ROB ZOMBIE ROCKS COMICS WITH BARON VON SHOCK!

by FRITZ "DOC" FREAKENSTIEN

Rob Zombie is returning to comic books with a wicked new comic for Image Comics entitled WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BARON VON SHOCK?. Image calls the book "a delightfully depressing tale about the seduction of celebrity culture and its pitfalls". BARON VON SHOCK follows a local television horror host that finds his sudden rise to celebrity has unexpected results. The first issue will be drawn by Donny Hadiwidjaja and Val Staples. "This comic venture is very, very different in tone for me. Instead of a crazy over-the-top monster-fest like THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO, I wanted to create something that works more on a slice of life human level." said Rob Zombie, "After EL SUPERBEASTO became a movie, I felt I had taken that style as far as I could. So, I really needed BARON VON SHOCK to be something fresh in writing and in art." Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson said "After publishing THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO, we jumped at the chance to work with Rob again on BARON VON SHOCK. BARON VON SHOCK is darkly humorous, thrilling and uncompromising - everything fans expect a Rob Zombie story to be." WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BARON VON SHOCK? comes out on May 26, and is a full color, 32 page comic book priced at $3.99.

Anyone who’s read this blog knows that I’m a wicked ginormous Rob Zombie fan! Many may know Rob by his multiple movies, or others by his many muscial cds. Most may not know that Rob published 9 issues of ROB ZOMBIE'S SPOOK SHOW INTERNATIONAL from CrossGen Comics from November 2003 through July 2004. It was a horror-comedy anthology comic, featuring three or four stories per issue. Rob wrote all the stories, with artwork by such comics greats as Gene Colan, Kieron Dwyer, Will Conrad and Dan Brereton. Every issue starred the masked wrestler, turned super-spy, El Superbeasto! A six issue story-line showed El Superbeasto fighting to get his girlfriend back from the evil clutches of Dr. Satan! Rob Zombie went on to make a feature length animated film in 2009 THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO, based on the comic stories. I liked the comics better than the movie, but both were still wicked zombie cool! Needless to say, this Rob Zombie freak will be buying WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BARON VON SHOCK? when it comes out in just a few short months. After all… It combines three of my favorite things: Rob Zombie, comics and a horror host! A wicked winning formula! Thanks Rob!

ROB ZOMBIE'S HELLBILLY DELLUXE 2 : A REVIEW - PART 2

By FRITZ "DOC" FREAKENSTEIN

"Virgin Witch" is the sixth cut on Rob Zombie’s HELLBILLY DELUXE 2 and what it lacks in lyrical clarity, it makes up for in mind pounding drumming and unremitting gnashing guitars! The chorus "Vigin Witch", is interspersed with the narrative verse, forming a strange mind picture, but still not telling a clear tale. “Death and Destiny: Inside the Dream Factory” is obviously Rob’s rant on his love/hate (and if the lyrics of this song are any indication – mostly hate) relationship with the film making industry known as Hollywood. This is one of Rob Zombie’s angriest and most sarcastic songs yet! The verse “Free your mind and feel the passion, baby, Death and suntan, still in fashion, baby” is followed by “Crush your idols, they can afford it, baby, Permanently vile and fascinating” clearly demonstrates Rob’s frustration with the magic movie machine that is Hollywood. This song makes me wonder how much longer Rob is gonn’a be barfing out crud like Halloween II. The next song on the cd, “Burn”, puzzles the crap out of me! The verse is a mixture of end of the world type scenarios, which are interrupted by the ironic chorus of “Papp-oow-mow-mow, Papp-oow-mow” – which is a nonsensical lyric from the doo wop song by The Rivingtons, but better known as the chorus from the song “Surfin’ Bird” by The Trashmen. I dig this one, baby, but it’s still wack! “Cease to Exist” is a paean to death; with darkly emotive lyrics that are accompanied by telephone-noise vocal effects, dirge-like synthetic keyboards, and a steady base-drumbeat. It ends in a crescendo of pulsing rhythms and synthetic noise with the simple refrain of “Cease to exist, your mind is breaking free”! Disturbing, but brilliant! “Werewolf Women of the SS” is a song that riffs off his fake trailer from the 2007 film Grindhouse. An interesting choice of surf-guitar style is played - including a wicked pissa solo - to the funniest lyrics that Rob is likely to write in a long time. This song is major mojo manic and a classic in the making! The last song on the disc is “The Man Who Laughs”, which is a song based on the (most likely) 1928 silent film of the same name; which was adapted from the 1869 Victor Hugo novel. The song tells an abbreviated version of the film/novel about the mutilation of children to use as slaves to beg for money. Rob’s use of violins and other classical instrumentation, clearly demonstrate his admiration for the silent film version of The Man Who Laughs. Typical of Rob, there is a four minute drum solo in the middle of this song, for no apparent reason other than to show off drummer Tommy C’s mad skills! Overall, Rob Zombie’s HELLBILLY DELUXE 2 is a culmination of Rob’s past musical skills, mashed up with his recent creative divergences, to provide this Rob-freak with one wicked good long ‘n loud rockin’ ruckus! Bring mo a’ da ruckus, Rob!

ROB ZOMBIE'S HELLBILLY DELUXE 2: A REVIEW - PART ONE

By FRITZ "DOC" FREAKENSTEIN

I admit it. I was never a fan of Rob Zombie’s first band White Zombie. I even bought ASTRO CREEP: 2000 for the wicked cool “More Human than Human” single. I sold it to a younger metal fan, after only playing it through a couple of times. In 1998, Rob Zombie released his first solo disc HELLBILLY DELUXE. It featured two singles: the addictive “Dragula” and the syncopated “Superbeast”. I bought this disc and played it endlessly for weeks. I have been a wicked Rob Zombie fan ever since! I dropped heavy cheddar on his next two cds THE SINISTER URGE and EDUCATED HORSES. Both are kick ass discs, but EDUCATED HORSES seemed like Rob was trying to mix up his sound even more -- which I thought was badass! It’s been five long years, but Rob has finally cut his fourth cd: HELLBILLY DELUXE 2! There are eleven electric cuts on this cd and all are worth repeated listens. The first track sets the tone for this monster mash-up of a cd! “Jesus Frankenstein” starts with slowly building guitars, which unleash to a grinding guitar crescendo, that run smack into a wall of thumping bass drums! That’s just the first 1:44 of this song. Rob’s lyrics are sparse and elusive, but imply the obvious parallels between Jesus’ resurrection and the undead life of the Frankenstein Monster. The simple “All hail, Jesus Frankenstein” chorus, sung by a powerful male choir, raise in furor until the screeching climax of the song! This is wicked pissa freakin’ Frankenstein cool! The second cut, "Sick Bubblegum", is one of the lesser cuts, but still has a nice grinding rhythm and some outstanding solo guitar work. I think the chorus of “Rock the motherf*cker hurts the punch of the song, rather than helps it. The third cut, “What?” , is a tribute to “B” movie tropes, that makes excellent use of Rob’s classic fuzz-vocals to describe “Vampire Lovers”, a “Cannibal Man” and “Satan’s Cheerleaders”! The second best cut on the disc (right after “Jesus Frankenstein”, of course) is the fourth cut, “Mars Needs Women”! As Rob did on his previous cd, EDUCATED HORSES, he uses a lengthy opening of acoustic guitar and stringed instrumentation to set the tone for this pulsing, throbbing beat-driven song about Mars needing “Angry Red Women”. Spastic use of electronic noises and a breathy female vocal bridge conjure up powerful erotic images that make me think this could be a future favorite of strippers everywhere. The fifth cut is another pissa scary song, “Werewolf, Baby”. Accompanied by fuzz slide guitars, Rob sings a lament to his werewolf baby who is “afflicted by what the fangs did”. A classic Rob Zombie tribute song to a classic monster, that rivals even “Dragula” from the first HELLBILLY DELUXE cd.