By Greg Maki
Now THIS is Rob Zombie.
Make no mistake, he’s always been one of a kind throughout a music and movie career that now spans four decades. But he’s seemingly spent much of the past 20 years running from the industrialized metal sound on which he gained his fame, first with White Zombie and then with his early solo records. It appears that it took some defections from his band—first guitarist John 5 in 2022, followed by bassist Matt “Piggy D” Montgomery in 2024—to bring Zombie back to his roots.
Not coincidentally, “The Great Satan” is the first Zombie record since 2001 to feature “Hellbilly Deluxe”-era guitarist Mike Riggs and bassist Rob “Blasko” Nicholson. (Longtime drummer Ginger Fish remains in the fold.) It’s also his best album in a quarter century, driven more by thick, heavy riffs than whatever weird ideas he had in the studio and the most bizarre song titles one could possibly imagine. There’s still no way of knowing if any of these songs are about anything other than a bunch of words and phrases that sound spooky delivered in Zombie’s raspy growl of a voice. (Example: “Sir Lord Acid Wolfman/That’s what they call me.” Is it really?). But for the first time in a long time, when he sings lyrics like “I bring the horror into your head” or “I was born down in a ditch, a rotten motherfucker and a son of a bitch,” he sounds like he means it.
From the start of opener “F.T.W. 84,” it’s clear that “Hellbilly Deluxe” and White Zombie’s classic “Astro-Creep: 2000” are the musical reference points. There’s a power and strength here that’s been missing as Zombie has spent the better part of the past two decades pursuing more of a garage/punk rock vibe. At the same time, it’s not as if he’s chasing past glories—there are no obvious clones of “Dragula,” “Living Dead Girl” or “More Human Than Human” here. Almost notoriously, Zombie sticks to the hits in his live show, but these new songs would slay onstage. Though audience may be aging, don’t tell me a circle pit or two wouldn’t break out during the thrash metal frenzy of “The Black Scorpion.”
“The Great Satan” finds Zombie doing what Zombie does best—with a little extra aggression as befits heavy music in 2026—with the musicians who seem to be the most capable of helping him get there. The hellbilly is back.
Rating: 9/10
Nuclear Blast Records – February 27, 2026
LINKS:
Buy/stream/save “The Great Satan.”
www.robzombie.com
www.facebook.com/robzombie
www.instagram.com/robzombieofficial
www.x.com/robzombie
www.tiktok.com/@robzombie
www.youtube.com/robzombie
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