SkullBunnie

Since the hallowed day that I discovered that I was a metal head, I have always been a fan of White/Rob Zombie. Everything about him just made me want to hang out with the dude; from his love of all things horror, to his skills as a graphic artist, and his versatility in music. More recently I have enjoyed watching his gradual move to film-making though critically he’s had his ups and downs (personally I thought Halloween 2 was pretty good even though most thought it was crap).

Over the past few years unfortunately it seems that more work has been put into his films than into music. With a series of lackluster albums that really had nothing new to say or to listen to. Don’t get me wrong there was at least one stand out song on both The Sinister Urge (Feel So Numb), and Educated Horses (The Devils Rejects), but it seemed like Zombie was caught in a loop of recreating the same album over and over again.

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is stripped down of the electronic sound that became too commonplace in the few last albums and seems to accomplish what he wanted to do with Horses a little bit more successfully. The addition of a more southern rock inspired twang is prevalent from the start of the album with the opening track Jesus Frankenstein. It then launches into the raw driving beat that characterized songs like Thunder kiss 65 in the White Zombie Days. Overall a good song to open the album with.

Following in track 2 and 3 we have Sick Bubblegum and What?, two songs which in my opinion are basically filler, but are ironically the first two singles from the album. Back to the same riffs and beats from the two previous albums, with of course the lyrics closely tied to horror classics and serial killers. It’s not that I dislike them, its just they don’t strike me as particularly original or even catchy.

And then there is track 4, Mars Needs Women. Here we have something interesting, once again opening with the twangy guitars, it jumps into the stripped down driving beat that had the feeling of an anthem. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about it but realized I was nodding my head to the beat and singing along in my head as I type this. I’m noticing a lot of influence on this album from bands like Clutch, Cage the Elephant and Motorhead, and it’s really working to Zombies strengths.

Track 5 Werewolf Baby once again begins with a twangy riff (signifying that it will be one of the better songs on the album) and explodes into the opening refrain. The song is driving and interesting enough to keep you interested and wanting more. It’s funny because it almost seems that Zombie is trying to become the new Motorhead and leave his traditional habits behind him, but just isn’t quite there yet.

Track 6 Virgin Witch seems to go back to the Monster movie inspired rock that you heard on the First Hellbilly Deluxe. Witch is a good song, it has good riffs and is not too tired sounding. Not as good as some of the previously mentioned songs but still good in the old Rob Zombie Horror soundtrack way.

Track 7 Death and Destiny inside the Dreamfactory is once again filler, and frankly kind of an annoying song. There are repetitive distorted lyrics screamed at you from behind a poorly mixed and irritating orchestration. If you’re purchasing this album from Zune or I tunes you might want to think about skipping this one.

Track 8 Burn is Ok. It has the feeling of a song from the original Hellbilly once again, with a few forced seventies sounding interludes. As much as I hate to say it I kinda feel this was thrown in for filler as well. It’s better than the previous song but not much, the same tired Zombie formula slightly punched up with the aforementioned seventies riff interludes.

Track 9 Cease to Exist is definitely a more successful melding of  Zombie’s old and new style and the battle between the two is not as prevalent. With this song you can see where he’s trying to go with his sound and it makes one ponder how the next album will feel after all the kinks are worked out. I feel that this one could definitely grow on me and think with some listening it could become one of my favorite songs of the album.

Track 10 Werewolf Women of the SS. OK….I know this is a joke of a song that goes along with his humorous trailer from Grindhouse, but this song is really great. The song is a go-go inspired surf rock anthem about Nazi Werewolf Women…I really don’t think that there is anything else to say other than its stylistically very different from the rest of the album. While listening I can’t help but think that Zombie is going in the wrong direction; THIS is what he should be doing. This song in particular is a fantastic fit to his chosen persona, and he could do for metal what Tarantino has done for unappreciated 70′s schlock cinema.

Finally Track 11, The Man Who Laughs is an epic sounding piece that has what sounds to be a full orchestra behind him. He uses the strings and percussion to evoke a definite feeling, and creates one of the most successful songs on the album. That is until the pointless drum solo at the 4 minute mark, that leads into 3 minutes of silence, and then picks the song back up again at the 7 minute mark. If one were to fade the solo to silence you would have a very successful song. Everything including the orchestra fits and compliments Zombies gravely vocals.

I feel Zombie is either at a crossroads and doesn’t know where to go next, or is stretched too thin by numerous projects. It seems like his movies and his albums are experimental pieces to a whole that hasn’t been discovered yet. Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is a decent album, and probably just another brick in the wall that he’s creating but definitely not his best. I think the real impact of this album will be felt in the next more polished album, when he figures out where he’s going and how the elements he’s chosen to infuse into his style fit. I very much like the southern blues influences and his use of orchestra, but once again feel that there is a bit of filler included (as with all zombie albums). All in all I would recommend this album for fans but not really to the casual listener. That honor will be saved for his next release where I feel we will here and entirely new Zombie devoid of the obvious experimentation.