Rob Zombie: Mondo Sex Head

Earlier this week, Jonathan Davis of Korn told Spinner: “North American dubstep is the new electronic heavy metal. It’s the filthier, the better in that world, and with heavy metal, it’s the heavier the better, so it’s kind of the same thing.” There is some evidence in Rob Zombie‘s latest exploit, Mondo Sex Head that he agrees.

It has been over a decade since Rob Zombie was relevant, musically. His last commercially successful album was 2001’s The Sinister Urge which went platinum in the US. Since that time, Zombie has toggled between movies and making music with his film career flourishing and his music career stalling. So maybe it is no surprise that Zombie would heed the oracle that is Jonathan Davis and release a remix album.

Mondo Sex Head essentially collects tracks from White Zombie and Rob Zombie’s solo career and lets electro and dubstep producers have at them. Big names like The Bloody Beetroots, Photek, and Das Kapital turn out to remix their favorite tracks. It is an odd proposition to remix something like Rob Zombie. Photek delivers a remix of “Living Dead Girl” that is nearly unrecognizable from the original. The track is spacey and ambient with only a few vocal clips kept in from the original. On the other hand, Big Black Delta keeps the majority of the vocals from White Zombie’s biggest hit, “More Human Than Human” but instead slows the bpms way down. The result is a track that is nearly unlistenable.

Of the 13 tracks on Mondo Sex Head, there are only a few that are truly listenable. Document One delivers the album’s only dubstep track, a remix of “Let It All Bleed Out.” +++’s remix of “Dragula” is easily the album’s highlight; keeping the entire original vocal track, they give the track a treatment that sounds something between Orbital and Madonna‘s “Like a Virgin.” Ki:Theory’s take on “Pussy Liquor” sounds like something between the Faint and Atari Teenage Riot which maybe under normal circumstances would not sound good but in comparison to the rest of the album is delightful.

Although Mondo Sex Head clearly is not my cup of tea, I do see what Rob Zombie was trying to accomplish with the album. Trying to bring his kitschy horror metal to the “I wanna rage” generation not only makes sense, but is a genius marketing move. I just question how many high schoolers these remixes will really appeal to.

Rating: 3.5/10

1 Comment

  • Mona H says:

    “Ki:Theory‘s take on ‘Pussy Liquor’ sounds like something between the Faint and Atari Teenage Riot which maybe under normal circumstances would not sound good but in comparison to the rest of the album is delightful.”

    I just el oh el’ed. Hard.

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