Music
RETRO REVIEW: ROB ZOMBIE’S ‘Hellbilly Deluxe’
So, about 10 years ago, I went into the local used CD/record store to check their metal selection. I was really big into Metallica and Pink Floyd at the time but I wanted something that was a bit more fast-paced, crunchier, and a bit crazier. As per usual, the counter of the store was stacked about 3 feet high with CDs and LPs they had just bought. And in a weird, almost fate-like circumstance, all of the CDs had their bottom spine showing (the one that has the plastic ridges and no information) showing except for one: Hellbilly Deluxe.
I had already heard “Dragula” many times on the radio and seen the video a few times while at friend’s houses. I had enjoyed it, but not enough to go out and buy a brand new copy. Now, here was my opportunity to get it for basically half the price of a new CD. I decided to give it a shot. This album seemed like it could fit my criteria. Plus, the cover artwork was sweet.
After a creepy spoken word intro, the album gets underway with “Superbeast”. Anyone who has heard this song can attest to how driving and heavy it is. This track is ripe with effects, synths, programmed beats and thick guitars. It’s awesome and still as driving as the first time I heard it.
But how does the album fare now? Well, to be honest, when the album came out it already had a “dated” feel. No offense there. I mean, isn’t that what the album was going for? Putting aside the futuristic sounds and crisp production, everything about the album screamed out vintage horror. I imagined creepy black and white laboratories where glass vials and tubes bubbled with menacing liquids. I pictured a dark night where clouds slowly moved past a full moon. I envisioned foggy forests where tree branches looked like skeleton arms. With that kind of atmosphere, the album already felt like a fine wine: aged and more enjoyable for it.
Is the album perfect? No, of course not. Some of the tracks feel a wee bit like filler and at a clock time of less than 40 minutes, there isn’t enough time to really sink your teeth into the mood. Just like the classic Hammer House of Horror TV episodes, with a little more time to work with, Hellbilly Deluxe could’ve been a classic.
AMC has announced that The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE, the standing-room-only performance celebrating AMC’s premiere of its newly-released The Vampire Lestat at New York City’s iconic Beacon Theatre last month, will debut on streaming.
The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE begins streaming on AMC+ on August 23.
Ahead of its streaming premiere, fans can preview the concert event, featuring original songs from series composer Daniel Hart and performed by Sam Reid, in Hall H at Comic Con International on July 24.
Our own Daniel Kurland attended the special event, highlighting how electric the Immortal Vampire is on stage: “It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.”
Based on Anne Rice‘s The Vampire Chronicles book series, The Vampire Lestat is the rock and roll-centric third season of AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” created by showrunner Rolin Jones.
The Vampire Lestat goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by “muses” from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rises, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population.
Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles and Jennifer Ehle star with Reid. Executive producers include Jones, Mark Johnson, Hannah Moscovitch, the late Anne Rice, and her son Christopher Rice.
The series finale airs this Sunday, July 19, on AMC and AMC+.