White Zombie was Rob Zombie’s main breakthrough band. Named after the first widely recognised zombie film that was released way back in 1932, this is Metal that can neither be ignored nor overlooked. White Zombie consisted of Rob Zombie (vocals), Jay Yuenger (guitar), Sean Yseult (bass guitar) and Ivan De Prume (drums), with a lineup that changed over time. White Zombie’s first two albums were neither a critical nor a commercial success. That changed, however, with this release. After being signed to the legendary Geffen Records, this was unleashed to the world in 1992. This music is designed to scare away religiously motivated individuals and the like. Let’s take a listen to this album and hear what it sounds like today.

Welcome To Planet Motherfucker/ Psychoholic Slag is an interesting song title, if there were ever one. It begins with some slight vinyl hiss before some weird and warped sounds emerge. It eventually has an explosion breaking it all apart, and some more weird sounds galore to follow. Eventually, some strange Electronic sounds continue. Soon enough, crunchy Metal guitars and thunderous drumming enter and this tune gets going. It is a fantastic listen. Rob Zombie eventually gets singing and this tune sounds absolutely great. If there ever were an underrated album, this would be one of those listens. There are some samples of speech and girls screaming in horror in the breakdown before more riffs emerge to triumph over it all. A great, great listen. The tune itself sounds really forward-thinking and amazing throughout. The second half of the tune gets more aggressive and fantastic, with stop/start sections galore. A really driven and awesome tune about sexual pleasure. Towards the end, the whole piece changes completely into a cool and twisted section with down-tuned guitars and the most satanic and profane lyrics you will ever hear. Vocoder lyrics are here briefly as well. We all have a little sin that needs venting, don’t we? This is a good tune, but to be fair, it would be better as a live tune. Still, it is perfectly listenable and enjoyable here. It ends with a gentle fade out of drums and guitars galore.

Knuckle Duster – Radio 1-A is a short piece less than 30 seconds long. It has some pre-recorded sounds from the radio, along with some other freaky sounds and some sounds of people having sex at the end. Weird, all right.

Thunder Kiss ’65 is the main hit from this album. It launches into a fantastic guitar riff and emerges into a very Metallica-styled tune. Rob Zombie also sings a little like James Hetfield on this song, but it is still very much an original piece with stereo-panned and awesome wah-wah guitars. Alternating between singing and screaming throughout, the group and singer Rob Zombie sound magnificent. This is slower and shorter than anything that Metallica made in the mid-1980s. There is a breakdown with samples of chatter, followed by police sirens and launches into a dramatic and chaotic guitar solo throughout. This is a great example of the music on this album if you need a specific song much more than the album itself. Both are brilliant, however. This classic tune is a Metal staple, and the guitars and wah-wah soloing define this tune very nicely. Towards the end is a doom and gloom-sounding bunch of Metal riffs, followed quickly by a fantastic conclusion. Excellent.

Black Sunshine features Iggy Pop, oddly enough. It begins with a guitar being tuned up in a weird way, followed quickly by ghostly Electronics that sound seriously disturbing. Soon enough, deep bass guitar riffing enters and White Zombie get rocking. An awesome and amazing listening experience, this is heavily centred on the distorted guitars present and sounds epic and brilliant. An enjoyable listening experience, Rob Zombie’s singing is excellent here and his voice suits the Metal mayhem perfectly. Towards the middle is an interesting breakdown with excellent guitar riffing, followed by a wacky guitar solo mixed in the background. A thoroughly cool and sweet listen, White Zombie sounds like a band on a Metal mission. Towards the end, sexual sounds are thrown into the mix as well. All in all, this is super cool and is the sort of music that Bikies would listen to. Still, it sounds fresh, interesting and amazing to this very day. Right in the outro are spoken word sections, followed by a conclusion with delayed and distorted vocals. Brilliant.

Soul-Crusher begins with some good Metal riffing, with some drums quickly entering shortly after. This quickly launches into a palm-muted riff-based piece, with drumming that suits it perfectly. A fine and fantastic tune to listen to, the vocals by Rob Zombie eventually enter and his raspy screaming is unique in the history of music. Regardless, this is another solidly good and excellent tune to listen to. White Zombie sound really fantastic, powerful and punchy in their songs, and this is no different. It sounds a lot like Metallica but is more consistent and has a good mixture of slow and fast music. This tune is perfect for younger fans who hate their social circumstances or Heavy Metal lovers. In the second half, a drastic tempo change occurs and different guitar riffs enter to take you by surprise. The sense of rhythm here is absolutely fantastic. Enjoyable Metal for those in the 1990s onwards, this is timeless. Towards the end, this tune launches back into the section played in the intro of the song, before concluding. Excellent.

Cosmic Monsters Inc. launches into a TV show host speaking about the insides of a bookstore, followed by recorded clapping and cheering from a crowd. Metal guitar riffs eventually enter, and this tune gets going very nicely. A weird tune, but nonetheless, one that sounds excellent. The drumming in particular sounds amazing, and the guitar riffs sound as though they are straight from Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All album. Nonetheless, this is another fantastic tune that sounds like some of the best Metal you will ever hear. A fine and fantastic listening experience, this music is a great listen, especially for young adults. The guitar playing on this track is absolutely insanely good, neither slow like Black Sabbath nor thrashy like Metallica or Slayer. It just works, period. The entire band plays furiously and this is an album deserving of repeat listens. The guitar riffing is truly awesome here, as well as the shred-based soloing. A great guitar riff set, particularly in the second half of this tune, drives this along nicely. A warped, wicked and enjoyable listen, this is serious Heavy Metal that deserves to be heard. Another great, great song. The outro has riffs galore, before concluding with sustained guitars. This is followed by warped electronic loops. Weird but very cool.

Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah) begins with some eerie Electronic sounds and sounds like something straight out of a horror movie. It sounds seriously and oddly warped. Soon enough, Metal riffs enter along with precise drum fills, and this tune gets going nicely. This tune eventually launches into some great playing and singing by both White Zombie and Rob Zombie. A fantastic tune, once again, this sounds extremely fun and cool to listen to. A great and divine tune to listen to. Near the middle is a changing of riff sections, with this tune continuing on excellently. A really adventurous and cool listening experience, White Zombie knew how to Rock. A great tune. The second half has some weird melodic clean guitar parts before this returns to the Heavy riff led mayhem. Nonetheless, this does sound absolutely awesome. It eventually becomes rather suspenseful and slower, which is extremely cool. All in all, a cool listen. There are inaudible speech samples towards the end, along with some chanting. Great tune, worth your ears.

I Am Legend begins with some dark and atmospheric horror movie-styled sounds, quickly launching into some melancholy riffs at hand. This is a bit different compared to what we have heard already on this album. It sounds like a deeply introspective piece of music that is unusual for this album. The guitar riffing continues to play and is eventually followed up with loud and chaotic drum rolls, along with some more layered guitar parts. A really awesome and different listening experience, Rob Zombie sings about possible arson and pursuing women, which is pretty out there, especially for the time. Still, this is really awesome and listenable throughout. The musicianship on this album is absolutely amazing, and all the members of Rob Zombie should be proud of it. A really awesome and fine listening experience, there eventually is a guitar solo section towards the end that sounds amazing. It gets dramatic towards the end, before finishing off with some psychotic drumming and crashing guitars. Once again, brilliant.

Knuckle Duster – Radio 2-B is a very short segment at just over 20 seconds long. It is a sample of a radio Christian preacher and is mixed with other radio channels. This segues into the next track.

Thrust! begins with some strange samples, before launching right into an awesome tune with guitar riffs galore and some powerful and sturdy drumming. Rob Zombie and White Zombie sound really awesome here, and this tune is a very uplifting and head-banging listen throughout. A really cool and powerful tune to listen to, White Zombie put in a fantastic and uplifting performance throughout. Cool, clever and energetic, there is a powerful and interesting midsection with some talk of zombie stuff ongoing sampled from elsewhere. Nonetheless, this is an awesome and passionate tune by White Zombie that is excellently performed. In the second half are some wacky guitar parts that sound very odd, but fit the song nicely. This sounds doom and gloom in some sense but is still awesome and uplifting at the same time. Some awesome singing and guitar playing follows. Rob Zombie shows from early on he was a brilliant and masterful musician and singer. Great tune, once again, this sounds really fine and excellent. The outro has manic guitars and drumming, finishing up with some delayed guitars. Excellent, once again.

One Big Crunch is an intermission piece around 20 seconds. It has some looped and weird sounds that really could only make sense if you are a member of White Zombie. Other, it is an intermission filler tune that makes little sense to the listener.

Grindhouse (A Go-Go) begins with some excellent drum riffing and heavily distorted guitar parts, leading into a very chaotic-sounding tune. Nonetheless, this is another cool and enjoyable listen from White Zombie with a great rhythm section throughout. A powerful, catchy and really interesting tune with lyrics that make little sense, this is the best music that one could mosh along in a crowd to. Rob Zombie exudes confidence and wonderful singing throughout. In the second half are police sirens, processed vocals, intricate drumming and doom-sounding guitars. Eventually, this continues on into a chanted section of “Go! Go! Go!” being repeated, before White Zombie steers us back to the main section of the song. A really great listening experience, and enjoyable from start to finish. Cool music for cool people. It ends after four minutes in length.

Starface begins with some eerie Electronic sounds and conversation samples before drumming enters in. This piece gets rocking nicely, after lifting off into inner space. Another really fantastic and excellent listen from White Zombie is here, and the whole tune is really well delivered. Rob Zombie, of course, dominates with his vocal presence here, but the rest of the band does a fantastic job following him along. A superb and awesome tune for new and old fans of Metal to enjoy. There is a dramatic guitar solo section near the middle with screaming lead tones that sound undeniably awesome. Rob Zombie then re-enters and sings wonderfully here. Nonetheless, this tune is top notch, as is this album. The drum sounds in particular are snappy and aggressive on this track. A weird set of guitar parts is also present in the second half of this tune. All in all, White Zombie are extremely underrated and they made great music back in the day. An awesome tune to listen to, this is a great Metal song. It has a weird conclusion.

Warp Asylum is the last track on this album and the longest at nearly seven minutes in length. It begins with some eerie, horror movie-type sounds and quickly launches into a heavy, deep and dark listen. Thunderous drums and sustained guitar parts are here, which sound really heavy. The main section of the song eventually gets going, and Rob Zombie sings nicely here. This tune is a lot slower than most of the tracks on this album, but it still sounds interesting and detailed enough to listen to throughout. This is amongst some of the coolest music you will ever hear in your entire life. Quite simply, it works very well as an album to listen to. Near the midsection, there are palm-muted guitar riffs and appropriate drumming to match. Eventually, this leads into another musical section in the second half that sounds really cool and awesome. A very cool and uplifting music listening experience, this is just as essential as Ozzy Osbourne era Black Sabbath. It just works well, period. A really excellent listen, this changes dramatically right into the second half of the tune. The song continues on nicely with awesome deep and dirty guitar riffs. This eventually launches into some cool outro guitar soloing, and one feels grateful for hearing this. There are some samples of Christians preaching, followed by a radio announcer, encouraging one to put this record on again. Brilliant.

This is a mammoth album that is awesome, fun and consistent all the way through. Not only was it properly appreciated upon release, but every single song on this album is absolutely worth listening to, unlike some other so-called “Classic Albums”. That says a lot about how White Zombie were able, at the time, to create such wonderful Metal music. It is very near perfect in that musical sense. Should you listen to this album? If you hate religion and love Metal, do give it a try. This album was not the last White Zombie release, either. More great music was to follow.

Fantastic and worth many repeat listens.

9/10