Everything about White Zombie Band totally explained
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For the film, see White Zombie (film)
White Zombie was an
American heavy metal band named after
the
1932 film
White Zombie, which starred
Bela Lugosi.
Based in
New York, White Zombie was originally a
noise rock band in the vein of fellow New York band
Sonic Youth; Sonic Youth's
Thurston Moore and fellow
grunge icon
Kurt Cobain have professed to be fans of their early work. However, White Zombie are better-known for their later
heavy metal-oriented sound, with lyrics heavily influenced by horror films and pseudo-Satanic imagery. Unlike other metal bands of the 1990s, White Zombie was almost exclusively a "fantasy" band, writing songs not based on their lives or experiences, but about surreal horror fantasies.
The group officially disbanded in 1998 shortly after the release of singer
Rob Zombie's solo album
Hellbilly Deluxe.
History
The Early Years
Founded by
Rob Zombie, writer, vocalist, and graphic artist, after coming up with the band idea in 1985 while attending Pratt in his Junior year. Rob's girlfriend at the time,
Sean Yseult, was playing the
farfisa in the band LIFE.
Ena Kostabi owned a studio which he'd rent out to different bands, meeting Sean, who asked if he could teach her to play bass. They then recruited Peter Landau to play drums and began to write and record songs. White Zombie's first release was an
EP titled
Gods on Voodoo Moon and was recorded on
October 18,
1985. It was released under the band's own label
Silent Explosion, under which they'd release most of their early work. Only 300 copies were pressed, of which only 100 were sold — the band members still retain possession of the remaining 200.
In 1986, Rob hired Tim Jeffs as the replacement for Kostabi and
Ivan de Prume as the replacement for Landau. White Zombie released their second EP
Pig Heaven that year. The release contained only two songs, "Pig Heaven" and "Slaughter the Grey", and retained the same sound as their previous effort. After only a few live shows, Jeffs was fired and quickly replaced by
Tom Guay. The band released a second pressing of
Pig Heaven of which the only difference from the first pressing was alternate cover art. Only 500 copies of each pressing were released on vinyl.
In
1987, band released their third EP
Psycho-Head Blowout. Later that year, the band released their first full length album
Soul-Crusher, which was their first release to feature sound clips from movies in the songs, a trademark that would continue for the remainder of the band's lifespan. John Ricci replaced Tom Guay shortly after the release of
Soul-Crusher.
In 1988, The band signed to
Caroline Records, discontinuing their old indie label permanently. About 1000 copies of the vinyl were pressed for the original and re-release each. After the re-release of the album in 1988, White Zombie began to tour outside of their northeast home, gaining slightly more recognition. In 1989, the band released their second LP
Make Them Die Slowly. The album was a huge musical shift for White Zombie. While their previous releases had been strictly punk influenced noise rock,
Make Them Die Slowly had more of a
heavy metal sound. The band stated that they wanted to play more of what they were influenced by and to keep it simple. It was also evident that Rob's vocals had grown deeper and he was no longer shrieking the lyrics in a high pitched tone. Unfortunately, lack of funds and shoddy production caused many songs intended for the album to not be included.
When Ricci's
Carpal tunnel syndrome severely affected his ability to play guitar,
Jay Yuenger or "J." then replaced him for the remainder of the band's years, which took them in a more metal/groove-influenced direction. One of the most obvious examples of this direction is the differences between the songs "Disaster Blaster" on
Make Them Die Slowly and the re-worked version, "Disaster Blaster 2", on the
God of Thunder EP. The EP featured a more groove-oriented sound that differed from anything they'd released before. The EP caught the attention of
Geffen Records who then offered them a record deal.
Major-Label Years
On March 17, 1992 they released, the album which would break them from their underground status and launch them into mainstream recognition. White Zombie began their two-and-a-half-year-long tour for the album soon after its release, during which the band gained a large
cult following. Early in the tour
Ivan de Prume left the band to pursue his own interests and was replaced by Phil Buerstatte. The
music video for the song "
Thunder Kiss '65" went into heavy rotation on
MTV in 1993. The popular TV show
Beavis and Butt-head began reviewing the band's music videos, boosting the band's popularity. By the end of 1993, the album had been certified Gold by the
RIAA. By the time the tour ended in December, 1994, Rob and Sean had broken up and
La Sexorcisto had gone Platinum. Due to artistic differences, Buerstatte was let go and
John Tempesta, who had previously worked with
Exodus and
Testament, was hired to record White Zombie's second major label album. In
1995, was released, featuring "
More Human Than Human" that would soon become a big hit. In
1996, an album of remixes was released under the title
Supersexy Swingin' Sounds.
On
January 3,
2007, it was announced by Rob on his website that a
box set would be released containing all the music White Zombie had ever recorded.
After disbanding
Sean Yseult, after the breakup of White Zombie, joined the
surf rock band The Famous Monsters, and (as of early 2001) left the horror-themed
New Orleans-based band Rock City Morgue. She is currently preparing for an upcoming tour with
The Cramps.
John Tempesta continued his musical relationship with Rob Zombie after the White Zombie breakup, drumming for Zombie on his first two solo albums,
Hellbilly Deluxe and
The Sinister Urge. He is no longer with Zombie and currently plays for the Rob Zombie-esque band Scum of the Earth with his brother, Powerman 5000 guitarist Mike Tempesta, and ex-Rob Zombie guitarist
Mike Riggs, and has recently toured with Testament (as shown on Testament's DVD,
Live In London). On February 14, 2006, he was hired as the new drummer for
The Cult, before which, he played with Helmet.
J. produced records for
stoner rock band
Fu Manchu and
New York City rockers Puny Human, as well as lending his guitar skills to a few other bands after the breakup of White Zombie.
In July 2006, original members
Tom Five and
Ivan de Prume reunited to perform with Ivan's band Healer for several concerts in
Southern California for The Vans Warped Tour.
(External Link
) Ivan continues to write and record music with Healer, a middle eastern infused metal band and recording, producing, and engineering for special projects. Sony's Ghost Rider score featured Ivan's drums and percussion.
Discography
Studio albums
Trivia
- "Thunder Kiss '65" was used as the opening music for NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling/Extreme Championship Wrestling's syndicated weekly television program for much of the show's run.
- The song "Thunder Kiss '65" is featured in the Playstation 2 game Guitar Hero.
- The La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1 album was used as the soundtrack for the 3DO game Way of the Warrior.
- In 2000, White Zombie was included on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, ranking at No. 56.
- The last song recorded by the band before they disbanded was "Ratfinks, Suicide Tanks and Cannibal Girls."
- The song listed above was used in Beavis and Butthead Do America, during the desert hallucination scene.
- The song "I'm Your Boogieman" was featured in .
- The song "Super Charger Heaven" contains the quote "Look, I know the supernatural is something that isn't supposed to happen, but it does happen" from the horror movie The Haunting.
- The song "Thrust!" has a sample from the ultra violent hentai Urotsukidoji.
- The intro to the song "I, Zombie" (scream included) is sampled from the José Mojica Marins film Awakening of the Beast.
- White Zombie appeared in the movie Airheads to sing "Feed the Gods" in a club.
- The song "Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah)" is a movie of the same name with the actor Sid Haig who played Captain Spaulding in the movie House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects directed by Rob Zombie.
- In chapter one of the manga Black Lagoon, a lead character, Revy, destroys a fleet of ships while listening to "Electric Head Pt. 1 (The Agony)".
- The song "Thunderkiss '65" is the music used during Chad Hernandez's part in the skateboarding video "Opinion" by Globe shoes.
- The song "More Human Than Human" is featured in the Wii version of Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam.
- The song "More Human Than Human" is featured in the movie Annapolis
- The song "El Phantasmo and the Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama" was Lance Storms entrance music during his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling.
- The song "More Human Than Human" plays in the beginning of the 2006 movie The Covenant.
- The song "More Human Than Human" is featured in the video game The Bigs.
- The song "More Human Than Human" is featured in the movie The Cable Guy.
- The song "More Human Than Human" is featured in the movie Broken Arrow.
- The song "More Human Than Human" is featured in the movie Turbulence.
- The song "More Human Than Human" is featured in the Intro Music to the Lex and Terry Radio Show
- The song "Thunderkiss '65" was featured in the film Wild Hogs.
- The song "More Human Than Human" was featured in the film The Marine.
- The song "Black Sunshine" is playable in the game .
- The song "More Human Than Human" was used by the QMJHL Saint John Sea Dogs as a starting lineup song.
- White Zombie played their song "More Human Than Human" on the Late Show with David Letterman in 1995.
- The beginning of the song "Blur the Technicolor" appeared in the film . It's used during the monster truck scene.
- The song "Creature of the Wheel" contains samples from the 1971 Charlton Heston film, The Omega Man.
- The song "Super-Charger Heaven" is briefly played in a scene from the Sylvester Stallone film "Judge Dredd". It's playing in a red Lamborghini that was pulled over.
Further Information
Get more info on 'White Zombie Band'.
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