OS Flashback: Metal Mondays – Obligatory Halloween Playlist

posted in: Reviews & Playlists • Rock

From the vaults – a Halloween classic from 2011.

Halloween falls on a Monday this year, which means that it would almost be a disservice to readers everywhere if this post didn’t honor the day in some way. Because of metal’s dark nature, the possibilities are endless. I’ll save the “Rocktober” and Misfits references (as awesome as the Misfits are), and just deliver you eight great OurStage metal songs that directly or indirectly relate to Halloween. Scary things, ghosts, zombies and/or the undead ” you name it. Why exactly the eve of All Hallows Day (aka All Saints Day) was chosen to be about evil things we’re not so sure, but we’re not going to argue.

Now that you’ve got your tunes, let’s tell you a bit about them:

“Initial State of Death” by They Might Be Zombies – Zombies and Halloween go hand in hand. This band may or may not be solely comprised of zombies (we’re still not totally sure). All we know is that, if they are indeed the walking dead, they’ve still got pretty good finger dexterity.

“Epidemic” by hord – Ah, the zombie apocalypse. 28 Days Later and The Walking Dead showed us the terror an epidemic just might lead to. Here’s the sonic version.

“Where Did They Hyde Dr. Jekyll” by Social Jet Lag – The classic tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is always appropriate for Halloween. We’re not sure that the song is actually about that story, but the title is, and the song’s good enough that we’ll let is slide (just this once).

“Night Of The Rising Death” by Black Divinity – We promise we’re not intentionally filling this playlist with zombie-themed songs, but sometimes a song is just too evil to pass up. Black Divinity bring the fire with some truly evil vocals and riffs galore.

“Today You Will Die” by Gargantuan – Zombies are pretty scary “ that’s no secret. You know what else is scary? Serial killers. Something about sensing your own impending doom is just a tad unsettling, and Gargantuan capture the feeling pretty well on this track.

“Arise” by Still Screaming – There’s not really all that much you need to know about this song other than that it’s a crossover thrash/hardcore punk jam with the hook “We arise from the ashes of the dead tide!” If that’s not evil sounding, I don’t really know what is.

“Gift of a Ghost” by Einvera – I’m not sure about anyone else, but giving someone a ghost as a present seems like a really lame gift. I wouldn’t exactly be pumped up about being haunted. Thankfully, however, Einvera’s music is better than their gift ideas.

“Jesus Hates Zombies” by Above The Abyss – Jesus probably hates evil, that much is evident. Zombies are evil, that’s also pretty obvious. I think Above The Abyss might be onto something here. Jesus might also be into irony, since by some definitions, Jesus could be considered a zombie (after all, he was dead, and then alive again).

What metal songs get you in the Halloween spirit? Let us know in the comments.