Every good zombie movie has a killer soundtrack.
Whether it’s a hard rock, metal-palooza, where the only thing that seems more percussive than the shotgun blasts is the bass drum thumping out its beat-o-carnage. Or maybe it’s just an epic instrumental track that sets the mood like a low rolling fog on a full moon night. It slowly crescendos, until it erupts, and all hell breaks loose.
A New Death and its sequels are no different.
While some people cannot listen to music while they write, (because maybe they are purists and they cannot even fathom some other art form tainting their muse, or they simply can’t concentrate on the words they are penning in front of them while listening to someone else sing), I need music to write.
Writing in silence is weird. There’s this strange balance I need in order to write (well) and while complete silence drives me cuckoo for cocoa puffs, needless background noise (TV, I’m looking at you) is just as unhelpful.
I’ve always had a love for music and the fact that music and writing are so intertwined in my creative being, well, I’m no psychologist, but it just makes sense. I’m extremely cerebral (read: head in the clouds), so when I write, the music seeps in and marinates what I’m writing.
Which brings me back to zombies.
There are certain types of music that have influenced A New Death, some of which I make direct mention of in the book, while others, you can see similar themes.
Below are a list of songs/albums that are most likely playing when I’m writing about the zombie apocalypse found in A New Death. They appear in no particular order (Hello, shuffle!), and while I could go on and on about each individual song, I will not, but I have picked a few of my favorites to expound on. Enjoy.
Death of Me – Red
Fight Inside – Red
The Walking Dead Soundtrack: Sinking Man by Of Monsters and Men especially
Muse: Absolution was my first album by Muse and I cannot tell you how many times I have listened to it. From Apocalypse Please to Ruled by Secrecy, this album is a must for a post-apocalyptic soundtrack. I keep all of their albums on my mp3 player at all times.
Weak and Powerless – A Perfect Circle
The Deftones
The Pretender – The Foo Fighters
Korn: I mostly stick to the greatest hits album, but I did enjoy Get Up from The Path of Totality. Call me crazy, but I felt that Korn and Dubstep were made for each other.
Some Kind of Zombie – Audio Adrenaline
Sail – AWOLNATION
Zombie – The Cranberries: If there were a slow bluegrass version of this song, it would be perfect for A New Death. Someone make this happen!
The Man Who Sold the World – Nirvana
Sabotage – The Beastie Boys: If you’ve read the book, you know what’s up.
Video Game Music – This can be anything from the Tank music in Left 4 Dead to fan versions of the music from Doom. Special shout out to the instrumental piece in the trailer for Dead Island. If you have not seen that, do yourself a favor and do it right now. Easily better than 75% of the zombie movies out there.
Flagpole Sitta – Harvey Danger: Ok, when I picture the A New Death movie, this is the song the movie opens in and intros Jeremy at the grocery store. Hollywood, take notes.
The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash (Thanks Zach Snyder.)
Liar – The Henry Rollins Band
Sweet Dreams – Marilyn Manson: This song is used excellently in the movie Gamer during Cable’s escape.
Panic Switch – Silversun Pickups
Kill Everybody – Skrillex
Radiohead: Okay, Okay, I’m late to the Radiohead game, but man, where has this band been all my life? If the only song you’ve heard by this band is Creep, please go download Ok Computer right now. Wow, just wow.
Wait and Bleed – Slipknot: Also the song I imagine when Jeremy experiences the Rage for the first time.
Nine Inch Nails
Tool
The Widow – The Mars Volta
Joker and the Thief – Wolfmother
This isn’t everything I listen to, but there’s a good chance one of these songs/bands are playing when I do! If you want the full A New Death experience, go and download these songs, let ‘em marinate, and re-read.
Enjoy.
Josh
What songs would make your zombie apocalypse soundtrack?
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