SilentScream213 White Zombie’s “Make Them Die Slowly” holds the title of best Groove Metal album of the 80’s… because it was the only Groove Metal album of the 80’s. Thrash and Alternative Metal undertones run through it, as does some Noise and Industrial influence. The music and production are both sub par, and the vocals range from tolerable to not so much. Every song is way too long for the amount of substance they offer. However, they do get some credit in that when the songs kick into faster and heavier territory, they are actually pretty damn good. Rob’s vocals play into this as well, as he’s much better when yelling angrily than trying to sing or do whatever else.

Well, that’s just the Thrash influence talking. The majority of this album is sub-par Groove. Probably influential, and still manages to be somewhat unique, but that doesn’t make it great.

Warthur This is one which crept up on me - much like zombies of the classic George Romero variety, come to think of it. I came to White Zombie a bit later than everyone else (Marilyn Manson was my shock rock cup of tea back in the day), and as such a lot of the stuff this album does had become widely imitated by the time I got to it. The liberal sprinkling of creepy sound clips was already a feature of the more danceable end of industrial music, having been pioneered by Skinny Puppy; new guitarist's J's riffs have been imitated by countless groove metal tagalongs ever since, and I've lost count of the number of guys I've run into over the years who thought that growing their hair out and not bathing could make them a Rob Zombie-like cult figure.

Nonetheless, even if the individual parts that make up La Sexorcisto might be cliches by themselves, brought together in one package they come up with a dynamite combination which I found increasingly intoxicating once I gave myself a little time to, well, get into the groove. On my first listen the first few songs seemed like an achingly generic morass, but something clicked partway through Black Sunshine and I loved the rest of the album; I immediately started it over and found that I was catching features of the first few songs which had entirely escaped me the first time.

Like listening to someone who's speaking your native language with a particularly strong dialect or accent, you need to give your ear a little time to adjust to what White Zombie's laying down here, but you'll be glad that you did. Rob's delirious rants and J's volcanic guitar solos are flashy as anything, and the rhythm section of Sean Yseult and Ivan de Prume purr like an engine - it's no wonder that Rob keeps coming back to the car motif in his lyrics.

Special mention, of course, has to be made of the involvement of friend and fan of the band Iggy Pop, without whose support they might have never made it this far. His spoken word introduction on Black Sunshine, in particular, is amazingly evocative and makes me think that someone should get him to narrate a documentary about the Beat writers or something. (You just *know* he'd be up for such a project, after all.)

Unitron La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume 1 is the third studio album from groove/industrial metal band White Zombie.

Switching from the noise metal of the debut and to the doom-thrash of Make Them Die Slowly, White Zombie had began to get in the groove with their 1989 EP God of Thunder. Fast-forward three years later and you get the band's magnum opus, the groove metal classic La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume 1 (Or simply La Sexorcisto, as there never was a volume 2).

There is no album that epitomizes pure punchy groove metal more than La Sexorcisto, it's just non-stop chugging and crunching riffing with the occasional plodding stoner-doom metal dirge as heard in "Warp Asylum" for example. There are also some thrash metal parts, which is only obvious as groove came from thrash, most heard in "Soul Crusher" (Most likely named after the band's debut album). The album is a pure masterpiece in every way, so it's hard to pick highlights. However, I'd say "Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychotic Slag", "Cosmic Monsters Inc.", "Grindhouse", and classics "Thunder Kiss '65" and "Black Sunshine" are my favorites if I had to choose.

La Sexorcisto also really shows the B-grade horror movie lyricism take form in White Zombie's sound, with many samples as well as just zany lyricism. Many times samples can end up sounding misplaced in a non-industrial metal album, but here the samples are used perfectly. There's no shortage of them, but they sound right at home in Rob Zombie's wacky world.

This album is a bonafide classic, and one of my all-time favorites. Apart from Pantera, groove metal hasn't been played as perfectly and memorably as this. If you're a fan of groove metal, and haven't heard this album, do yourself a favor and take a listen to this masterpiece. Hope you found this review helpful, feel free to comment!

Vim Fuego The common first reaction when hearing White Zombie’s 'Make Them Die Slowly' is "what the fuck was that?” This is far removed from the radio–friendly(–ish) comic book/splatter movie rock Rob Zombie has made his name with. So what do we get?

Probably the best way to describe the album is half–paced thrash. OK, so thrash is identified with it's speed and aggression. This has aggression by the bucket load. It just lacks the speed. Play it at 78rpm and you'd get something like a dark and gloomy, almost Gothic, Nuclear Assault. The riffing is fairly standard thrash fare, nothing flashy, but catchy enough. Strangely, the riffs should be memorable, but they slip through your mind quicker than shit through a goose. The solos and drumming are both solid, but unimpressive because of the inability of the band to change out of second gear.

The guitar tone is, well, odd. Imagine Bob Dylan's singing voice as an electric guitar– twangy and nasal, with a hint of a whine. An unusual effect, but as memorable as the riffs are forgettable.

Anyway, enough of the instrumental sideshows, what about the main event? What about Rob Zombie's voice? Luciano Pavarotti he isn't, but like any good singer with limited ability, Zombie knows his limits. He has written the songs to fit his voice, rather than embarrassing himself trying to stretch himself too far. The subject matter of the songs is just what you'd expect from Rob Zombie– B–movie schlock horror. Zombie drawls, moans and snarls his way through such lyrical niceties as "This is murderworld sister/A deep throating little baby–face" and "Justice claws/A death horizon/ Freak–zone flesh/Maggot man rising".

Conspicuous by their absence are the movie samples overused in later White Zombie releases, and a good thing too. The samples were often more interesting than the songs. On this album, the minimalist, stripped back metal is allowed to shine through, uncluttered by obscure cinematic outtakes.

This is definitely not to everyone's taste, although it’s easier to digest than the band’s prior album and EPs. The guitar sound and Zombie's voice can be hard to stomach. Get past those obstacles though, and it's a fun time romp through Rocky Horror land. Spookier than The Misfits and more horrific than The Cramps, this would appeal to fans of both those bands.

Unitron God of Thunder is the fourth EP by industrial/groove metal band White Zombie. White Zombie left their noise rock past behind with the awesome thrash album of Make Them Die Slowly, and this EP starts the groove metal style that would fully develop on the following album.

The EP opens up with a cover of the Kiss song 'God of Thunder'. Speaking of Kiss, I'm surprised Gene Simmons didn't go after White Zombie with Rob Zombie holding Simmons up from the hair. I guess Simmons was too busy deciding when to say rock is dead. Unsurprisingly, it's a pretty good cover tune. It's one of Kiss's classics, and White Zombie makes it their own groovy stomp of a track. However, the two original songs are the highlights. The first of these is 'Love Razor' and despite the title sounding like a cheesy glam metal song, is a killer groove-thrash track. It's an interesting mix of the raw thrash of Make Them Die Slowly and the catchy groove of their next album La Sexorcisto. The final song, 'Disaster Blaster II' is essentially a reworking of 'Disaster Blaster' from Make Them Die Slowly. Instead of the more raw version, 'II' sounds a lot cleaner and a bit more catchy.

Overall, this is a great EP. The albums to follow would expand upon the sound shown here, adding in more samples and groove elements. Hope you found this review helpful, feel free to comment!