Customer Reviews

La Sexorcisto-Devil Music Vol. 1

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

When the band first made its appearance with "Make Them Die Slowly," they found themselves largely ignored by the listeners in the mainstream. There was good reason for this, too, because the album, while refined in portions that were scattered throughout the album, was something that was rough and unrefined, showcasing many and many a shortcoming. This didn't set the band back that much, though, because they decided to take these setbacks in stride and forge ahead and create something a bit more refined, incorporating the love of monster movies and harsh vocals with samples that found themselves quite at home.

Within La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1, there are many things that didn't seem remarkably groundbreaking at the time but that did manage to do something that few bands had done before White Zombie. They managed to take this type of music and shove it into the listening ears of an audience that seemed to be craving more. Powered by the vocal stylings that many find almost impossible to understand and heavy tempos that seem to ebb with power, song after song drives its way onward, compressing harmony with the mentality that heavy is good. Perhaps best known for the song "Thunder Kiss '65," the album propelled its way forward with single after single being released, also gaining some notation with the 400 horsepower adrenaline surge called "Black Sunshine." Still, the album was far from completed by these pieces. From the onset of the greeting card "Welcome to Planet MF/Psycholic Slag" welcomed you to "planet pretty kill" to the wonderful depiction of "I Am Legend" and its world overrun by swarms of the vampiric, the album worked to spotlight obscurity in movie and ideas that many people hadn't been exposed to. Sampling the likes of "Faster Pussycat Kill Kill, a little "I am Electro," and "Night of the Living Dead," not to mention inviting Iggy Pop on board for Black Sunshine, it is something that, to this day, I still find myself enjoying.

For someone looking to drown their listening ears in something pleasurable but that isn't to be taken too terribly serious, then this would be something to look into. That is, it would be if you don't mind a bit of profanity, some heavier sounds in your musical experience, and beats that might find themselves hanging in your mind. Be warned, it might make you want to go out and read "I Am Legend," too.

This is one of my favorites. So many grooves and solid jams. I gave it 4 because the mix is very weak. Sean's bass is inaudable, and the fidelity of J's guitar could have been stronger. However, these song's take you to a strange place and time and flow in and out of each other seamlessly via samples and sound effects. I miss these guys. This album makes your modern shock rockers look like total posers. If you dig Sabbath, older Metallica and Alice in Chains, you'll get alot out of this one.

Lemme guess? You went ahead and bought Rob Zombie's "Hellbilly Deluxe" before splurging on "The Sinister Urge" a few years later, right? And I bet when a friend handed you Astrocreep 2000 and claimed that you weren't a hardcore Zombie fan until you heard it, you probably had to change your shorts.

Of course, that means you probably have no idea what this album is.

Just look at it.

It's NOT Rob Zombie and it's NOT Astrocreep 2000. La Sexorcisto is the begining of the marriage of old, thrashy, unpleasant (but still classic) "Make Them Die Slowly" with the off-beat, pop-shock that would go on to make Zombie the ringleader of his own twisted circus of a solo career.

This is an album full of epic, desert-redneck road rock and it lopes and guns like metal should. Rob Zombie's digital meddling is nowhere to be heard on this album, and to be honest, you probably won't like it all that much.

This isnt' Dragula and it doesn't even pretend to be. This is big-time rock in a form that's almost too pure for a record with production this clean and riffs this crazy. I give it a five because I love it.

You might not.

White Zombie was the first metal band that I really started to listen to with both an objective & subjective ear. The only other bands that existed at the time with the same "WOW" factor were Pantera & Pre-Black album Metallica, but this CD still tops those other bands due to the ingenious use of sampling and stunning guitar lines.

I concur that the production quality on this disk is not the best, but it was their first major label record so I will let it slide. (Metallica's "...And justice for all" probably has the worst production on an otherwise great record that I have EVER heard.)

The tracks that I like best are not the radio-friendly ones: Soul Crusher, I am Legend, Cosmic Monsters Inc. & Warp Asylum are the best I believe. Thunderkiss & Black Sunshine are good, but suffered from overplay over the years. Welcome to Planet MF is also a standout track with a great breakdown at the 4:06 mark. "Soul Crusher" has a very clever opening guitar lick that meandors the listener into the main verse. "Cosmic Monsters inc." is my favorite track on the album and it probably features the best arrangements and guitar work on the album.

This brand of "Trash rock" (as it was aply named) is not for everybody...Zombie's lyrics are barely discernable at best and some of the sampling is over-used. With that said, however, nothing sounded like this band in 1992-nothing really came close. The drumming alone on this album is some of the best of the early nineties as well. It was a shame that Ivan DePrume (the drummer on this album only) got canned after it was released-I loved this guy's fills.

If you don't own this album, get it immediately-it is a must have for hard rock or metal fans.

The album that introduced mainstream America to one of metal's most beloved bands, White Zombie's "La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1" is a tour de force of heandbanging ghoul rock. Songs like "Thunderkiss '65", "Black Sunshine", "Soul Crusher", "Thrust!", and "Grindhouse (A Go Go)" fully display the growl and campy lyrics of Rob Zombie, the grinding guitars of J., and the pumping bass and drums of Sean Yseult and Ivan Deprume respectively. I still remember thinking how mind boggingly cool White Zombie was when I had first heard them when I was a kid, and as much as I loved their follow up (and what proved to be their last studio album) "Astro Creep 2000", "La Sexorcisto" remains my favorite album from this much missed band. Forget most of Rob's newer material, this is the real deal.

I picked up this album at a used CD store, expecting it to be more like Rob Zombie's "Hellbilly Deluxe" (an album I thoroughly and repeatedly enjoy), and was pleasantly surprised to find that "Sexorcisto" is more straight ahead metal than "Hellbilly," much of which has sort of a "metallic disco" feel about it (but I don't mean that in a bad way). "Sexorcisto" has some really good heavy metal guitar with an inexhaustible array of good riffs, and some good soloing too. The macho gruffness of Zombie's vocals - quite a bit different than the more theatrically sinister growl he would later use on "Hellbilly" - suits this music perfectly, and his often lengthy lyrical schemes satisfyingly combine inanity with tongue-in-cheek intellect (and, by the way, the B-movie sound bites are pure gain).

I have heard a lot of heavy metal, and it amazes me how much satisfaction I get from the guitar playing on this album. Okay, I'll whip out the cliche: "this album is loaded with crunchy riffs," virtually from beginning to end. There are plenty of hooks here that will strike a satisfyingly familiar chord (like a really good hamburger) to anyone who has listened to a lot of heavy metal, yet a skillful avoidance of worn out cliches and a good variety of tempos. If you approach this album as legitimately good metal, from an instrumental standpoint, that doesn't take itself too seriously, you can't help but enjoy it. As much metal as I have listened to, and enjoyed, I sometimes get tired of all of the macho posturing and furrowed-eyebrow foreboding of the often ridiculously counter-everything genre, and this album makes some good crunchy "ear candy," with a kick. With Zombie's ability to growl, and his horror movie mentality, I wish he would do an album that's kind of a spoof of Death and/or Black Metal; I think he could pull this off brilliantly.

There seems to be a difference of opiinion as to whether this or "Astro Creep 2000" is the better album. All I can tell you is that I like "Sexorcisto" better, and my fiancee likes "Astro Creep" better. You'll probably want to get them both but, if you're approaching this mainly as a metal fan who's open to something outside of the usual fist-clenching "angry young white man" shtick, you may want to start with "Sexorcisto." By the way, this has become one of my favorite "driving around with the windows down" albums. Anyone who says they like metal who doesn't like this album is just TOO damn cranky.

I first got into Rob Zombie. Then people told me how much better White Zombie used to be. So I searched the net till i found video clips of Thunderkiss '65. Bang, I was immediately hooked. The guitar and rhythm in it is outta this world! I bought the cd and found a rare case of "front to back." Which means every song, from song 1 to song 14(the end) is incredibly amazing. Thunderkiss '65 gave me my addiction to White Zombie and others such as Black Sunshine, Electric Head, and More Human than Human only strengthened it. Now I find myself listening to their 2 cd's about twice a day each.

Note: I bought Hellbilly Deluxe and listened to it for a week and now it just sits there and collects dust while La Sexorcisto and Astro-Creep are being worn out to the point of unplayability.

Special Note to Rob: Lose your ego, man, bring back Sean Yseult and Jay. You're nothing without them!

Many, MANY people say that Astro Creep is a better album. Other's will tell you that Rob's solo stuff is better than this. Well, I just don't get it. On this album every element is firing on all cylinders. The riffs are killer, especially on songs like "Thrust!" and "I Am Legend". The drumming is SO much better here than on Astro Creep. See "Cosmic Monsters Inc." or Soul Crusher" (which by the way has a wicked, wicked riff as well).

The groove is just all around better on this album. I'm not taking anything away from Astro Creep, I dig that too. Good riffs, good drums there, but it just doesn't have the feel that La Sexorcisto does. Astro Creep is heavier, yes. But it lacks the flow that you find here. The drums, bass, the guitar of J. and Rob's voice all gel so perfectly here it is hard to top. An absolute must own metal/industrial classic.

I truly think this is the best thing Rob Zombie ever did. I mean not a bad track here, I mean with trcks like 'Thunder Kiss '65' and 'Black Sunshine' how in the world can you go wrong, everything on this record is top notch! Rob's voice sounds nice and raw as always, and J. Guitar is such an awsome guitar player, I really wonder what happand to him??? Ivan Deprume is a great drummer as well. You cant go wrong with this, you will never, ever find a better Zombie album then this, its just too perfect. I really think this is one of the top 15 albums put out in the 90s, and thats saying a lot, but I also think this is one of the best metal albums and bands of all time. This is way better then Hilbilly Delux, which is saying a lot concedering that is concederd his best work.

This was the best album Rob/White Zombie ever made. When they came out with Astro-Creep 2000, I liked it, but it was pretty different from this one. Do yourself a favor get your hands on this one! It has such a unique sound, "if you play the record a few times, you'll be amazed at how easily you will have begun to understand" how good it really is.