Exclusive Album Stream: VHS Salute Cannibal Horror’s Founding Father On Their Lenzi EP

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the genre of Italian horror, Umberto Lenzi was a film director best known for creating the first Italian cannibal film, Man From Deep River, and later directing films such as Eaten Alive! and Cannibal Ferox (better known to some as Make Them Die Slowly, a title that Rob Zombie would later borrow for one of White Zombie’s earliest records). And for those of you who aren’t big horror metal fans, VHS are a Canadian trio whose music pays homage to famous horror movies and their makers via grody, gooey death metal music. Now, the former have paid homage to the later with Lenzi, their new two-song EP which honors Umberto’s blood-stained legacy.

Fans of the band will notice that on the Lenzi EP, VHS actually explore some uncharted territory (which is appropriate for music dedicated to a director whose films often concerned being murdered after foolishly exploring uncharted territory). The band usually employ a fast-and-loose approach, with songs clocking in at the three-minute mark at their very longest. But both of the tracks on Lenzi come in at about nine minutes each, reveling in the gnarliness of their subject matter. The fact that “Primitive and Pissed Off” includes an oozing snarl of “THEY ATE HIS PENIS…” suggests that the Canadian trio were really taking their time to enjoy these songs, and the subject matter behind them.

Check out our exclusive album stream of VHS’ Lenzi EP below. The album drops this Friday, July 22nd, and is available for preorder on CD and cassette from Life After Death.