Review Summary: Though lacking an individual sound of their own, Scum of the Earth’s debut proves that Rob Zombie has trained his former bandmates rather well in his art.
After spending so much time as Rob Zombie's guitarist, it's to be expected that a plentiful amount of Zombie's shock-industrial influences would rub off on Mike Riggs stylistically, and that gives his band, Scum of the Earth's debut album a strong benefit and a minor drawback.
The drawback is that
Love Songs for the New Millennium is far too similar to a Rob Zombie solo album, the only real difference being the absence of Rob Zombie himself. Scum of the Earth really doesn't feel or sound like they have their own identity on this album, they just appear to be carrying on from when they left Zombie's side and using only what they know from their Zombie days. They should have taken advantage of the opportunity of starting a new band by attempting experimenting with music pursuits that are unique to themselves and different from Zombie's work, to make this project seem more necessary.
Though even if they may come off as a second-rate Rob Zombie act trying to play Rob Zombie's signature sound without the man himself, the major benefit that the member's career with Rob Zombie has granted them is that they have expertise in all the inner workings of, and techniques to Zombie's craft. This is thoroughly enjoyable, aggressively fun horror-themed metal that's bleeding with style and has the substance to back it up. Any fan of Rob Zombie will happily eat up this type of spooky-glam and Halloween grooves of chugging alt metal riffs that they've come to love from Zombie's work.
Even if making a Rob Zombie album is all Scum of the Earth have shown to be capable of doing, they're more than proficient at doing so, and saying they have a knack for knowing how to make a metal album that doesn't take itself too seriously would be a grievous understatement.
