Comments on: Rob Zombie's music: Shock-rock?

Question: Rob Zombie's music: Shock-rock?

signal — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 11:57:55 -0800

What would you call the genre that White/Rob Zombie's music belongs in? Shock-rock? Schlock-rock? Camp-rock?

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 12:33:33 -0800

Heavy Metal. It was definitely influenced by the Ramones/Misfits/Cramps axis of punk but their chops were to good to be punk per se. And the Sabbath/Kiss/Zep influence is clearly audible.

By: crush-onastick

crush-onastick — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 12:42:49 -0800

isn't it speed metal (just being a subgenre of heavy metal, of course)?

By: substrate

substrate — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 12:54:15 -0800

I don't understand the need to create a narrow taxonomy for everything. This is music not biology. Call it rock and roll or heavy metal.

By: sciurus

sciurus — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 12:55:47 -0800

I think it is a bit too electronic to be grouped as just Heavy Metal, to me it seemed sort of like an evolutionary dead end that arose somewhere between metal and nu-metal. Zombie is also somewhat gimmicky in subject matter and presentation. At different times I've had Zombie categorized as industrial, metal and electronic.

In recent times I've started coming up with my own subgenres. I call Zombie music 'horrorshow' because he likes the undead so much.

Powerman 5000 [fronted by Rob Zombie's brother] is a grillion times better. Space-metal [but not so much anymore].

on preview: substrate: I think the narrow taxonomy is only really useful a shop talk jargon for other folks who revel in the minutiae of a particular genre.

By: jammer

jammer — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 12:56:06 -0800

(White|Rob) Zombie definitely fall into heavy metal. I usually think of them as "industrial metal", when I'm in a categorizing mood, along with bands like Ministry, Stabbing Westward, Acumen, latter-day Die Krupps, Killing Floor, and so on.

They're distinctly different in my mind from guitar industrial, which mixes traditional industrial electronica with metal-tinged guitarwork -- Rammstein, KMFDM, and various other German bands being at the forefront here. They seem, to me, to be predominantly industrial, while Zombie is predominantly metal.

Now what I *think* you're looking for is a name for the "guts, ghouls, and girls" theme that Zombie goes for. There are various terms, depending on who you ask, but the monicker that seems most common is, as you say, shock- or schlock-rock. I prefer schlock-rock, personally, because their ouvre seems a bit different from the Marilyn Manson/Alice Cooper/Black-Sabbath-era-Ozzy "look how creepy we are! hide your children!" It's more of an ackowledgement of, and love for, a certain flavor of schlock culture epitomized by bad horror movies and dystopian sci-fi stories.

Of course, this is way too much categorization for metal, as Substrate has indicated. Fuck genres, I mostly just consider them "driving way too damn fast" music. If I never get pulled over for doubling the limit listening to Black Sunshin, it's not for lack of trying.

By: jammer

jammer — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 13:00:48 -0800

Oh, and no, they're definitely not speed/thrash. This category, in its fully developed form, was defined by Megadeth, Slayer, Sepultura, and early Metallica, in my mind, with requisite nods, as given above, to the forebears.

White Zombie is nothing like them.

By: angry modem

angry modem — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 13:01:42 -0800

I think it's a bad idea to lump White Zombie and Rob Zombie both in the same bowl, as there's definitely two different styles there, one slightly better than the other, but both kind of boring.

By: jammer

jammer — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 13:11:00 -0800

I was really disappointed with Hellbilly Deluxe, as it did take a noticable, and unfortunate, slower take on the usual White Zombie raucous speed-fest. However, The Sinister Urge, in my mind, is on par with Astrocreep 2000, if not La Sexorcisto, in terms of both speed and overall quality.

As for boring, well.... your favorite band sucks, too!

(Not to say either of the Zombies are my favorite, but I do have a large amount of love for 'em both. I dreamt I was a supernova fucker nitro-burning and fuel-injection.)

By: crush-onastick

crush-onastick — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 13:11:34 -0800

(thanks, jammer)

By: kenko

kenko — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 13:43:37 -0800

Substrate: no one would ever confuse doom metal with speed metal, so why not call them by different names?

By: the fire you left me

the fire you left me — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 14:26:50 -0800

IndustroSludgeMetal.

By: monju_bosatsu

monju_bosatsu — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 14:37:20 -0800

Schlock-metal?

By: sciurus

sciurus — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 14:53:49 -0800

BrAIns!" Metal?

By: signal

signal — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 15:05:34 -0800

Thanks, everyone.
I'm not interested in WZ or rock'n'roll taxonomy per se. My wife's writing a review of "house of 1k corpses", and we were wondering how to briefly categorize the Zombie's musical output.
More monikers are welcome.

By: jammer

jammer — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 15:33:39 -0800

"schlock-metal" seems like the best thumbnail description. If you're looking for something more matchbook- than thumbnail-sized, try, "heavy metal with a fixation on cult movies, especially B-grade horror".

No one not already into the scene will care whether they're speed or thrash or industrial or OMFGUberLeetDeathSludge, and WZ is a prominent enough band that everyone who is inclined to like them probably knows what style they are anyway.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Mon, 13 Sep 2004 20:51:35 -0800

Hammer-metal?