"OG cult UK horror punks! Back from the dead for their just deserts, to claim the undead throne of British deathrockin’ power-punk. This is a macabre must FFO: Eloise-era Damned, TSOL, Bauhaus, Misfits, Naut, Virgin in Veil, Horror Vacui."
Join the Headfirst mailing list for our unbiased recommendations.
£10 adance, £12 on the door
A
gig
held at The Golden Lion
on Friday 13th December. The event starts at 20:00.
SCREAMING DEAD
Screaming Dead are a punk rock band from Cheltenham formed in 1980, who have often been characterized as "horror punk". They released several singles and EPs with indie chart success, before splitting up in 1985. They reformed in 1997; disbanded again in 1999; and reformed in 2014.
The band - named after the English title of Drácula contra Frankenstein, the 1972 horror film directed by Jesús Franco - was formed by guitarist Tony McCormack (later McKormack), who recruited former singer with The Waste, Sam Missile (Simon Bignall), bass guitarist Mal Page, and drummer Mark Ogilvie. The band built up a strong local following which spread farther afield with coverage in fanzines such as Gez Lowery's Rising Free and through sales of their demo tape. They followed their first tape with a more formal release, the Children of the Boneyard Stones cassette, which came with a badge and a copy of the band's own fanzine, Warcry. They then self-financed their debut vinyl release, the "Valley of the Dead" single, initially released on their own Skull Records label, but when it sold out of its first pressing within a week it was picked up by No Future records. The band's next release, the "Night Creatures" 12-inch single, saw them break into the UK Indie Chart, reaching number 22 in September 1983. While the band were at times tagged as Goths, the label was rejected by Bignall, who in a posthumous interview stated "Screaming Dead were a punk rock band, there's no doubt about that! We had a bit of an interest in the horror theme, and that was how we decided to present ourselves." For their next release, the band recorded a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" which was also an indie hit, and was recorded as a tribute of sorts to Brian Jones who is buried in their home town of Cheltenham.
The band reformed in 2014 with a line up of Sam Bignall, Mal Page, Mazzy, and Hugh Fairlie.
A MURDER OF CROWS
A Murder of Crows are a 5 piece Horror Punk band from Fife, Scotland. Formed in 2022, the crows have taken to flight across the UK telling Macabre tales of Scottish history & folklore set to a blend of gothic punk & traditional music.
DAS GHOUL
From the shadows of Oxfordshire…das GHOUL weave the darkest tales within a unique fusion of gothic-tinged, horror-stained, punk’n’roll terrorpop!