Band:	Rob Zombie
Album:	The Sinister Urge
Style:	Alternative metal, Industrial metal
Release date:	2001
A review by:	jupitreas

01. Sinners Inc.
02. Demon Speeding
03. Dead Girl Superstar
04. Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)
05. Iron Head [feat. Ozzy Osbourne]
06. (Go To) California
07. Feel So Numb
08. Transylvanian Transmissions, Pt. 1
09. Bring Her Down (To Crippletown)
10. Scum Of The Earth
11. House Of 1000 Corpses

Rob Zombie is in a world of his own musically, lyrically and artisticly. For over 15 years now this Alice Cooper inspired shock-rocker has mixed styles together and helped to bring about the fusion of metal and electronica. Unlike other artists specializing in shock tactics, he has never turned into a caricature of himself. He has also never betrayed his thrash metal roots. Instead, he became a sort of symbol. His music, created in his own world of Grade B horror movies and porn stars always seems to defy both stylistical and commercial classification. One simply cannot put Zombie in any group: neither is he a thrash metaller nor an industrial artist. He is just an elastic artist producing music which is universal and attractive to most metal fans.

"The Sinister Urge", Zombie's latest effort proves to follow the path of his previous albums lyrically and ideologically. The trademark Zombie insane lyrics and chilled atmosphere remain. Luckily for his older fans, Rob has recorded a much heavier album than "Hellbilly Deluxe". While "Hellbilly..." consisted of many sonic experiments and electronic sounds, "The Sinister Urge" concentrates on thrashy guitars and percussion. "Demon Speeding", "Dead Girl Superstar", "Iron Head", "Feel So Numb", "Bring Her Down" and "Scum Of The Earth" are all punchy, very headbangable hard'n'heavy songs, similar to those that appeared on White Zombie albums, with some occasional electronic effects added to make them more interesting. The remaining tracks are more laid-back rock songs, although they still all feature a thrashy refrain. In my opinion, this return to anthemic White Zombie, old-school songs is a wonderful thing for Rob Zombie to do. I bet that almost everyone, who finds themselves listening to one of these tracks will end up chanting the refrain together with the frontman of the band.

As a matter of fact, the comment I made a moment ago is probably the most distinct feature of this album. It is well put together, more focused than most metal albums on the market today and consequently, it hits much harder. It fits into one whole and is not just a collection of songs that are so different that they could belong to different bands. It is also rather short - only a little over 35 miutes. As most metal fans know, well played, energetic and short albums are extremely effective (Reign In Blood). Speaking of Slayer, one must not forget to mention the many guest appearences on "The Sinister Urge". Ozzy Osbourne himself performs in a duet with Zombie on "Iron Head", Kery King plays rhythm and lead guitars on "Dead Girl Superstar" and Tommy Lee plays the drums on a few tracks. Alltogether, this forms a killer combination.

All of the above info would mean nothing if the tracks themselves werent memorable and catchy. Well, believe me, they are, and no words can explain that. Instead, I reccomend you go to the music store as soon as possible, buy it, and headbang as hard as you can to the top cuts of this album: "Feel So Numb", "Bring Her DOwn" and "Dead Girl Superstar".

Originally written in January 2002, printed verbatim