New Zombie Apocalypse NOW! album rises from the studio

By Garret Schuelke
Western Herald

Photo courtesy of Zombie Apocalypse NOW

Kalamazoo’s one and only “Anti-Zombie” rock band, Zombie Apocalypse NOW!, will release their third EP, “Forbidden Tales of Science,” on Friday, Feb. 5, 2009, at a release party at Papa Pete’s.

Recorded at the Strutt’s recording studio between mid-July and mid-October and released through Strutt Records, “Forbidden Tales of Science” is the band’s first professionally mixed and recorded album. It consists of six songs—half of them new, the other half from their second three-song EP “The Sellout Demo,” which was recorded in early 2009.

The band’s first EP, “The Amina Demo,” was recorded in 2007.

Travis Stickel, ZAN!’s lead metal guitar player and vocalist, believes that, from “The Amina Demo” up to now, the band has gotten better in all aspects.

“I’ve noticed we have gotten a lot tighter [as a band],” Stickel said. “We have gotten a lot more in sync as far as playing together goes. Everything just sounds so much more right on.”

Wanting a cover that had a Golden Age/science fiction pulp comic book style to it, ZAN! got comic book artist Scott Rosema, whose work has been featured in Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Archie Comics, to create the cover, which features the band’s own “Justice Girl” character (as sung about in their song “Justice Girl”). Before “Forbidden Tales of Science” was decided upon, “Fantastic Tales of Science,” “Stories of Suspense,” and “Tales of Beyond” were considered for album titles.

The release party will feature special guest bands The Common Good and GlueEater (who will soon be changing their band name to “Trixy Disco”). This will also be the final show that ZAN!’s punk rock guitarist and vocalist, Dave Andrews, will play with the band. Andrews has recently graduated from college and has received a job in Detroit, according to ZAN! bassist and vocalist Jay Stuart.

While ZAN! wishes Andrews to have the best of luck both career and music-wise, Stuart is not yet sure how Andrews departure will affect the band’s sound.

“It is definitely not going to sound as full as it has been sounding the last five years or so,” Stuart said.

A review of “Forbidden Tales of Science” is scheduled to appear in the Feb. issue of “Recoil.” ZAN! has gotten praise for the album by those who have heard it so far, according to Stuart.

“Everyone who has listened to [the album] has had nothing but positive things to say about it,” Stuart said. “…I have not heard a single bad thing about the EP so far.”

“The coolest thing about [Zombie Apocalypse NOW!] to me is their fusion of musical styles, along with their geek-friendly and/or socially conscious subject matter, including comic books and zombie movies,” said Professor T-Man, bassist and vocalist of The Common Good. “Performing with [Zombie Apocalypse NOW!] has always been a pleasure…It’s pretty much impossible to keep still once they take the stage. They preform with a great deal of energy and their songs are very up-tempo and very rocking!”

“These guys have been our biggest supporters and our most friendly co-conspirators for a long time now,” T-Man said. “We are very excited for the success of their new record and wish them all the best. The Common Good is honored to be along for the release party and we hope to continue to work with [Zombie Apocalypse NOW!] a lot more in the future.”

The release party begins 10:00 p.m. Doors open at 9:00 p.m. Admission is $5, and is open to ages 18 and over.

“Forbidden Tales of Science” will be on sale for $5. Anyone who buys a copy receives a free copy of ZAN!’s new live album “Live Not Dead.”

For more information, contact Papa Pete’s at 269-388-2196, or visit their Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/papapetes.

To learn more about Zombie Apocalypse NOW!, visit their official Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/zanowband.

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Posted by heraldstaff on Feb 2 2010. Filed under A & E. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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