VHS Are The Horror Metal Band We Deserve

Maybe I’m a backwards traditionalist or a complete nerd (maybe both). but I like death metal best when it’s drenched in horror. I understand the desire to examine society’s ills or discuss cosmic angst, but, you know, fuck that, write a song about zombies and chainsaws.

And that’s why I love Ontario’s VHS. This grungy gore metal three-piece play killer tunes about ’80s horror flicks, and do so with all the straightforward disgustorama attitude of the murder scenes in those movies. And much like the format of their namesake, VHS have a stripped-down punk-infused atmosphere that channels classic death metal while at the same time adding a sense of madcap fun to it. It’s as much the soundtrack to a splatter movie as it is to a splatter movie marathon, empty beer cans and half-eaten bowls of popcorn strewn around the room, the glowing image of a teenager being eaten alive burning away at your retinas.

Listen to the band’s latest, Screaming Mad Gore, released independently April of this year, and then go watch Near Dark or Day of the Dead, because let’s face it, that would be more fun than anything else you’re doing.