I am extremely picky about my metal music. Personally, I think the genre has a real poser problem. If I’m putting on something heavy, I do not want to hear you whine about how life's so hard and nobody gets you. If that’s what you’re going to write about, you may as well stick to pop-punk. I want to hear about murder, demons, sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. Let me have your Alice Coopers, your Motorheads, your Skindreds, and keep the rest. I believe this taste was heavily influenced by my having seen the first Beavis and Butt-Head movie way too young. Particularly, the scene where the boys almost die in the Mojave, all set to the best song ever written, “Ratfinks, Suicide Tanks, and Cannibal Girls” by White Zombie. I was hooked from the second I heard that first chilling synthesizer wail out. My obsession only spiraled from there. There is exactly one king of rock ‘n’ roll, and that’s Rob Zombie. Finally, after five years of waiting, Mr. Zombie has given us some new music; three songs to tease his upcoming album “The Great Satan,” and you know I just had to break these new tunes down for you. So, let’s get into it.
Our first new track is “Punks and Demons,” which released in October of last year. This one is fast and angry, a real return to form. It’s reminiscent of “Educated Horses” era Rob Zombie; if you popped this on a playlist between “American Witch” and “The Devil’s Rejects,” it would blend in seamlessly. It is rather short, only running about two and a half minutes. It also stays pretty consistent, not venturing far from the track it sets in the first twenty seconds. These two things combined make me think that this may be the opening tune off of the album. If it’s not, well then it should be. This screams first song. It introduces you to what you’re getting into and gets you pumped for what’s to come without giving away any of the tricks the album has waiting for you.
Next is “Heathen Days,” which is also very short, in fact even shorter than “Punks and Demons,” running just two minutes and eighteen seconds. This tune, however, takes you on a trip so intense, it’s difficult to believe it’s jammed into such a short runtime. “Heathen Days” is more like what we’ve come to expect from Rob Zombie in the last decade. It’s got the classic screeching guitars and drums that bang so hard they sound like an engine about to throw a rod, and the various sound effects and samples that are iconic in the Zombie catalog. It also had a persistent effect that sounds sort of like the noise railroad crossings make when there’s a train approaching. You know that constant ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. This gives the song an industrial undertone that is evocative of Rob’s White Zombie roots.
The final of our three new tunes is “(I’m a) Rock "N" Roller. This one takes things down a pace. It’s not quite as in-your-face-aggressive as the previous two tracks, but don’t be confused; you’re not getting into some “Goodbye to Romance” like ballad. This one is modern Rob Zombie. If I had to pick out a specific era to compare it to, I would say it fits in most with his work on “Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor” and “The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser.” It’s a little goofy and kind of funky, but entirely Rob Zombie. It’s got that nefarious edge to it that makes me want to steal a car and drive it smack through the front door of an immigration enforcement office at top speed. If ever you had any doubts that, after forty years leading the metal scene, Rob Zombie could still produce, “(I’m a) Rock "N" Roller” will dispel them.
“The Great Satan” drops February 27th, which feels like it’s a lifetime away, but what are you going to do? Genius's take time. While we wait, we have these three songs to rock out to, and with any luck, we may just get one more before the LP comes out. So, hunker down to weather the storm, enjoy these tunes, maybe paired with seventeen or eighteen viewings of “The Devil’s Rejects,” and give praise to the infernal rock god. For he is preparing for us a bounty of demonic delight.
