Send More Paramedics

Send More Paramedics is an English zombie film-influenced crossover thrash band from Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. They are named after a line in the film Return of the Living Dead.

Send More Paramedics
Send More Paramedics, from left to right: xUndeadx, El Diablo, B’Hellmouth, Medico.
Background information
OriginLeeds, West Yorkshire, England
GenresCrossover thrash
Years active2001-2007, 2014-Present
LabelsIn At The Deep End, 30 Days of Night
Associated actsAnd None of Them Knew They were Robots
The Nothing
Cyvoid
The Wireless Stores
The Minor Fall
The Lock And Keys
From Ancient Waters
Die Emergency
The Sigil
Websitewww.sendmoreparamedics.co.uk
MembersB'Hellmouth

Medico
xUndeadx

El Diablo

Biography

The name is a reference to a line in the 1985 horror/comedy Return of the Living Dead. The band originally formed as a side project of Leeds emo band And None of Them Knew They were Robots, but have gained a higher profile than And None of Them Knew They Were Robots, who have since split up.

The band played in the 1980s crossover style, described as "Zombiecore...a fusion of 80s thrash and modern hardcore punk",[1] with lyrics about zombies and cannibalism, and were heavily influenced by zombie movies. On stage, they dressed as zombies and the drummer donned a Mexican wrestling mask (a homage to the character in Brian Clement's Meat Market films with whom he also shares the name El Diablo). As part of this on-stage persona, band members claimed to be members of the living dead.

The band performed at the 2005 Download Festival, the 2006 Reading and Leeds Festivals,[2] were one of the first acts confirmed for 2006's Damnation Festival and were the opening act for Avenged Sevenfold at the Camden Underworld. They also toured as support to The Offspring. Their live show was described by Drowned in Sound as "brilliantly ghoulish" and "mouth-agape entertainment of the highest quality".[3][4]

Disc 2 of their 2006 album, The Awakening, is a concept disc, a zombie movie soundtrack, similar to the soundtrack in George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead.

They won the 'fresh meat' competition on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show, leading to a "Guerilla Gig Live" performance on BBC Three.[1] The video for which has recently been re-uploaded to YouTube.

The band's third album, The Awakening, featured guest appearances from Jeff Walker and Ken Owen from Carcass.[2]

The band announced their impending split in a Myspace blog in June 2007, which read:

Dear Mortals,

Send More Paramedics will be playing their last show on 27 October 2007 at Joseph's Well in Leeds. We will be honouring all the commitments we have made up to that date. It's been 6 years but our zombie corpses are finally rotting to the point at which we can continue no more. A million thanks to you all.

Yours faithfully,

SMP

x

The band briefly reformed in early 2014 to play TDON 10, a one-day indoor festival celebrating 10 years of 'Thirty Days of Night Records', also on the bill were; Azriel, Everette, Crossbreaker, Broken Teeth, Martyr Defiled, Grader, Public Domain, Iron Witch, Opium Lord, and Set Astray. They also Performed 2 other shows in a short run. Complete dates as follows:

"Live For Never - 2014"

11th April - Leeds, Wharf Chambers (Secret warm-up gig) - Support from: ATTACK! VIPERS and Iron Witch

12th April - Leeds, Vox (TDON 10)

10th May - Camden Barfly - Support from: Pure Graft and The Dead Anyways

Announced June 13, 2020 was a 'legacy' Instagram page for the band, which is currently accepting photo and video submissions, it read:

Dear puny humans,

You should check out and follow this unofficial fan-run legacy Instagram page: @sendmoreparamedicsuk

Created and curated by the maniacal mortal Dan P, it seems to be a catacomb for loads of undead images and info.

Oh and do please contribute to the depository - get in touch with Dan on the Instagram page if you’re able to share any live photos or flyers etc!

Medico

x

Members
  • B'Hellmouth (Sam) - Vocals
  • Medico (Duncan) - Guitar
  • X Undead (Martyn) - Bass
  • El Diablo (Stuart) - Drums

Discography

Albums

Split albums

Compilation albums
  • 2007 - Send More Paramedics (Self Released) - A cassette collection of unreleased tracks/covers and a re-release of the band's first demo produced by Jason Sanderson

Video albums
  • 2002 - Live at the Feeding Grounds (IATDE Records) - A video CD given away free with the first 50 mail orders of the 'A Feast for the Fallen' album on IATDE Records

Demos
  • 2001 - Demo (Self Released) - A cassette initially given away prior to the bands first (and at the time only) show, which led to their signing to IATDE records

Live albums
  • 2020 - Undead at the BBC (Self released, digital only)

Music videos

Send More Paramedics have made three music videos, "Zombie Crew," "Nothing Tastes Like This," and "Blood Fever," which is the third and most recent. The promo for "Blood Fever" was released 16 February 2007 on the director's site:.[5] The video is inspired loosely by the '80s horror film Night of the Demons and was directed by Adam Powell.

Contributed tracks to
  • Thrashing Like a Maniac (Earache Records compilation, 2007)

Movie references

Many Send More Paramedics songs reference zombie movies. Below is a table outlining these references. (incomplete)

Song Reference
The Hordes The chorus, "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth," is the Dawn of the Dead tagline.
The Pain of Being Dead The name of this song references a line in the movie Return of the Living Dead, in which the character "Ernie Kaltenbrunner" asks a rotting zombie woman who has been torn in 2 and tied down to an embalming table about why they eat people, the zombie states "not people, brains", they eat brains. Ernie asks why they eat brains and the half zombie says "the pain". Ernie asks "what about the pain" and she answers "the pain of being dead".
The Night Has a Thousand Eyes This is a cover of the theme music to The Return of the Living Dead.
Zombie vs Shark This is a reference to the movie Zombie Flesh Eaters by Lucio Fulci, in which a female scuba diver witnesses an altercation between a shark and a member of the undead.
Burning the Body This is a reference to Zombie Flesh Eaters 2, in which the corpses of the deceased return to the world of the living as a result of burning one of the infected cadavers. The lyric "zombies stumble through the traffic" refers to the final scene of Zombie Flesh Eaters in New York City, where the undead plague a bridge, and due to budget restrictions, the film makers couldn't afford to have the traffic stopped. Also, a sample from the movie can be heard at the start of the track.
Follow Your Programming This is a reference to the movie Zombie Flesh Eaters 2, in which the military blocks off the zombie infestation using force.
Resurrection Cemetery This song is a reference to Return of the Living Dead, about a specific scene in the film where a gang of 'punks' go to congregate in the local cemetery (bearing the name "Resurrection Cemetery" on its gates). Later on, zombies begin to crawl out from their graves and hunt down the gang.
Brains Opens with a sample of dialog from Return of the Living Dead Part II ("They want brains? We'll give 'em brains.")

References
  1. "B'Hellmouth speaks...to Guerilla Gig live", BBC, 2005, retrieved 15 September 2009
  2. Ross, Sarah (2006) "This Is Zombiecore: Send More Paramedics", Gigwise, 10 August 2006, retrieved 15 September 2009
  3. Hocking, Matt (2004) "Gigs/Review/Avenged Sevenfold, AKO and Send More Paramedics", Drowned in Sound, 27 February 2004, retrieved 15 September 2009
  4. Diver, Mike (2005) "Gigs/Review/Send More Paramedics", Drowned in Sound, 15 August 2005, retrieved 15 September 2009
  5. "Website Temporarily Unavailable". Adam-powell.com. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
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