Astro-Creep: 2000 Songs Of Love, Destruction And Other Synthetic Delusions Of The Electric Head

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Following the belated surprise success of La Sexorcisto, Astro-Creep: 2000 carried the weight of high expectations, something that White Zombie was never familiar with before. Unsurprisingly, White Zombie plays it safe on Astro-Creep, never straying from their white-trash-on-acid metal. While it's undeniably campy, the band genuinely loves the trash they sing about, so they fit right into the tradition of tongue-in-cheek heavy metal bands from Alice Cooper to Kiss. Where those bands relied on songcraft beneath their shtick, White Zombie relies on a full-throttle roar. Borrowing such techniques as distorted vocals and drilling riffs from pseudo-industrial metal like Ministry, the band beefs up their basic sound, making it powerful enough to disguise the lack of solid song structures and memorable riffs. Sonically, Astro-Creep delivers the initial goods, yet it never develops into trash as substantial as "Thunder Kiss '65."