WHITE ZOMBIE

Band: WHITE ZOMBIE

Genres: Metal / Thrash / Rock / Cinema / Grunge / Industrial / Techno
Related artists: Rob Zombie, Scum Of The Earth, Rights Of The Accursed, The Cult, Exodus, Helmet, Testament, Youth Gone Mad, Psychotica, Da Willys, Last Crack and Angel Rot.
Country: New York City, USA
Years Active: 1985-1998
Song: "El Phantasmo And The Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama"
Album: "Astro-Creep: 2000"
Year: 1995
Label(s): Geffen Records
This post's artist is from the May 2014 Mix. This is track #30.
You can download the May 2014 Mix#5 right here or get the new June Mix#6 here.
For fans of: Pantera, Ministry, Nirvana, Motorhead and a lot of other 90s grunge/metal.

Brian Chamblee knows. Maybe you just have to be old enough to remember a time in the early-mid 90s when there wasn't a lot of decent heavy music to listen to. Thank the metal gods for WHITE ZOMBIE.

One of the most influential memories I have is a plane trip from Canada to England when I was about 12, on which a guy whom I was sitting next to noticed my Pantera shirt and said I'd like this band called WHITE ZOMBIE. He pulled out a cd (which happened to be 'La Sexoricisto: Devil Music Vol. 1') and I was instantly hooked. Once we landed in England I was constantly scouring cd shops for this cd. When I found it, my parents didn't let me purchase it because the first track was titled, "Welcome To The Planet / Psychoholic Slag". They were not a fan. That certainly was instrumental in me NOT liking this album as much as I was only able to buy 'Astro-Creep: 2000' which became vastly superior in my mind as I only had access to that album. Therefore when speaking about WHITE ZOMBIE, I'm generally referring to 'Astro-Creep: 2000'.

Describing WHITE ZOMBIE is difficult, although hearing them and making your own description is probably pretty easy. For me, they sound like a cross between heavy grunge like Nirvana and Mudhoney mixed with parts of Pantera and Ministry. In the end, they just sound like WHITE ZOMBIE.

Now, let's be honest, Rob Zombie doesn't have a lot of melodic range. He also doesn't scream or growl or yell. It's like...a monotonous croon with rock/metal sass. Okay, there are times (especially on the older material) where he let's a scream go here and there, but generally he kind of sings/talks. In so many ways I shouldn't like these vocals, but I confess I love them. They are really catchy and fit the music to a fucking T. Speaking of which, the instrumental section of the band is superb. The heavy/chugging riffs in "Creature Of The Wheel", the pulsating industrial palm-muting of "I Zombie", the really cool sampled intro from one of the Charles Manson cult interviews in "Real Solution #9" and the sweet metallic/thrash riffs of "Super-Charger Heaven" are merely a few of the gems on this album.

I have to discuss my favourite song before this review is done. "El Phantasmo And The Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama" is without a doubt my most cherished WHITE ZOMBIE track. It starts with what sounds like a ship tearing through a wormhole and then the opening riff kicks in and knocks you on your ass. The song then takes an interesting turn and injects some bouncy/jungle drums as well as some electronic samples. I'm guessing this was the creative catalyst for more of Rob Zombie's shittier songs in the future, but luckily this one remains untainted even after almost 2 decades.

This may not initially appeal to some people and others may dig it right away. I understand this style has been through the mainstream meat grinder since, but this band and 'Astro-Creep: 2000' were extremely important to my musical upbringing.

On one last note, I should advise against listening to "More Human Than Human" with your parents in the car. Things could get weird.

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DISCOGRAPHY

The band's discography is massive with a bunch of singles that I'm not going to list, check the full discography here!

1987 - Soul Crusher 12"LP

1989 - Make Them Die Slowly cd/cassette/12"LP

1992 - La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1 cd/cassette/12"LP

1995 - Astro-Creep: 2000 cd/cassette/12"LP

1996 - Supersexy Swingin' Sounds cd/cassette/2x12"LP (remixes album)

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(1995) WHITE ZOMBIE - "Real Solution #9" (from 'Astro-Creep: 2000')

(1995) WHITE ZOMBIE - "Creature of the Wheel" (from 'Astro-Creep: 2000')

(1995) WHITE ZOMBIE - "El Phantasmo and the Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama" (from 'Astro-Creep: 2000')

(1996) WHITE ZOMBIE - "The One" (from 'Escape From L.A.' soundtrack)

(1992) WHITE ZOMBIE - "Thunderkiss '65" (from 'La Sexocisto: Devil Music Vol. 1') official music video

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You can grab their stuff online. I ain't getting mixed up with major labels like this.

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