order.