Published on Jan 21, 1997
Sometimes it seems hard to take a band whose album title
(truncated above) is longer than their whole album.
Enter White Zombie, who are cocky enough to release an album
with a title long enough to break the jaw of an elephant – but
damned if they don’t save face in the music.
Oh, sure, you could slam them for the supposed demonic images
they continually portray in the music. You could scorn them for the
continued use of obscenities in the lyrics. You could laugh at them
for the incredibly inane song titles – c’mon, “El Phantasmo And The
Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama”? What the hell
is this, Monty Python?
But strip away all that, and it’s the music, stupid – a fact
which will not hit you until at least the second listen. The first
time I heard this album, I couldn’t believe I pissed away $10 on
it. It has remained filed away in one of the darkest areas of the
legendary Pierce Memorial Archives (“D” ticket needed to enter)…
until now.
On second listen, lead throat Rob Zombie proves himself to be a
solid frontman, one minute growling, the next minute sneering, the
next doing audio tricks to his vocals to make it sound like he’s
delivering them over a phone call. Guitarist J’s work is solid, as
is the thundering bass of Sean Yseult. And let’s not forget the
skin work of new drummer John Tempesta, who looks the most out of
place on the album cover.
And the music – oh! the music! The first single “More Human Than
Human” captures the band at their peak, while other tracks like
“Super-Charger Heaven” and “Blood, Milk And Sky” (my two favorite
tracks) show just how talented this band is, whether you like metal
or not. The two-part “Electric Head” is an interesting piece,
though the second half is slightly better.
Forget about the occasionally descriptive lyric sheet – fact is,
without the sheet, it’s sometimes hard to understand what Zombie is
singing on
Astro-Creep: 2000 – and this may be just as well. It’s
almost more fun trying to guess what he’s trying to say without
having a cardboard insert to translate him.
Astro-Creep: 2000 is a very quick listen – before you know
it, the album is over, leaving you wanting more. Zombie and crew
know how to write music that satisfies as long as it’s on. After
that, the listener is left with their imagination.
Music is supposed to be about having fun, and White Zombie sound
like they’re having the time of their lives on
Astro-Creep: 2000. Proof positive that evil sometimes feels
great.