The Great Satan

A long five years after previous effort The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy, and everyone’s favourite horror director-cum-industrial-shock-rocker is back with a new full-length album. And although even fans would describe Rob’s discography as spotty at best, even detractors will find much to enjoy here with its energetic assault on your ears. The best moments here are like a pumped-up Ministry, sounding more enthused and inspired than Al and co have in years; opener FTW 84 especially roars in with a touch of thrash to the guitar riffs and is the best thing present. And even though the usual industrial bells, whistles, and samples are present and correct they’re implemented especially well, not interfering with the essential rock base of the songs or their catchiness.

You can at least partially put the credit for this with the return of two previous collaborators in guitarist Mike Riggs and bassist Rob “Blasko” Nicholson, both back for the first time in several albums (Riggs since The Sinister Urge and Blasko since Educated Horses) and both providing plenty of heaviness to proceedings. The music is definitely driven by the rock/metal elements - particularly guitars - rather than the electronics, and the intensity and energy are kept high throughout the album. Whether on slower, heavier pounders like (I’m a) Rock “N” Roller, The Devilman, and Black Rat Coffin or speedier, semi-thrashing Ministry-esque ragers like Heathen Days and Punks And Demons, the band keep things moving quickly and ensure the songs flow in and out of each other entertainingly.

The worst thing you can say about, for example Heathen Days, is at just over two minutes it’s over far too quickly yet conversely nothing has the chance to drag or feels tiresome. Even quirkier material like Sir Lord Acid Wolfman, which sounds sort of like Tom Waits fronting Primus with some of the Eastern musical influences hinted at on the cover art, is far from bad or irritating and it’s easy to wish that Rob and co pushed at the edges of their sound a little more to include more experimentation. Still, when taken as a whole The Great Satan is the most solid and infectious album that this project has produced in years, as well as a highlight of industrial metal as of late compared with the sort of crap that Ministry have been dumping on our heads for what, nearly 20 years? Even interlude pieces here Who Am I? and Welcome to the Electric Age are interesting and blessedly brief, let alone giving rambunctious punk rocking pieces like The Black Scorpion an extra edge. An excellent industrial metal album in its own rights as well as Rob Zombie’s best work in years!