Rob Zombie has become a staple of heavy metal through his band White Zombie and his films like “The Devil’s Rejects” and “Halloween.” His latest album is anything but a radical departure. It’s rough, angry, aggressive and, at times, quite funny. There are riveting samples from old movies and barely audible vocals, but for an album that has this much fun, it doesn’t matter. Zombie’s latest offering, “The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser,” is, for better or worse, concise and consistent.
The first thing one may note about the album is its lengthy title, and that title carries over to the songs themselves. The song titles are long, but ironically, nearly every song comes in under three minutes. There’s no pausing for breath between songs, and the guitar never lets up. No time is wasted, and no introductions are necessary.
The song “In the Age of the Consecrated Vampire We All Get High,” is emblematic of the entire album. An electric guitar and a synth keyboard swiftly combine with uproarious drums and are then joined by a growling Zombie. This song is a bit more tech-driven, with the emphasis on “a bit.” Most of the album could be played in a grunge-style garage, but samples and the occasional synthesizer do pop up. The track ends with Zombie yelling, “Get high!” repeatedly, and it moves seamlessly into the next song, “Super-Doom-Hex-Gloom, Pt. 1,” which kicks in with an old movie sample about slaughter. Every track is pretty similar, and most blend into one another without much stylistic difference. The album was a breeze to listen to at just 31 minutes.
The vocals aren’t crisp, but they shouldn’t be. It’s hard to tell what exactly Zombie is yelling, but more often than not, it’s about monsters and blood. This fits the style that Zombie is going for here: shock rock. Zombie has the mad persona to back his grizzled voice. Combined with John 5 on the electric guitar, a fun metal album is born.
“The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser” is exactly what its title alludes to: It’s a messy celebration of self-destruction. Though the tracks all sound similar, it’s so radically different from anything in the pop zeitgeist that it’s worth a listen.
