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White Zombie | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Works | Discography |
| Years active | 1985–1998 |
| Labels | |
| Past members | Rob Zombie Sean Yseult Ena Kostabi Peter Landau Ivan de Prume Tim Jeffs Tom Five John Ricci Jay Yuenger Phil Buerstatte John Tempesta |
| Website | whitezombieofficial |
White Zombie was an Americanheavy metal band that formed in 1985. Based inNew York City, they started as anoise rock band, releasing three EPs and one studio album in that style before changing to a heavy metal-oriented sound that broke them into the mainstream. The albumsLa Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One (1992) andAstro-Creep: 2000 (1995) established them as an influential act ingroove metal andindustrial metal, respectively. Their best-known songs include "Thunder Kiss '65", "Black Sunshine" and "More Human than Human". The group officially disbanded in 1998. In 2000, White Zombie was included onVH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, ranking at No. 56.[1] As of October 2010, the band has sold six million albums, according toNielsen SoundScan.[2]
White Zombie was co-founded byRob Zombie, after coming up with the band idea in 1985 while attendingParsons School of Design in his junior year. Zombie named the band after a 1932 horror movie starring Bela Lugosi calledWhite Zombie, considered the first true zombie movie (the movie title was also the source for Rob Zombie's stage name, as he was born Robert Cummings).[3][4]
Zombie's girlfriend at the time,Sean Yseult, was the other co-founder. She had been playing theFarfisa keyboard in the band Life with Ivan de Prume, but the band soon broke up.Ena Kostabi owned arecording studio, which he would rent out to different bands. When he met Yseult, she 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,Gods on Voodoo Moon, was anEP and was recorded on October 18, 1985. It was released under the band's label Silent Explosion, where they would 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.[citation needed]
In 1986, Zombie hired Tim Jeffs, his Parsons School of Design roommate, to play guitar to replace Ena Kostabi, and Yseult brought in de Prume from their days in the band LIFE as the replacement for Landau. The band made their live performance debut atCBGB on April 28, 1986, and started touring.[5][6] White Zombie released their second EP,Pig Heaven, that year. The release contained two songs, "Pig Heaven" and "Slaughter the Grey". The EP was recorded at 6/8 Studios in NoHo in New York City. Other songs that were recorded during the session but never released were titled "Follow Wild", "Rain Insane", "Paradise Fireball", and "Red River Flow". After touring for a year in the band, Tim Jeffs left and was replaced byTom Guay, often known as Tom Five. The band released a second pressing ofPig Heaven with different cover art, but retained the same recording with Jeffs on guitar. Only 500 copies of each pressing were released on vinyl.
In 1987, the band released their third EP,Psycho-Head Blowout.[7] 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,[7] a signature that would continue for the remainder of the band's lifespan.[8]
In 1988, the band signed toCaroline Records, permanently discontinuing their own indie label. After completing their first U.S. tour in June 1988, Tom Guay was asked to leave the band.[7] He was replaced by John Ricci in July 1988.[9] Their second album,Make Them Die Slowly, was released in March 1989.[8] The album was a musical shift for White Zombie. While their previous releases had been strictly punk-influenced noise rock,Make Them Die Slowly has demonstrably more of a heavy metal sound.[7] This is also the first album crediting "Rob Zombie" instead of his previousstage name, "Rob 'Dirt' Straker".
Ricci'scarpal tunnel syndrome severely affected his ability to play guitar, forcing him to leave the band whenMake Them Die Slowly was finished.[7]Jay "J" Yuenger replaced him before the album's release, affecting their future sound.[10] One of the most obvious examples of this direction is the difference between the songs "Disaster Blaster" onMake Them Die Slowly and the re-worked version, "Disaster Blaster II", on theGod of Thunder EP.[citation needed]
After searching for a record label and being turned down multiple times, the band turned towardRCA Records. However, Zombie opted for arecording contract withGeffen Records. Michael Alago, a representative of Geffen, became interested after hearingGod of Thunder and watched one of their shows atPyramid Club and liked them, mostly for their song "Soul-Crusher". The band produced ademo with the help ofJ. G. Thirlwell ofFoetus and were signed to Geffen.[11]
On March 17, 1992, White Zombie releasedLa Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One, the album which launched them into mainstream recognition.[7] The band supportedLa Sexorcisto with a two-and-a-half-year-long tour,[7] which saw them performing with numerous bands such asPantera,Danzig,Kyuss,Testament,Megadeth,Sepultura,Suicidal Tendencies,Anthrax,Quicksand,Monster Magnet,Nudeswirl,Prong andthe Obsessed.[12] During the tour, Ivan de Prume left the band to pursue a career as a producer/engineer as well as drummer/percussionist and opened his own studio, Burningsound. He was replaced by Phil Buerstatte. Themusic videos for the songs "Thunder Kiss '65", "Black Sunshine" and "Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag" (censored as "Welcome to Planet M.F.") went into regular rotation onMTV'sHeadbangers Ball,[13] while each music video was featured on the TV showBeavis and Butt-head.[7] This boosted the band's popularity, and led toLa Sexorcisto selling over two-million copies in the U.S. alone.[8][14] During this period, White Zombie had recorded several songs for movie soundtracks and various artists compilation albums, including "Feed the Gods" for the soundtrack toAirheads, "I Am Hell" forThe Beavis and Butt-Head Experience compilation album and a cover version ofBlack Sabbath's "Children of the Grave", which appears on the tribute albumNativity in Black; each of these songs received airplay onactive rock radio stations,[15] while a music video "Feed the Gods" was released.[13]
By the time White Zombie entered the studio in late 1994 to begin recording their fourth album, Zombie and Yseult had ended their relationship, and Buerstatte was dismissed from the band, due to artistic differences; he was replaced by formerExodus and Testament drummerJohn Tempesta.[8] In 1995,Astro-Creep: 2000 was released, which featured a moreindustrial sound and included the hit single "More Human than Human".[7] The album was another success for the band, debuting at number six on theBillboard 200 (White Zombie's highest-ever chart position), and within a year after its release, it was certifieddouble platinum by theRIAA.[14] To supportAstro Creep 2000, the band toured non-stop for approximately fifteen months, playing with a wide variety of acts such asMetallica,Soundgarden, theRamones, theMelvins,The Reverend Horton Heat,Babes in Toyland,Kyuss,Filter,Everclear, theToadies,CIV andPennywise.[12] In the summer of 1996, White Zombie played its final dates, co-headlining a North American tour with Pantera.[12]
Also in 1996, an album of remixes was released under the titleSupersexy Swingin' Sounds. After making one last song for the filmBeavis and Butt-head Do America, titled "Ratfinks, Suicide Tanks and Cannibal Girls", White Zombie broke up in September 1998.[8]
After the breakup of White Zombie, Sean Yseult released her first album withsurf rock band The Famous Monsters, having started the band in between Zombie tours. She also started playing bass for horror-themedNew Orleans–based band, Rock City Morgue, and briefly played bass forThe Cramps.
Tempesta continued his musical relationship with Zombie, drumming for him on his first two solo albums,Hellbilly Deluxe andThe Sinister Urge. After leaving the Zombie touring band, Tempesta went on to play forScum of the Earth. Tempesta has toured with Testament (as shown on Testament's DVD,Live In London). On February 14, 2006, he was hired as the permanent drummer forThe Cult, after a brief stint withHelmet.
J. produced records forFu Manchu andNew York–based Puny Human.
In July 2006, original members Tom Five and de Prume reunited to perform with de Prume's band, Healer, a middle eastern infused metal band, for several concerts in Southern California for The VansWarped Tour.[16] De Prume continues to write and record music with Healer, as well as recording, producing and engineering for special projects in his studio, Burningsound. His drums and percussion work can also be heard on Sony's "Ghost Rider" score. In 2009, de Prume began hosting the weekly radio show, "Metalopolis". His studio guests have includedRob Halford,Dave Mustaine,Max Cavalera,Vinnie Paul andTom Araya. De Prume is also a member of the band KREEP, and has completed a West Coast tour in spring 2010, and is planning an East Coast tour in fall 2010.
In November 2008, Geffen/UME releasedLet Sleeping Corpses Lie, aboxed set which includes sixty four tracks featuring every White Zombie album and EP (except the remix albums), all remastered. The package also contained nine music videos (including their breakthrough Grammy-nominated hit "Thunder Kiss '65"), and ten live performances. In an interview[17] to promote the release ofLet Sleeping Corpses Lie, Zombie made it clear that a reunion with his White Zombie bandmates was unlikely, saying, "I don't want fans to think it's the beginning of anything."
In December 2010 Yseult releasedI'm in the Band, a book containing tour diaries and photos as well as detailing her eleven years spent as a member of White Zombie.[18][19]
Since the breakup of White Zombie, Rob Zombie has shown little interest in reforming the band. In June 2011, in an interview withMetal Hammer magazine, he was asked why White Zombie split up, to which he replied: "It had run its course. Success is a big thing that you can never plan for, because it affects everybody differently. I don't want to blame myself or anyone else in the band — it's just that the band didn't work anymore. Rather than continuing on and making shitty records and having it all fall apart, I thought: 'Let's just end it on a high point.'" Zombie also stated earlier in 2011 that a White Zombie reunion would never happen and he had not been in contact with any members of the band "exceptJohn Tempesta in about 15 years."[20] In 2018, Yseult mirrored his comments, saying that, in regards to the breakup, "[she] was definitely ready for [the band] to be over with", and that she stayed in touch with most other band members aside from Zombie.[21]
In May 2013, former drummer Phil Buerstatte died.[22] Shortly after his death, he was impersonated by con-artist Loren Dean Breckenridge III. Breckenridge was previously accused of defrauding rehab centers across the nation, and repeatedly impersonating character actorLoren Dean.[23]
In a November 2015 interview with Artisan News, Yseult stated that a White Zombie vinyl box set was due for release in 2016.[24] On February 16, 2016,It Came from N.Y.C. was confirmed for a June 3 release via theNumero Group. The vinyl box set contains remastered versions of all the pre-Geffen Records material (including unreleased tracks) on 5 LPs/3 CDs, a 108-page colored booklet complete with liner notes and rare photos, a discography, and a shirtography.
On May 18, 2016,Riot Fest released their lineups and it was revealed thatRob Zombie would be performingAstro-Creep: 2000 in its entirety at the Chicago weekend.[25] This sparked a swirl of speculation, coupled with the recently reunitedMisfits, that a White Zombie reunion would also be occurring at the festival. When asked in September 2016 about his refusal to reform White Zombie, Rob replied, "[I am] always amazed at how people can speak with such authority on subjects they know zero about. I have many legit reasons. Just because you don't know them does not mean they don't exist. Everything is not everybody's business."[26] GuitaristJ. said, however, that he and bassistSean Yseult could do an "Astro Creep, 'more original members' tour", and added that they "joke about it sometimes".[27] On May 22, 2017, Rob posted a short snippet of audio, to his Instagram account, of a live recording of the White Zombie song "Electric Head Part 2", with a comment stating he was in the process of mixing theAstro Creep 2000 live set from the Chicago date of the 2016 Riot Fest. Rob and his band would once again play theAstro Creep 2000 record in its entirety at the 2025 Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, KY.
White Zombie initially emerged from New York City'snoise rock scene,[28] influenced byHoneymoon Killers,Swans andPussy Galore, 1970s rock ofVan Halen,Kiss andAC/DC, as well asBlack Sabbath,the Cramps andgothic rock.[29] White Zombie was considered a New York Underground band.[30] The introduction of Jay Noel Yuenger into the band, according toAllMusic's Greg Prato, "helped toughen up the band's sound even further -- inching closer to aheavy metal band more than ever before."[30] White Zombie changed their style from noise rock to agroove metal sound,[28] and would come to be associated with thealternative metal scene of the 1990s.[31][32][33] Rob Zombie was also introducing elements ofindustrial rock into the band's sound, making White Zombie "one of the fewhard rock bands of the era that you could also dance to."[30] TheLA Weekly placed White Zombie within thenu metal scene and said that the band's "whirling rhythms drivingdance-rock ragers" helped the band stand out.[34]MTV described the band as "horror rock" and a "horror obsessedindustrial-metal band."[35] White Zombie fused "B-horror movie visuals and subject matter with heavy music and growled vocals", according toAllMusic's Greg Prato,[30]AllMusic's Bradley Torreano, reviewing the albumSoul Crusher, wrote that Rob Zombie's "wonderfully phantasmagoric lyrics blend bizarre phrases and unique rhymes."[36]
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| Remix albums | |
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