La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One

La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One
Studio album by White Zombie
Released	March 17, 1992
Recorded	May 1991 at 321 Studios, New York
Genre	Alternative metal,[1] heavy metal, groove metal
Length	57:30
Label	Geffen
Producer	Andy Wallace
White Zombie chronology
God of Thunder (1989) La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One (1992) Astro-Creep: 2000 (1995)
Singles from La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One
"Thunder Kiss '65" Released: 1992 "Black Sunshine" Released: 1992

La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One is the third album by metal band White Zombie, released on March 17, 1992 through Geffen Records. It was the band's last album to feature drummer Ivan de Prume.

Album information

The album's sound is a mix of groove metal and heavy metal with multiple B-movie samples. Rob Zombie explained he "wanted to keep a groovable dance element in the music", a trait which is often absent in metal music. Contrary to rumors, a "Devil Music Volume Two" was never planned for recording or release. Almost every song on the album made an appearance on the 1994 video game Way of the Warrior.

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Rolling Stone	[3]
Rock Hard (de)	9/10[4]

La Sexorcisto was both a critical and commercial success for White Zombie, climbing up the charts in the US and gaining massive MTV video airplay and mainstream rock radio airplay with "Thunder Kiss '65" and "Black Sunshine". Although released in early 1992, La Sexorcisto did not enter the Billboard 200 until 1993,^[5] after the success of "Thunder Kiss '65", which reached number 26 on the Mainstream Rock chart.^[6] It was certified Double Platinum by the RIAA, and gold by the CRIA.

Jacob N. Lunders of Allmusic praised the album with 4.5 out of 5 stars and claimed "Perhaps co-defining the future of heavy metal, White Zombie's major-label debut nearly equals fellow classics Guns N' Roses's Appetite for Destruction, The Cult's Electric, and Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger in significance".^[2]

Touring and promotion

White Zombie toured for two years to promote La Sexorcisto. The tour was a critical success and some archived footage of the shows can be seen on the Let Sleeping Corpses Lie DVD. White Zombie began a five-month U.S. tour in April 1992, supporting such bands as My Sister's Machine, Paw, Testament, Pantera, Trouble and Crowbar.^[7] In the fall of 1992, the band opened for Danzig on their How the Gods Kill tour in Europe and the United States, and wrapped up the year doing a brief U.S. tour, again supporting Pantera.^[7] White Zombie spent most of 1993 and 1994 touring non-stop in support of La Sexorcisto. They toured with Monster Magnet in February and March 1993, and with Anthrax and Quicksand that summer.^[7] White Zombie embarked on two more U.S. tours: one with Chemlab and Nudeswirl in the fall of 1993, and another with Prong and The Obsessed in early 1994.^[7] The La Sexorcisto tour concluded in May 1994 with four Japanese shows, which were supported by Pantera.^[7]

Accolades

Track listing

All lyrics written by Rob Zombie, all music composed by White Zombie.

Some pressings of the CD incorrectly divide tracks 12 and 13, beginning track 13 at 3:31 of "Grindhouse (A Go-Go)."

Song overview

"Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag"

"Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag" is the first track on the album. It is a two-part song, the first part having its own music video.

Audio Samples

• 0:25 - The explosion and sounds of growling is taken from the 1989 anime Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend
• 1:31 - "Fuckin' kiss me." is Tori Welles, sampled from the first scene of "True Confessions of Tori Welles" (with Tori Welles and Jerry Butler)
• 1:48 - "Now let's move", "but let's take the back door" and the sample right at the end of the song are from the 1965 exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
• 4:20 - "Do you have to open graves to find girls to fall in love with?" is taken from the 1932 horror film The Mummy.
• 4:35 - "Get up and kill!" is taken from the 1978 zombie film Dawn Of The Dead.
• 5:43 - "Swing with a gassy chick..." is Phillipa Fallon performing beat poetry in the 1958 teen film "High School Confidential".

"Knuckle Duster (Radio 1-A)"

"Knuckle Duster (Radio 1-A)" is the second track and the first of two radio channel imitations on the album. It takes its name from a metal weapon worn over the knuckles used in hand-to-hand combat, otherwise known as brass knuckles. The track contains numerous short audio samples from movies and songs which play in a fashion similar to that of someone changing radio channels every few seconds.

Audio Samples

• 0:02 - "Ahorre, no compre sin visitar Empori..." is taken from a radio ad in Spanish. Translates to "Save, don't buy without visiting Empori.."
• 0:07 - "We know how fast we can go" is taken from the 1965 cult film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
• 0:17 - "These are the facts as we know them. There is an epidemic of mass murders being committed by a virtual army of unidentified assassins" is taken from the 1968 horror film Night of the Living Dead during a radio broadcast.
• 0:17 - The screaming in the background (sans falling lumber) is from the first scene of "True Confessions of Tori Welles" (with Tori Welles and Jerry Butler), approximately 10 minutes in.

"Thunder Kiss '65"

"Thunder Kiss '65" is the third track on the album. It helped the band gain some notoriety through its music video and chart success (and again through its inclusion in the first Guitar Hero game, thirteen years later) and was nominated the Grammy for Best Metal Performance of 1993.

Audio Sample

• 1:28 - "You're all shook up, aren't you baby? I never try anything. I just do it. Wanna try me?" is taken from the 1965 exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

"Black Sunshine"

"Black Sunshine" is the fourth track on the album. Though minimally successful as a single, the song has gone on to become a fan favorite and is still played live with Zombie's solo act as well as appearing on his greatest hits albums. The spoken intro and end were provided by Iggy Pop. It also appears in the video game Guitar Hero III and as downloadable content for the Rock Band series.

Audio Sample

• 3:25 - "I work on this baby the same way, trying to get maximum performance" is taken from the 1965 exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

"Soul-Crusher"

"Soul-Crusher" is the fifth track on the album. The lyrics "Speed kills, I'm alive yeah, in my ... Durango '95, yeah!" and "Motherfucker scream horrorshow!" are both references to Stanley Kubrick's classic 1971 film A Clockwork Orange. Also, the lyrics "Time a Diamond Ass right on my line" is a reference to their song "Diamond Ass" off the Soul-Crusher album. Iggy Pop speaks the words "Burning like fat in the fire the smell of red, red kroovy(krovvy) screamed mega-flow; a stalking ground without prey. A flash of superstition whimpering like a crippled animal. Dogs of the Soul-Crusher pulling closer like the blue steel jaws of hell" in the middle of the song. According to Rob, it was this song that inspired Geffen Records to sign the band to its label.^[11]

"Cosmic Monsters Inc."

"Cosmic Monsters Inc." is the sixth track on the album.

Audio Samples

• 0:00 - "Meanwhile, behind the façade of this innocent-looking bookstore" is taken from the 1966 episode of Batman (TV series), the title of the episode being "Zelda The Great"
• 1:26 - "You're all shook up, aren't you baby?" is taken from the 1965 exploitation film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
• 3:20 - "They come from the bowels of hell..." is taken from the trailer for the 1959 science fiction film Plan 9 from Outer Space

"Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah)"

"Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah)" is the seventh track on the album. It takes its name from the 1968 cult film Spider Baby.

Audio Samples

• 0:00 - The bell sounds at the beginning of the song are from the 1988 horror film Hellbound: Hellraiser II
• 2:23 - The ominous chanting listeners hear is in fact the score from the 1976 horror film The Omen
• 4:00 - The other-language chanting is taken from the The Exorcist (film)

"I Am Legend"

"I Am Legend" is the eighth track on the album. The song is closely based on the 1954 horror novel I Am Legend, written by Richard Matheson.

"Knuckle Duster (Radio 2-B)"

"Knuckle Duster (Radio 2-B)" is the ninth track and the second of two radio channel imitations on the album.

Audio Samples

• 0:00 - "Now, what we have to ask is why is it that God has admonished us to hate evil? Well, first of all, God loves ..." from a sermon by Atlanta pastor, Dr. Charles Stanley (pastor).
• 0:09 - "Y cuando tu vuelvas.." Daniel Santos - "Como se van las noches"
• 0:14 - "... And strangled them and finally dismembered their bodies"
• 0:20 - "homelessness and all that ..." sample are the words of the American radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.
• 0:21 - "And now, the voice you've been waiting for ..."

"Thrust!"

Audio Samples

• 0:00 - The speaking at the introduction of this song is taken from the 1989 manga Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend
• 1:50 - "It has been established..." sample is taken from the 1968 zombie film Night Of The Living Dead

"One Big Crunch"

Audio Samples

• 0:00 - The music in the background is from the 1968 horror film, Night Of The Living Dead.
• 0:01 - "Only parts of the corpse had been removed" is from the 1974 horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

"Grindhouse (A Go-Go)"

"Grindhouse (A Go-Go)" is the twelfth cut on the album. It was featured in Woody Allen's 2002 film Hollywood Ending. In 2000, the song was covered by Habeas Corpus for the White Zombie tribute album Super-Charger Hell.

"Starface"

"Starface" is the thirteenth track on the album. The audio sample at the beginning of the track, "One. We are one. One is the beginning ...", is from the episode "The Way to Eden" from Star Trek: The Original Series. "X minus 5 seconds...4...3...2...1" is from the 1950 sci-fi film Rocketship X-M.

Audio Samples

• 0:00 - "One. One is the beginning..." and "Oh Herbert, you are stiff!" samples from the beginning and end of the song are taken from the 1969 episode of Star Trek: The Original Series entitled "The Way to Eden"
• 0:18 - "X minus 5 seconds..." sample is taken from the 1950 science fiction film Rocketship X-M
• 2:27 - In the background there is an eerie jingle playing, this is from 1979's Phantasm (film). This sound effect was used earlier as the shuttlecraft interior sound effects throughout the run of the aforementioned Star Trek: The Original Series. (On the album "Star Trek: Sound Effects from the Original TV Soundtrack", it is Track 69-- do a search for "shuttlecraft interior" on YouTube for confirmation.)

"Warp Asylum"

"Warp Asylum" is the fourteenth and last track on the album.

Audio Sample

• 0:00 - The creepy warped tune at the beginning of the song is from the 1987 horror film, Hellraiser.

Personnel

Band members

• Rob Zombie - vocals, lyricist, art direction, illustrations, sleeve illustration
• J. - guitar
• Sean Yseult - bass, art direction
• Ivan de Prume - drums

Technical crew

• Kristin Callahan - photography
• David Carpenter - assistant engineer
• Alison Dyer - photography
• Michael Golob - art direction, photoshop artist
• Iggy Pop - additional vocals ("Black Sunshine")
• Andy Wallace - producer, engineer, mixing
• Howie Weinberg - mastering

Chart positions

References