Make Them Die Slowly 1989 Album

White Zombie

Second time around, and from a technical perspective, it's an improvement…sort of. Tom Ricci replaces Tom "Five" Guay on guitar, to make possible the group's new foray into heavy metal (supposedly inspired by Rob Zombie listening to Ivan de Prume's copy of Ride the Lightning), but elsewhere, Bill Laswell's production job completely muffles Yseult's bass, and the group in general sounds as if they recorded this from the bottom of your neighbor's garbage can. Plus, the songs themselves have the grooves, but as with the previous album, the individual memorability is lacking. Which wouldn't be a big deal…except that now the reconstituted group is pretty far removed from their former noise-rock vibe, and in a realm where visceral feel of riffs and tones do count for something important, that's a strike against them. And when you take away the power of the rhythm section…? As a result, the whole affair has a weaker impact than the previous one, IMHO. Still, it's worth hearing a few times, just as a contrast between the rest of White Zombie's works.