PopHorror Let's Get Scared
2016 has been a year of comebacks and returns: we have a TV show for The Exorcist, a remake of IT, and this past April a new album by Rob Zombie, three years after his last release. This too comes in the wake of a new film, multiple live albums, a comic book series, and numerous other projects. You have to hand it to the guy, he certainly keeps busy!
After parting ways with Roadrunner back in 2014, Zombie created his own label, Zodiac Swan, so that he could continue making music on his own terms; the first release off the label, Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor, was a bit of an oddball, combining elements of his previous works (grunge, B-movie rock, and some electronic influences) and making an album that seemed like it was trying too hard to be coherent. At least for my money, it was one of his least-interesting albums.
Now, however, Zombie has come back with a vengeance, releasing the impossible-to-remember-the-name-on-first-blush The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser, an in-your-face rock ride of fuzz and crunch. This is an album that sees Zombie at his most confident in years, and feels like he’s finally attempting an album that can attempt to reach past his normal audience – something that his last few albums seemed like they were unabashedly pandering to.
That being said, all of the normal Rob Zombie elements are here: the distorted vocals that seem to take on a different shape and tone on every song (a low growl here, a high phaser sound there, even a tremolo effect), the distorted, crunchy guitars, and of course the song themes every Zombie fan knows and loves – sex, death, and cars. And yet the familiar elements seem more alive here, more reinvigorated; you can feel the White Zombie influence more than ever before. And to be honest, it’s exciting to see this much energy from an artist well into his fifties, and well into his sixth album proper.
Of course, this album isn’t without its faults, including a couple of head-scratching instrumentation and effects choices (such as the afore-mentioned tremolo vocal effect on the verses of “In The Age of the Consecrated Vampire We All Get High”), and the B-movie intros teeter on the edge of overstaying their welcome, especially after hearing them more than six times throughout the record’s 31:23 run. However, they are usually used in a way that fits the songs and the mood of the album, so at the very least they blend in well with the rest of the shenanigans that Zombie’s lyrics get up to. Read through the Primus-inspired “Well, Everybody’s Fucking In A UFO” and tell me those lyrics aren’t completely awesome and / or insane.) Additionally, with the album being just over thirty minutes, it doesn’t have time to overstay its welcome.
In the end, the album ends up being a little front-heavy, with many of the best cuts appearing in the first seven tracks. This is a Rob Zombie party that you may have been to a few times before, but the fun-house has been re-painted, the wax museum has a few new additions, and the carnival workers all have a new change of clothes from the old, tired overalls they were always wearing before. Fans that are checking out Zombie for the first time (however that happened at this point in the game) will be introduced to the full extent of the artist’s weirdness, but it’s an enjoyable weirdness, and one that grows with repeated listens. The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser is a welcome return for Rob Zombie, and one of his best albums in years.
