Album Review: Rob Zombie-Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor

Musician/director Rob Zombie is having quite the busy month. His fifth film, The Lords of Salem, just came out in theaters last Friday and now his fifth (solo) studio album, Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor, comes out today. I can't speak on the quality of his film since I haven't seen it (nor do I plan to,) but I will say that Mr.Zombie definitely succeeded on the music front.

Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor is a return to form of sorts for Zombie after his underwhelming last release Hellbilly Deluxe 2. The only thing underwhelming about Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor is its incredibly stupid title This record sees Zombie going back to what he does best: make fun, horror-inspired industrial metal. Zombie jam packs the entire record with lively hooks and a contagious sinister spirit. It's evident that he hasn't had this much fun making music in a long time and he just lets loose on this record. "Lucifer Rising", "Teenage Nosferatu Pussy" (one of my favorite song titles recent memory) and "Behold, the Pretty Filthy Creatures! in particular are just a pure unadulterated good time. For the duration of this record, you can't help getting fully immersed into Zombie's world of all things horror-related, he just makes it sound so damn appealing. In addition to the fun Zombie is having with the music, I really liked the old-school vibe this record has. There's a lot of 80's- inspired keyboard parts and some nice, traditional heavy metal solos from Zombie's long time axeman John 5 (who shreds as always) scattered throughout the record giving it an undeniable vintage flair. Hell there's even a surprisingly awesome cover of "We're An American Band" by Grand Funk Railroad on this record! Rob Zombie has always had a prominent classic rock/horror punk influence, but its never been more in the forefront of his music than on Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor.

Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor greatly exceeded my expectations and ends up being Rob Zombie's best album since 2001's The Sinister Urge. Zombie is back to making entertaining, catchy music that gets stuck in your head immediately and the good times on this record only increase upon further listens. Zombie is a natural showman and that's something you don't see very often in music in the present day so I commend Zombie for sticking to his guns and continuing to entertain listeners with his music this deep into his career. There may be better records to be this released this year, but I doubt that anything will be more fun than Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor.

4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Luicifer Rising
2.Behold, the Pretty Filthy Creatures!
3.Teenage Nosferatu Pussy