Rob Zombie’s The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser is More of the Same, Good and Bad

By Jeff Feuerhaken

First things first. I am a Rob Zombie fan. For anyone obsessed with music and movies, and especially with making music and movies, it’s damn near impossible not to respect the career Rob Zombie has made for himself in both arenas. My fascination with the man takes me all the way back to 1992, with the release of White Zombie’s La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One. The music on that album was right up my alley, but it was the music videos I saw on Headbangers Ball (back when MTV had music) such as Thunder Kiss ’65 and Black Sunshine that were so overflowing with style, so new and fresh, that they captured my attention and allegiance in the same instant. Once I discovered that these music videos were directed by the singer of the band himself, I was even more impressed. Here was a creative visionary whose imagination went far beyond just the music he and his band created. Fast forward to a solo music career now spanning six albums (and a gang of EPs and collections) and five feature films under his belt, and it’s safe to say I was right about my instincts about Mr. Robert Zombie. His latest album, titled The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser (say that three times fast) is a reminder of what I love about his music, but is also a reminder of where I think he tends to go wrong.

First, let’s talk about the good. The reason I often love to throw on a Rob Zombie album every now and then is because of the specific mood and feel of it. The music has somehow managed to convert campy B-movie spookiness into a pure audio form to surprising success. Of course, this is largely in part to the inclusion of actual sound bites from said movie genre, and perhaps even more so due to the imagery captured in the (usually) fantastic self-directed music videos. There is something about the music itself, however, that strikes this particular chord in me, and in such songs as Satanic Cyanide! The Killer Rocks On, The Life And Times Of A Teenage Rock God, and the video single In The Age Of The Consecrated Vampire We All Get High, this classic Rob Zombie tone is evident. And it stokes me out.

Which brings me to the bad. I had seen a music video from a track off a recent Rob Zombie album, which was a cover of Grand Funk Railroad’s We’re An American Band, and I was instantly put off. Everything I loved about the complete Rob Zombie package seemed to have been tossed aside in favor of this arena rock aesthetic, and all I remember thinking was “Oh no. This is not good. Rob Zombie is transforming himself into Kid Rock.” This new, middle-America pandering version of Rob Zombie is also here on Electric Warlock, most clearly in the tracks Get Your Boots On! That’s The End Of Rock And Roll and The Hideous Exhibitions Of A Dedicated Gore Whore. The biggest disappointment for me, however, was not in the music itself but in an area where Rob Zombie typically shines: the music video. The first single off the album, Well, Everybody’s Fucking In A U.F.O. is a good enough song, although not necessarily remarkable. Rob Zombie channels his inner Primus so much so that it sounds like Les Claypool is on guest vocals, but the music rocks well enough. The music video, however, features a quirky intro featuring Zombie’s wife, Sherri Moon Zombie, that just goes on for daaaaaaays, and in my humble opinion, is neither funny nor interesting. By the time the song finally kicks in, I was already completely over it. I applaud the Zombie family for their relationship goals-inspiring collaborations, but I’m not interested in any music video with a minutes-long intro that isn’t named Thriller.

As much as I love and respect Rob Zombie as a creative enigma, i still can’t help but think that he peaked musically way back in 1998 with his solo debut, Hellbilly Deluxe. There are still plenty of interesting moments here in Electric Warlock, though, and therefore I fully endorse checking out this new album. The music is typical Rob Zombie fare: relatively simple, with a even mix of metal and arena anthem rock, and a generous helping of the requisite B-movie sound bites. It’s a fun album, but I feel that the diminishing returns setting in each time he releases a new album. I almost hate to be so critical, because I am so in awe of all of his accomplishments in so many different areas, but I gotta be real. Maybe I’m just hoping he doubles down on a return to his creepier persona before he dies his hair blonde like Kid Rock and starts singing Skynyrd covers.

Score: 5/8 stars

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