August 18, 2004
...LIFE AFTER ROB ZOMBIE AS SCUM OF THE EARTH
GUITARIST, RIGGS TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM OCTOBER 26
FEATURES MIKE & JOHN TEMPESTA (Powerman5000 & Zombie) AMONG OTHERS
CD FEATURES U-MIX IT TECHNOLOGY
ALLOWS INTERACTIVE SONG REMIX
August 18, 2004 • New York City - While playing guitar with Rob Zombie for
six years, notorious rocker Riggs made a name for himself that he is now
claiming as his own. As Scum of the Earth, featuring Riggs and friends, including Powerman 5000 guitarist Mike Tempesta, Mike's brother and Zombie drummer John Tempesta, SOAD drummer John Dolmayan, and old friends, bassist Clay Campbell and drummer Seven, they will release "Blah… Blah… Blah…Love Songs for the New Millennium," October 26 on Eclipse Records.
The album was written by Riggs with collaborative help from his friends and recorded at Belt of Orion Studios in Los Angeles. Riggs produced the record, which was mixed by Frank Gryner (Rob Zombie, A Perfect Circle) & Brandon Belski (Velvet Revolver, Staind, Static-X).
The sounds of Scum are immediately familiar, yet not derivative. Riggs, the
architect of Zombie’s high-tech guitar grind has reformatted his signature tone
for a new era, and achieved a vibrant vibe that is simultaneously angry,
sleazy and blunt as a battering ram smashing through a trailer park home. His
scathing vocal technique is as spine chilling as it is powerful. “I didn’t really
have a band or anything in the beginning,” Riggs says. “I just had all these
songs, and I picked the best ones and then asked some people to help me out.
It’s amazing how well everything came together. Mike Tempesta even ended up
contributing 2 tracks of his own.”
“Get Your Dead On” and “Altargirl 13” the two songs written by Tempesta
with Riggs, offer a turbo blast of writhing wah-wah guitars, and skittering beats
compliments of his brother and Rob Zombie drummer John Tempesta. This is the first time the two have performed on a record together.
"Get Your Dead On," the first single, will also feature UmixIt™ interactive
technology, which will allow the listener to isolate, violate and remix on
their computer, up to 16 audio tracks of the song by emphasizing, cutting back or removing any instrument or vocal. "Blah…" is the first disc ever to be
released featuring this new technology. "We are always looking for ways to offer music lovers something that lets them be engaged interactively with their music," says Eclipse label President Chris Poland. "We believe that empowering the consumer and inviting interaction is the way of the future for record labels." UmixIt™, based in New York and formed in 2003, is a joint venture between Enterprise Golden Hawk and Webster Hall Records.
Of course, not all of Blah… Blah… Blah… is raw, fist-in-your-face metal.
“Little Spider” is an ominous acoustic-based song with orchestral percussion by
SOAD drummer John Dolmayan. “Pornstar Champion,” a track originally recorded as a musical score for the "Any Given Sunday” soundtrack, is a groove-heavy mix of rhythms, hard rock riffs and samples from Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” Written by Riggs and producer Michael Beinhorn (Korn, Chili Peppers), it was produced by Beinhorn & Irv Gotti.
Scum of the Earth have crafted a rhythmic engine that’s immediate and
propulsive. The moniker? Riggs always thought it was a cool name. He used it to name his publishing company years ago. He tattooed it across his stomach. They used it to name a Rob Zombie song. He likes Scum. "Its really cool when you have the opportunity to see things come full circle," concludes the infamous
guitarist.