With his revamped lineup of John 5 on guitar, Piggy D on bass and new drummer Ginger Fish, Rob Zombie is sure of one thing – his new album will be a heavy one.

That decision is not one of chance, but one Zombie and his creepy crew have set their sights on. In a new interview with Artist Direct, Zombie talks about the concerted effort, saying, “This time, we sort of made a pact that we’re going to make a heavy record on purpose and stick to that goal. We have been.”

While a heavy record isn’t exactly unprecedented territory for Zombie, he explained the process further, explaining, “We just want to make a dark, heavy, weird record and stick to that idea.” So any songs that start turning down a path that doesn’t fit that mold, won’t be heard on this record.

When it comes to the lyrics this time around, Zombie hasn’t even started, as with past discs, that’s not something he gets into until much further along in the process. “I don’t really get into the lyrical part of the record until the songs are fairly far along,” admits Zombie, “I never have. It’s always the way I’ve done it for some reason.”

When it comes to new drummer Ginger Fish and what he brings to the fold, Zombie was not short on compliments, saying, “He’s a phenomenal drummer. I didn’t know how f—ing good he was. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves.” He continued to rave about Ginger Fish, and how he fits into the lineup, “There are certain songs we’ve played for years that have never quite sounded right,” stated Zombie.  “A song like ‘More Human Than Human’ has a repetitive groove. If you don’t really get the groove down, the song can be really monotonous to listen to and he nailed it. That’s a really great feature.”

Still no release date etched in stone for the new Zombie disc, but it’s expected to be out later this year.

Rob Zombie and his band are gearing up for a co-headlining tour with Megadeth that kicks off at the beginning of May, check out all the dates here.

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