Rob Zombie The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic

Personnel: Rob Zombie (vocals); John Five (guitar); Zeuss (keyboards, programming); Ginger Fish (drums).
Audio Mixer: Zeuss.
Recording information: Goathouse Studios.
Photographer: Rob Fenn.
The ringmaster of carnival metal makes a return to his classic sound on sixth outing The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser. Retaining typical hallmarks of the Rob Zombie brand, listeners can expect a bucketload of B-movie schlock, intergalactic acid-industrial, and a whole grave-full of sex and violence. Propulsive and exciting, it's also Zombie's tightest album since 2001's Sinister Urge. Aside from the bonkers imagination that spawned such song titles as "The Hideous Exhibitions of a Dedicated Gore Whore" and "Super-Doom-Hex-Gloom, Pt. 1," Electric Warlock is also packed with entertainingly inscrutable lyrics that thrill with their nastiness and attract morbid curiosity like a backwoods freak show. Zombie and his band -- Piggy D. and former Marilyn Manson bandmates John 5 and Ginger Fish -- bring power and muscle on each proper song (there are a few moments of calm courtesy of spooky, sample-laden atmosphere pieces), churning on the epic vertigo of "Satanic Cyanide! The Killer Rocks On!," and pummeling on the brutal Hellbilly-redux "In the Age of the Consecrated Vampire We All Get High." The melodic hooks and jagged riffs maintain the energy, while the brevity of each song (eleven of twelve tracks clock in at under three minutes) create a breathless experience. Highlights include the aforementioned "Get High" and "Gore Whore" (which contains a melodic wink to Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"); the Primus-esque rap-scat of the icky alien sex tale "Well, Everybody's Fucking in a U.F.O."; and the peppy glam stomper "Get Your Boots On! That's the End of Rock and Roll." Fans of Zombie's rockabilly occult schtick will appreciate this new volume -- not only for its respectful nod to his legacy -- but also because it's Zombie giving them what they want: freaky fun that entertains, shocks, and rocks. ~ Neil Z. Yeung

• RSD Release Date: n/a
• Released: 4/29/2016
• Genre: Pop
• Format: CD