Rob Zombie – The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser

Rob Zombie
The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser
Released 29th April 2016
Hard Rock/Industrial Rock
Released via Universal Music

The American hard rock artist and filmmaker Rob Zombie doesn’t need much of an introduction. He’s been a household name in the alternative music industry for decades. His fans fall into one or more of the following categories: a) fans of the his first music venture – metal band White Zombie, b) fans of his hard rock/industrial rock solo project Rob Zombie, or c) fans of his horror movies. Personally I fit best into the second category, even though I like the last White Zombie album and some of Rob Zombie’s movies. My first encounter with Rob Zombie’s music was hearing his song ‘Dragula’ in the film ‘The Matrix’. I now own a sizable collection of Rob Zombie albums; some are good, some not so great but so far the first two ‘Hellbilly Deluxe’ and ‘The Sinister Urge’ have been my firm favourites. Which brings me to his latest effort…(….deep breath…wait for it…):

THE ELECTRIC WARLOCK ACID WITCH SATANIC ORGY CELEBRATION DISPENSER

Yes…That’s quite a mouthful. Hmmm… I think that I will just refer to it as “The Electric Warlock…” from now on. The first track The Last The Demons Defeated is essentially an intro, creating that familiar-sounding, horror movie -style creepy atmosphere that the band is known for. The Life and Times of a Teenage Rock God has some of the cheesiest lyrics I’ve heard in a long while but it’s a catchy hard rock track that reminded me of Rob Zombie’s early works. Then there’s the funky, bat-shit crazy oddball that it is ‘Well, Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O – the song that had left me feeling puzzled ever since I saw the video for it on Youtube. I can’t really comprehend as to what the hell is going on on this track. As amusing and catchy as it might be, for some strange reason it doesn’t really sound like something you would expect to hear from Rob Zombie.

The two tracks that stood out the most for me were The Hideous Exhibitions of a Dedicated Gore Whore and In the Age of the Consecrated Vampire We All Get High. The first one has practically everything going for it, from the catchy chorus, to the playful rocking guitar and the eerie, horror soundtrack -style keyboards. The latter sports another ridiculously long title, which was shortened to ‘We Get High’ or simply ‘Get High’ for the video released. ‘Get High‘ is without a doubt my favourite song on here. Zombie’s vocals sound better than ever and the guitar work is fantastic. It’s also super catchy and has all the markings of a future Rob Zombie classic just like Dragula and Living Dead Girl. The rest of the album continues along the same path, offering more of the same cocktail of dark humour-filled lyrics, catchy groove metal, hard rock, industrial rock and of course horror themes. The final track, the slow and eerie-sounding Wurdalak is an exception, being not only the longest but also the most gloomy song on here due the grim sounds of the piano and ghastly vocals.

Overall, ‘The Electric Warlock…’ is a serious improvement compared to its predecessor ‘Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor’. Not only is the music much heavier but also the individual songs are far more distinctive and memorable. The ‘…U.F.O’ song takes some getting used to but other than that this album is everything that any Rob Zombie fan like me would have hoped for.

4/5

Iza Raittila

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