Nicole Cumming
AMERA is a drum n bass/EDM trio from Los Angeles consisting of Brooke Adams (vocals), Mikael Oganes (keys), and Donovan Butez (guitar). Although they already played hundreds of shows worldwide, the three of them are not done spreading their talent around the world.
In honor of the lead vocalist of The Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan, AMERA released a cover of the band’s single, “Zombie”, as tribute to her recent passing.
Listening to their cover of “Zombie”, AMERA stays true to the original in the lyrical parts of the song. Once it gets to the instrumental parts where you’d normal hear drums, bass, and guitar, AMERA added their EDM touch to it. The band’s electronic sound gives the track a different feel and makes it much more danceable compared to The Cranberries alternative/rock sound.
Although AMERA’s version is nice to listen to, their electronic sound kind of takes away from the meaning of the song that the original portrays. Written by Dolores during the Cranberries’ English Tour in 1993, the song was written in response to the death of Johnathan Ball and Tim Parry, who were two young children that had been killed during a bombing in England by the Irish Republican Army in Warrington earlier that year.
“Zombie” became one of The Cranberries biggest hits, even though their record label originally didn’t want the band to release it due to the song’s political lyrics. So for us, dancing to a song with such deep meaning to it is a bit awkward.
In the original version of “Zombie”, you’re able to feel Dolores’ emotions backed up by the instruments being played in the background, compared to the electronic music in AMERA’s version. Their EDM sound makes the song seem more “fun” than it should be.” So we prefer less EDM, and more of Brooke’s stunning vocals that capture the lyrics of the song as she sings, “Another head hangs lowly / Child is slowly taken / And the violence caused such silence / Who are we mistaken,” and “In your head, in your head / Zombie, zombie, zombie.”
Despite liking the original better, AMERA’s version is still great in terms of sound, if you’re not thinking about what the lyrical content is talking about. Especially if you’re already a big fan of what goes into EDM music.
It was still extremely creative of AMERA to be able to change such an iconic song and make it sound good. Their sound just simply took away the meaning of the track for us.
How do you feel about AMERA’s cover of “Zombie” compared to The Cranberries’? Let us know on our Twitter and/or Facebook!
You can listen to AMERA’s cover of “Zombies” on SoundCloud below:
Wanna check out the band’s original music? You can find their self-titled EP, AMERA, available to listen and share on Bandcamp or Soundcloud.
If you love artists like The Cranberries, Deftones, Rush, Tool, Metallica, Slipknot, Hoobastank, and or Korn, you may love AMERA.
Connect with AMERA:
Official Website – http://www.ameramusic.com
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ameramusic/
Facebook – www.facebook.com/ameramusic
Twitter – https://twitter.com/ameramusic
SoundCloud – www.soundcloud.com/ameramusic
Bandcamp – www.amera.bandcamp.com
