Zombies are metal as fuck. Emaciated, blood-soaked and ravenous for human flesh, they’ve been inspiring brutal music and album covers for decades, and they’ve proven just as fascinating to the mainstream as well. So, as 28 Years Later proves the enduring popularity of the undead by dominating the box office, we at Metal Hammer asked our writers what albums they’d pick to soundtrack their post-apocalyptic killing spree. From Metallica to Spiritualized, we received some diverse answers – and some pretty compelling reasons behind each pick.
Metallica – Kill ’Em All (1983)
Metallica have previous with soundtracking zombie apocalypses: For Whom The Bell Tolls at the start of Zombieland is an all-time great needledrop. With that in mind, I’m spinning Kill ’Em All. Not only does the Four Horsemen’s game-changing debut provide the perfect mission statement with which to dispatch some lumbering wankers, but its searing thrash metal attack would give me the energy to chop and headshot long into the night. Merlin Alderslade
Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine (1992)
If you are faced with a crumbling society and the end of the world, then why not go out swinging with the angriest sounds you can? Rage Against The Machine’s debut album furiously told us that we’re all fucked and, with the threat of a zombie ready to gnaw your face off, it would make sense to keep yourself pumped up and with your wits about you. Bombtrack, Wake Up, Know Your Enemy… there’d be no better soundtrack to the utter havoc. Stephen Hill
Spiritualized – Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (1997)
People have the wrong idea if they want to survive a zombie apocalypse. Why bother? Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space has soundtracked many of my life’s most important moments – it played me out at my wedding, I still sing the lullaby-like Cool Waves to my son to get him to sleep at night – so why not my demise, too? I would simply lie back and let the looping space rock take me to another realm as the zombies wreak their carnage. Briony Edwards
Meshuggah – Nothing (2002)
Fighting for my life against a zombie horde is one of the most intense things I can imagine doing, so I’d complement that with the most intense band in the world. Though any Meshuggah album would be a suitable soundtrack for massacring flesh-eaters, I’m picking Nothing because it’s the best. It’s the moment where Umeå’s finest reached apotheosis and fully shed their thrash metal skin, plus it has cranium-crusher Rational Gaze. Perfect! Matt Mills
Murderdolls – Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls (2002)
My precious, tasty brain would undoubtedly kick into high-stress survival mode during a zombie apocalypse, so I hardly see myself appreciating the nuances of Dream Theater when the undead are bashing at my door. That’s why I’m picking Beyond The Valley Of The Murderdolls. It’s simple, silly, obnoxious horror-glam metal, with tracks like She Was A Teenage Zombie offering insight into the living dead. You’ve got to know your enemy, after all. Serena Cherry
Electric Wizard – Time To Die (2014)
Time To Die is a mind-melter with riffs so dread-drenched it feels as though the end times really might be upon us. Incense For The Damned would be the perfect song for people who’d rather be zonked out of their minds than battling the undead, Jus Oborn declaring he wants to ‘get high before I die’. We Love The Dead’s cynicism offers a different perspective: what if the true life-sucking zombies of the world are the wealth-obsessed? Liz Scarlett
40 Watt Sun – Perfect Light (2022)
It’s tempting to go for the most fucked-up record I can think of and gleefully fantasise about slaying hordes of infected. But, as satisfying as getting gory to Anaal Nathrakh’s Endarkenment would be, you need a soundtrack that has emotional gravitas worthy of the apocalypse. Who better than post-doom heroes 40 Watt Sun? Perfect Light feels like it was made by a band who’ve witnessed the end of everything, feeling heartbreaking yet oddly comforting at the same time. Rich Hobson
