With Halloween only two weeks away, it’s time to ramp up the ghoul flicks and the terror jams!

Danish psychobilly legends Nekromantix are perhaps the greatest of their kind, taking what Reverend Horton Heat laid down for them and their punk-slappy imitators. We’re talking rockabilly trio style with guitar, drum and standup bass, 1950s style rock ‘n roll juiced by a speed freak’s wherewithal, almost always set to horror themes.

Since 1989, Kim Nekroman has been thwacking the tar out of his trademark coffin bass with terrror odes that swing and bop in Duane Eddy and Gene Vincent fashion in one breath, setting velocity records of madcap horror ‘core for more than half of each Nekromantix album.

2007’s Life is a Grave and I Dig It! is perhaps the group’s best and most polished album (though I favor 1992’s Brought Back to Life and 2002’s Return of the Loving Dead for their fearless bravado), for certain their greatest guitar work delivered by Troy Destroy, who is genius level here.

Shred!

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.