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Rob Zombie’s ‘Electric Warlock Acid Witch’ is Fun But Conflicted (Review)

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A new Rob Zombie album is something of an event. From wild and raucous music videos to humorous and often lengthy song names, he always brings something that makes people talk. And with The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser, not a whole lot has changed in that regard. We got a crazy NSFW video for “Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.” and one example of a track title with an unnecessarily long name is “In the Age of the Consecrated Vampire We All Get High”, which even on YouTube is simply shrunk down to “We All Get High”.

So how does Electric Warlock Acid Witch stack up against Zombie’s previous albums? Well, fans of his music are going to love it, that’s for sure. But there might be a lingering feeling of “What if…”.

Opening with “The Last of the Demons”, the album immediately makes it clear that fans of Zombie’s style are going to get what they want. Packed with classic movie samples, bubbling electronics and a boisterous hard rock crunch, it’s the perfect opener. Zombie sounds huge and the effects on his voice make him sound like the “Electric Warlock Acid Witch” in the flesh.

“Satanic Suicide! The Killer Rocks On!” has a swagger and a badass attitude that, for some odd reason, makes me think of a line of leather clad bikers riding around and ruling the highways. However, there are soft acoustic moments with light Gregorian chant hovering the background that give this track something special. With “Everybody’s Fucking in a U.F.O.”, I can’t help but recognize the similarities with this song’s style and Primus, as it’s right on the nose. However, it’s definitely a Rob Zombie take on Primus, so if you love both, you’re gonna love this song.

Meanwhile, “Medication for the Melancholy” stands out with its own sound, even though it fits into the greater Rob Zombie style. Definitely one of the tracks I found myself returning to with great frequency. And then it’s followed by “In the Age of the Consecrated Vampire We All Get High”, which is a total throwback to the early Rob Zombie days.

“Wurdalak”, which is the longest track by far (over double the length of nearly every other song), is tonally very different from the rest of the album. Acting like a hefty slab of sludge/doom metal, it ends with a surprisingly beautiful piano coda.

The production on the album is stellar. It’s obvious that every song was given tons of love and attention, which means there is always something new to hear and appreciate. Additionally, the bite-size song length ensures that these songs get straight to the point without any fucking around.

But here is where I address the “conflicted” aspect of my headline. While I really enjoy this album, I feel like Rob Zombie needs to try something new and embrace his love of funk entirely. It’s obvious throughout the years that Zombie has a passion for classic rock and funk, which he shows by using them as strong influences on his music (and films, but that’s another story…). Remember his cover of Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re An American Band”?

But with how imaginative and creative Zombie is, he has yet to really reinvent his own musical endeavors, which is where the conflict comes in. By using those influences, Zombie is paying homage while also creating something unique and original. The funk elements sound desperate to break free, burst forth, and infect everyone around. But it feels like those influences are almost restrained and held back in favor of playing it safe by sticking to his rock/metal roots.

It’s not farfetched at all to say that his work is incredibly consistent and each album is generally very well received. But they don’t bring anything new to the table. For example, while promoting the album, Zombie stated that it, “…is seriously our heaviest most f**ked up musical monster to date.” But we’ve heard a ton of heaviness over the years. And, to be honest, nothing on Electric Warlock Acid Witch comes close to the heaviness that was and still is “Superbeast”. So why even try for that?

The Final Word: The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser is another incredibly solid and highly enjoyable album from Rob Zombie. It’s simply that I’ve heard it all before and I wanted something new.

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‘Lost Themes IV: Noir’ – John Carpenter Announces New Album & Releases New Music Video!

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Lost Themes IV
(l-r) Cody Carpenter, John Carpenter, Daniel Davies - Photo Credit: Sophie Gransard

John Carpenter has been teasing big news for a couple weeks now and all has been revealed this morning. Carpenter is back with Lost Themes IV: Noir from Sacred Bones Records!

Lost Themes IV: Noir is the latest installment in a series that sees Carpenter releasing new music for John Carpenter movies that don’t actually exist. The first Lost Themes was released in 2015, followed by Lost Themes II in 2016 and Lost Themes III: Alive After Death in 2021.

John Carpenter called the first Lost Themes album “a soundtrack for the movies in your mind.”

From John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies, Lost Themes IV: Noir is set for release on May 3 via Sacred Bones Records. The album pays tribute to Noir cinema!

In conjunction with the announcement, they’ve shared a music video for the album’s first single, “My Name Is Death”, a miniature noir film directed by Ambar Navarro, starring Natalie Mering (Weyes Blood), Staz Lindes (The Paranoyds) and Misha Lindes (SadGirl). “Noir is a uniquely American genre born in post-war cinema,” states Carpenter. “ We grew up loving Noir and were influenced by it for this new album. The video celebrates this style and our new song, My Name is Death.”

Sacred Bones previews, “The scene-setting new single marks new territory for Carpenter and his cohorts, propelled by a driving post-punk bassline that is embellished by washes of atmospheric synth, pulsing drum machine, and, at the song’s climax, a smoldering guitar solo.”

“Sandy [King, John’s wife and producer] had given John a book for Christmas, of pictures from noir films, all stills from that era,” Davies says of the lightbulb moment for Lost Themes IV. “I was looking through it, and I thought, ‘I like that imagery, and what those titles make me think of. What if we loosely based it around that? What if the titles were of some of John’s favorite noir films?’ Some of the music is heavy guitar riffs, which is not in old noir films. But somehow, it’s connected in an emotional way.”

Sacred Bones notes, “Like the film genre they were influenced by, what makes the songs on Lost Themes IV ‘noirish’ is sometimes slippery and hard to define, and not merely reducible to a collection of tropes. The scores for the great American noir pictures were largely orchestral, while the Carpenters and Davies work off a sturdy synth-and-guitar backbone. The noir quality, then, is something you understand instinctively when you hear it.”

“It’s been a decade since John Carpenter recorded the material that became the initial Lost Themes, his debut album of non-film music and the opening salvo in one of Hollywood’s great second acts,” the label explains. “Those vibrant, synth-driven songs, made in collaboration with his son Cody Carpenter and godson Daniel Davies, kickstarted a musical renaissance for the pioneering composer and director. In the years since, Carpenter, Carpenter, and Davies have released close to a dozen musical projects, including a growing library of studio albums and the scores for David Gordon Green’s trilogy of Halloween reboots. It helped that they grew up in a musical environment. Daniel’s dad is The Kinks’ Dave Davies, and he would pop by the L.A. studio – the same one the Lost Themes records are made in today – to jam, or to perform at wrap parties for John’s films. That innate free-flowing chemistry helps Lost Themes IV: Noir run like a well-oiled machine—the 1951 Jaguar XK120 Roadster from Kiss Me Deadly, perhaps, or the 1958 Plymouth Fury from John’s own Christine. It’s a chemistry that’s helped power one of the most productive stretches of John’s creative life, and Noir proves that it’s nowhere near done yielding brilliant results.”

Here’s the full Lost Themes IV: Noir track list:

1. My Name is Death
2. Machine Fear
3. Last Rites
4. The Burning Door
5. He Walks By Night
6. Beyond The Gallows
7. Kiss The Blood Off My Fingers
8. Guillotine
9. The Demon’s Shadow
10. Shadows Have A Thousand Eyes

The following physical variants will be available:

  • Sacred Bones Exclusive Red on Clear Splatter vinyl w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Silver Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Sacred Bones Society Exclusive on Black and White Splatter on Clear w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Silver Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • All retail Transparent Red, with a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Indie Exclusive Tan and Black Marble, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Rough Trade Exclusive Oxblood Red and Black Splatter, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Shout Exclusive Black and Clear cloudy, w/ Screen Printed 7” bonus track “Black Cathedral”, a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • Black LP, with a Gold Foil Stamped Jacket and poster.
  • CD
  • Tape

You can pre-save Lost Themes IV: Noir right now!

Lost Themes IV Noir

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