Zombi

An instrumental duo with a remarkably massive sound, Zombi are equally inspired by horror movie soundtrack maestros like <a href="spotify:artist:0hxQtmgWiPtEsDPeIuKxXq">John Carpenter</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7H92g6n1BvyzvQwaERZKZl">Goblin</a>, electronic pioneers such as <a href="spotify:artist:1BGN1IdyiSR0ZYrkoKNchl">Tangerine Dream</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4P70aqttdpJ9vuYFDmf7f6">Vangelis</a>, and prog rock wizards like <a href="spotify:artist:7M1FPw29m5FbicYzS2xdpi">King Crimson</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3CkvROUTQ6nRi9yQOcsB50">Genesis</a>. Frequently eschewing guitar in favor of bass, drums, and plenty of analog synths, Zombi's fascination with horror scores peaked on 2004's debut album, Cosmos. Their horizons expanded with the vintage prog homages of 2006's Surface to Air and the fusions of Italo-disco and Krautrock on 2011's Escape Velocity, which presented different -- but equally genuine -- incarnations of their music. As the sounds Zombi championed early on became more popular in the 2010s, they switched gears. Following their 2013 bucket-list tour with <a href="spotify:artist:7H92g6n1BvyzvQwaERZKZl">Goblin</a>, they went in a heavier, more rock-oriented direction, and 2015's Shape Shift, the riff-laden 2020, and 2024's improvisation-based Direct Inject suggested Zombi's epic sound and capacity for reinvention were limitless.

When multi-instrumentalist <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Steve Moore</a> and drummer A.E. Paterra joined forces as Zombi in 2000, they were both veterans of Pittsburgh's metal and no wave music scenes: <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> was a member of <a href="spotify:artist:25uibxHT7AgLiQrQx1ZZBc">Microwaves</a>, while Paterra played with <a href="spotify:artist:2C47zp3NaACAfF1xPvhOvU">the 1985</a>. They were also steeped in the area's horror legacy. <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> grew up in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, where George A. Romero shot his 1978 classic Dawn of the Dead at the local mall; Paterra hailed from nearby Canonsburg, and his aunt worked on special effects wizard Tom Savini's 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead. They bonded over their shared love of <a href="spotify:artist:7H92g6n1BvyzvQwaERZKZl">Goblin</a>'s music for Romero's films, and took inspiration from the Italian band's work for their own, more rock-oriented style.

Naming themselves for the Italian title for Dawn of the Dead, Zombi made their recorded debut in 2001 with a self-titled, self-released album, and followed it with 2003's Twilight Sentinel EP. Their eerie-yet-heavy sound and frequent tours won them fans in the horror community, and the opportunity to compose their first score came with Adam Wingard's 2003 debut film, Home Sick. In 2004, Zombi signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Relapse+Records%22">Relapse Records</a>, which released their official debut album, Cosmos, that August. That year, they also created the soundtrack for Nick Palumbo's Murder-Set-Pieces. In 2005, <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> and Paterra issued The Zombi Anthology, a limited-edition collection of their earliest releases, on their own VCO label. In addition, <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> struck out on his own to compose the score to the documentary Horror Business. In May 2006, Zombi released Surface to Air, a fuller and more expansive take on their style, and continued to tour extensively for the rest of the year.

<a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> and Paterra decided to take a break from their intense live schedule after their 2007 tour with <a href="spotify:artist:1YFIyRFTa7povIpq08DcCA">Trans Am</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:67ghwb8I2NMFCW8Z8ZAFVO">the Psychic Paramount</a> ended. By the time of December 2007's Digitalis EP, Zombi were essentially a studio project. With <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> in New York and Paterra in Pittsburgh, the pair engaged in long-distance collaboration, building tracks by sharing files of their individual performances. This approach dovetailed with the more synth-heavy, electronic direction their music took starting with February 2009's Spirit Animal. Around the same time, Zombi issued a split album with their good friends Maserati. Later that year, Paterra released his solo debut as <a href="spotify:artist:2AH3OXepgYRFkVsu846PKA">Majeure</a>, Timespan, on that band's home, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Temporary+Residence%22">Temporary Residence</a>. When Maserati's drummer Jerry Fuchs died in a tragic accident that November, <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> helped the band complete the final album they recorded with Fuchs, Pyramid of the Sun, and Paterra played drums on their tour in support of it. During this time, <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> and Paterra worked on other projects, together and on their own, that included the 2011 <a href="spotify:artist:2AH3OXepgYRFkVsu846PKA">Majeure</a> EP Synthesizer of the Gods. In May of that year, they returned as Zombi with Escape Velocity, their most dance-influenced album yet.

After Escape Velocity's release, <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> and Paterra further expanded their horizons with their projects outside of Zombi. Along with collaborating on 2012's Brainstorm, a split release between <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2AH3OXepgYRFkVsu846PKA">Majeure</a>, their other releases included <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a>'s album Light Echoes; Burning Feeling, the debut from his solo project <a href="spotify:artist:4XJu172tX3p3XS0jXHMSjT">Lovelock</a>; Mercury, the first full-length from his collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:4hfjxFMQMZHryumdPSIFTS">Daniel O'Sullivan</a> as <a href="spotify:artist:28VQJJAPiTYsyOGcFNNAcQ">Miracle</a>; and <a href="spotify:artist:2AH3OXepgYRFkVsu846PKA">Majeure</a>'s second album, Solar Maximum. The duo revived Zombi in 2013 when they got the chance to support their heroes <a href="spotify:artist:7H92g6n1BvyzvQwaERZKZl">Goblin</a> on the veteran band's U.S. tour. For their first live dates in six years, <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> and Paterra played a set of vintage Zombi material that was so well-received that <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> became an auxiliary keyboardist for <a href="spotify:artist:7H92g6n1BvyzvQwaERZKZl">Goblin</a> on the tour's later dates. Playing live rekindled their love for the heavier side of their music, and as they continued to work on their own projects (such as <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a>'s scores for the Wingard film The Guest and the Belgian film Cub), they planned their first Zombi album in four years. Recorded at Pittsburgh's Machine Age Studios and <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a>'s own central New York studio, October 2015's Shape Shift was some of the duo's heaviest and most direct music since Surface to Air. That year, <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Relapse%22">Relapse</a> also reissued The Zombi Anthology.

For a few years, Paterra and <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> returned to their other obligations. Paterra juggled his duties in <a href="spotify:artist:4OMC8TnBYqmtKM23XZcI9O">Contact</a>, the duo he formed with filmmaker/musician <a href="spotify:artist:2IxMMdaV5XLxM4PS9LKq3N">Paul Lawler</a>, with his work as <a href="spotify:artist:2AH3OXepgYRFkVsu846PKA">Majeure</a> and composed the score to the 2018 film The Cure. Meanwhile, <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> reunited with <a href="spotify:artist:4hfjxFMQMZHryumdPSIFTS">O'Sullivan</a> for 2018's <a href="spotify:artist:28VQJJAPiTYsyOGcFNNAcQ">Miracle</a> album Strife of Love in a Dream and issued the solo album Beloved Exile the following year. He also remained busy as a composer, creating the scores for films including 2017's Mayhem and a pair of 2020 features by director Joe Beegis, Bliss and VFW. The latter two scores used more guitar than most of <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a>'s music, an approach that rubbed off on Zombi's next album, 2020. Released in July of its namesake year, it built on Shape Shift's prog rock epics and featured additional guitar courtesy of <a href="spotify:artist:1YFIyRFTa7povIpq08DcCA">Trans Am</a>'s Phil Manley. The duo's May 2021 EP Liquid Crystal expanded on 2020's sound with more moody, rangy, guitar- and synth-driven explorations. A year later, they teamed up with members of <a href="spotify:artist:0q32a3GRCjDxS4EIrC7YVY">the Sword</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1YFIyRFTa7povIpq08DcCA">Trans Am</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:60Ob6q8BCjykLBKuF5aroP">Pinkish Black</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2vqfIznyoJDjhrbNAueQ6s">Zao</a> on Zombi & Friends, Vol. 1, which found them interpreting songs by <a href="spotify:artist:39T6qqI0jDtSWWioX8eGJz">the Doobie Brothers</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2JSjCHK79gdaiPWdKiNUNp">Dionne Warwick</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0jgAONnsHxrwAlhkMUVS78">Eddie Rabbit</a> among others.

In between tours with <a href="spotify:artist:0q32a3GRCjDxS4EIrC7YVY">the Sword</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:4hCgC4FnYZLBgQPUMLOoiI">OM</a>, Zombi started work on their seventh album in late 2022. <a href="spotify:artist:7kcEevbRjcqtpjVgoYcq05">Moore</a> and Paterra improvised ideas at their friend <a href="spotify:artist:0o0wlespkjPyfyviFcnVdP">Fred Weaver</a>'s studio in Clearfield, Pennsylvania, then fine-tuned them at their own home studios. Appearing 20 years after Cosmos' release, Direct Inject arrived in March 2024. Featuring contributions from Manley and <a href="spotify:artist:2vqfIznyoJDjhrbNAueQ6s">Zao</a> percussionist Jeff Gretz, the album ranged from synth-driven hard rock to R&B-inspired slow jams.~ Heather Phares