Music Review: White Zombie – Let Sleeping Corpses Lie Box Set
Review by Tony – Hell Feels Like Home
This review is going to be little different then my other reviews, not just because there is so much material here but because White Zombie is so well know. Those of us of a certain age recall White Zombie as a hard and heavy industrial edged heavy metal band who was brought to us by Beavis and Butthead. However, there was a very different White Zombie before they broke into the main stream and just about all of their work is included here along with their two major label album releases.
Disc 1:
The first disc includes the earliest White Zombie recordings which are the Gods on Voodoo Moon EP, Pig Heaven 7″ Single, and Psycho-head Blowout. This is the first time any of these records appear officially on CD. Gods on Voodoo Moon is my favorite pre-major label release and is far, far different from the sound they are best known for. Gods on Voodoo Moon is a low-fi creepy-psychedelic-hard-rock-freak-out. Rob Zombies vocals here are not the distorted industrial boom he is known for but instead are clean, attitude-ridden and snotty punk wail. Unfortunately, the two bonus tracks from the Gods on Voodoo Moon cassette are not included. The Pig Heaven 7″ continues in much the same vein but starts to show a little more of a groove metal sound. Psycho-head Blowout is where you can start to really see White Zombie starting to take baby steps into the sound they would become best known for. This is the hardest and most metal of the three releases included on the first disc. Musically the sound here is still very dark and has a strange garage metal tone to it. Rob’s vocals here are still a punk wail but you start to notice a start stop rhythm to them that will be perfected and become part of their signature sound later on.
Disc 2:
Presented here for the first time on CD is Soul-Crusher, along with Make Them Die Slowly which has been previously released on CD by Caroline records. Soul-Crusher is where White Zombie starts to sound more like White Zombie to those of us who were introduced to them via “Thunder Kiss ‘65.” “Ratmouth” starts off with some eerie movie sampling and finds Rob taking on a deeper rougher rhythmic freak-out vocal delivery with lots of start and stops entwined with longer drawn out yells. Lots of killer break downs and pace changes. Rob still hasn’t perfected his signature vocal sound yet but he has found the vocal delivery he is known for. Still lots of low-fi psychedelic pieces here but the songs have taken on an even harder edge here. Make Them Die Slowly moves into a more groove metal territory. The songs here are longer and definitely more metal. Rob has almost completely lost the wailing punk vocals and does more of a deep, gruff approach that has both the rhythm and style he is best known for. The recording here is still low-fi but you can start to see White Zombie step up with a more mature and defined sound. This is my favorite disc in this collection because it really combines what I like best about the major label stuff but combined with the crazy weird shit of their earliest work.
Discs 3 and 4:
Here we have the God of Thunder EP, their two major label releases (La Sexorcisto, and Astro Creep 2000), and a few miscellaneous soundtrack tunes. God of Thunder is great little EP that features the last of the low-fi White Zombie tunes, including a cool Kiss cover and two other hard driving groove metal tracks with many samples from horror movies.
I really didn’t understand why they included the two major label releases in this set. They are readily available and I’ll be damned if not almost everyone I know already own them anyway. However, La Sexorcisto has been remastered and sounds seriously amazing and far superior to the original release. Nothing of note has been done to Astro Creep 2000, but honestly nothing needs to be done to that record because it stills sounds great today. The tunes included from soundtracks here are a nice addition and are certainly worth the listen. “Feed the Gods” has always been a favorite of mine and it’s nice to have it a White Zombie set rather then the soundtracks for Airheads.
DVD:
Included here are all the White Zombie videos, many of which were made available on the Rob Zombie CD/DVD “best of” set that was releases a few years ago. The real treat on the DVD is the live footage. I wasn’t expecting much as everyone has been complaining that it is bootleg quality. Well, it is bootleg quality but it is GOOD bootleg quality. The quality isn’t always perfect but it is always watchable and definitely a lot of fun. You really get to see the charisma and magic that happened when White Zombie played together.
Packaging and Overview:
Packaging wise this set is pretty sparse. Basically everything is included in one big ass digi-pack with a plastic slipcase over it. All the packaging and art are monochrome tan and black. There is a booklet full of vintage Rob Zombie art and old photographs but no history or notes by anyone who played in this band.
If you are a long time Rob Zombie fan there is next to nothing new included in this set. Personally, I really enjoying being able to have an official releases of the older material properly mastered and pressed to CD. With all of Rob’s success in his solo career, directing and comics it is easy to forget that this is where he started and that there were a lot of other people involved. White Zombie was an amazing band and had a charisma and synergy that will always have a special place in my heart and always be my favorite of all of Rob Zombie’s work. Special thanks to Sean Yseult (a wonderful bassist)
and Ivan De Prume (absolutely mad drumming skills) who were there in the hard early days and stayed either the whole or almost the whole time. I don’t think anyone can deny that White Zombie would have made it this far without the sick and brilliant guitar playing of J. Yuenger that certainly defined their sound on their major label releases.
Watch the Let Sleeping Corpses Lie trailer:
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