Thursday, October 1, 2015

BATTLE OF THE BANDS: VAMPIRES


October is a spooky month, one of my favorites. I love it when something really scares me, makes me jump clear out of my skin. My kids are always trying to sneak up on me; rarely works. Got that third eye in the back of my head that always tells me where they are. That played havoc with daughter when she was a teen, sneaking out of the house at night. I'd be standing there watching her crawl through her bedroom window and say "you could have used the front door ya know. You have a key."

She'd just say that was unnatural. Really??  I hope she remembers this when her own daughters are teens in a couple years.

She was lucky not to get eaten by any Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, general monsters, or other more human predators. Not to mention the Mommy at the door waiting to club her brainless - but I restrained myself and found other ways to punish her - hehuchehuc.

With THE WALKING DEAD returning Oct 11 (birthday present from AMC) you'd think my Battle of the Bands post would be about ZOMBIES. Buuut, there just isn't anything out there with covers that appeal to me. You'd be surprised how many instrumentals there are with "zombie" attached to the title. And yes, I considered Michael Jackson's THRILLER and Rob Zombie's LIVING DEAD GIRL. I have not found any covers for those, but of course, NOBODY could ever possibly do THRILLER as well as Michael Jackson (yes, I grieve for the fabulous artist he was).

The BATTLE OF THE BANDS list of participants is growing so big now I'm sure someone will find covers for all the usual Halloween monster songs. Here today, you get a Vampire song. I'm busy writing on a couple short stories for submission before the end of the month, so I'll just leave off the song/artist write-up and get strait to the horror.

Entombed: Night of the Vampire




Black Debbah: UPDATE; This is a German, metal band. Germans do not pronounce the letter V; instead, they us a W. Hense, this band is singing NIGHT OF THE WAMPIRE.




When you are done voting here be sure to haunt our hosts Stephen T McCarthy and Far Away Eyes. Give 'em all hell for me.

26 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Entombed might be the original, but Black Debbath actually did the song better. (Considering the repetitiveness of the song, I use that term loosely.) Their version is cleaner. They get my vote.
Also hard to take a metal band serious when their video is mostly them playing in the snow.
And actually, Entombed's version is a cover. Isn't it odd the songs that get covered?

L. Diane Wolfe said...

The first singer is almost growling and I've never been a fan of growling lyrics. I'd have to go with number 2.

Pat Hatt said...

The first was way too hard on the head for me, second much better. Gets my vote.

Yolanda Renée said...

Entombed: Night of the Vampire gets my vote.
Must have been their playing in the snow! :)

Arlee Bird said...

My preference would be the original by Roky Erickson, but it's good to see one of his songs represented by someone else besides me. Good choice.

Between the choices I have to hand my vote to the version by Black Debbah which I find to be musically superior to the one by entombed although they are very similar. The first guys voice just isn't as pleasant for me to listen to.

Black Debbah!

Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out

Stephanie Faris said...

The first one, I'm thinking. That type of music isn't really my thing, but I can appreciate that others like it! Check this out, though--it's a cover of Thriller by a band called The Lovecrave:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT9VZB4Rhmk

dolorah said...

Alex: both are covers. I forgot to mention who the original was, but I remember I didn't care for it.

Diane: lol, that growling is what nix'd a couple other contenders from the battle.

Thanks Pat

Yolanda: like Alex said, hard to take the band serious with that video. It looked more like a zombie scene though, so I had to include it :)

Arlee: oh, yes Roky was the original! I had forgot who it was, just that the recording wasn't well done and I didn't like it much. Dang, he had a lot of songs up on uTube with that album. Some were pretty good. I don't think this song can be done very well.

Stephanie: thanks for the video. They did pretty well; her voice is so masculine. And I missed hearing Vincent Price at the end.

Cathy Kennedy said...

Donna, well, it's no surprise this is new-to-me. Entombed does sound more evil...scarier, but I actually like Black Debbah better. So, give my vote to them!

Michele at Angels Bark said...

I didn't like Entombed version at all. Too growly. He sounded like a monster and maybe that's the point, but I didn't get it. I did like Black Debbah's version. It was clearer and easier to understand. And for that, they get my vote.
Happy Birthday coming up. GREAT gift from AMC!! Lol. Have you been watching Fear the Walking Dead? If so, what do you think about it??

Michele at Angels Bark

Cherdo said...

Totally gotta vote for Black debbath; I'd never heard this song before but it rocks the Halloween vibe. Perfect for October.

Stephen T. McCarthy said...

OH DONNA ~
I liked that story about you and your daughter. Pretty funny - both what you said and her response about it being "unnatural". Ha!-Ha!

I vote for Black Sabbath... er-- I mean, Black Debbah. But even they made me laugh. That singer(?) sounds like he's singing "NIGHT OF THE WAMPIRE", like he's Elmer Fudd.
[:-)

~ D-FensDogG
'Loyal American Underground'

farawayeyes said...

I usualy don't read the other comments before I vote, but since McCarthy's was right there I couldn't resist.

Elmer Fudd - I can't stop laughing, and I have to agree with him. What in the heck was that about?

Grins and Giggles aside I have to give the Fudd boy of Black Debbah my vote, I hate the growling demonic voice used in the first version.

Hauntings appreciated. LOL

Dixie@dcrelief said...

Hi Donna!
Is it me or does # 1 - Entombed - sound like John McKay of Steppenwolf? LOL. Coincidentally, there's nothing like being biten in the snow (see future blog post for details.)The guitar was really nice. Loved the ending.

On the other hand, # 2 - Black Debbah - is he saying 'Wampire'? Holy moly- he is! Enjoyed the drums.

Wammit - what a choice!!! My vote goes to Entombed - I see a future for them - beyond the land of the ice and snow... in a galaxy, far, far away.

Good battle.

Dixie

Janie Junebug said...

I vote for Black Debbah. I don't have any dramatic reason. I just prefer their sound. But why is he singing wampire?

Love,
Janie

dolorah said...

OK, I updated the post to explain that Black Debbah is a German metal band, and Germans do not use the letter V. So you get NIGHT OF THE WAMPIRE. Sorry folks, I should have explained that before posting.

Cathy: I thought Entombed was more evil sounding too.

Michele: oh yeah, I've been watching. I like it. I like that this group is not initially out running around the country side. Makes the possibility much more believable.

Cherdo: yep, perfect :)

Saint Mac: We've always been a hilarious pair. Still are, lol. Yep, he is singing Wampire (see my updated explaination). Nobody teases Ramstein, huh. I had to take a second look at their name also.

FAE: Elmer Fudd sound does take all the terror out of the song, lol. I loved that too.

Dixie: Hmm, now I am curious Polka Dot. I'm thinking Werewolves, but there are other monsters out there. Hopefully not Big Foot :) When Black Debbah sings in their language, they are scary; much scarier than Stephenwolf. Now that's what I'll hear when I listen to Entombed again.

Janie: This is a hard choice. I think I'd like either of them better in any other song.

Debbie D. said...

I like metal, but I'm not a fan of the "death metal" sub-genre, which considers guttural growling to be singing. Black Debbath gets my vote here. Their version is easier on the ears.

Denise Covey said...

Both of these are suitably creepy, but I'd go with no 2, even though vampires are growly monsters!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Donna - love the story of your daughter ... I wonder what she will be like with her children?! I can't decide .. but love the name Black Debbath ... cheers Hilary

John Holton said...

Vampires are not exactly my favorite subject, regardless, but anyway...

I liked Black Debbah's version better than Entombed's, wampire and all. Hey, is that what happens to George Michael if he gets bitten by Dracula?

Jeffrey Scott said...

I've never liked songs where I feel I'm being shouted at. That was the impression I got immediately with Entombed. Black Debbah didn't feel so shouty, so I'm going to give them my vote.

Robin said...

I admit I read the comments while I was listening. (What other people think doesn't affect how I vote:) But StMc cracked me up with the Elmer Fudd comment. I was still listening to the Entombed version, but was now really looking forward to hearing the other one.

Must say that I agree with the comments about Entombed. Their sound is super gravelly, which translates to shouting. Add that to the gravelly music and it wasn't appealing to this ear.

Of course, Black Debbah had me laughing all the way through. Each time they said "wampire" I thought of Elmer Fudd. However, all and still, I much preferred their interpretation of the song. Chalk one for Black Debbah.

Birgit said...

The first one hurt my ears- It was painful so I vote for black Debbah-they seem a bit better although this music is not my cup o'tea

Anonymous said...

I love the Black Debbath one. He's got a great voice.

Guilie Castillo said...

Black Debbath for me, too. Can't say I'd choose either song to listen with any regularity, but my ears found Debbath's version less aggressive :) Cool choices for the month, Dolorah!
Guilie @ Quiet Laughter

A Beer for the Shower said...

Not a big fan of the growly, but I did enjoy Black Debbath's version. It's a lot of fun. Bring on the wampires.

Mike said...

My vote goes for Black Debbath, I liked the vocals better and they sound more polished.