Stereoboard Pay Homage To Music's Halloween Heroes (Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie Feature)
Monday, 17 October 2011
Written by Heather McDaid
Halloween is considered that time of year for many to indulge themselves in dress-up tomfoolery without risk of embarrassment, albeit mimicking a cartoon character to terrifying others as a blood covered zombie. As a child, you would throw on your costume and dabble with Trick or Treating and, as an adult, it’s just a good excuse to dress as a superhero and go for a pint without looking too out of place. To others – more in America than perhaps the UK – it’s a time for turning homes into houses of horror, scaring their friends and co-workers and submerging yourself in anything gory.
For many musicians, Halloween is that show that allows them to perform dressed in scarier or comic attire as the occasion calls for; but to many others Halloween isn’t just a night of dark celebration, it’s a touring way of life. In honour of the upcoming night of bloody cocktails and ghoulish costumes, it’s time to pay homage to those icons in music who embrace the true, dark spirit of Halloween all year around, while looking to their inevitable predecessors of darker rock.
The two key players for this feature required no consideration. In fact, they’ve played together on ‘The Gruesome Twosome Tour’ and the ‘Halloween Hootenanny Tour’ to name but two, celebrating all things horrific across the United States. Of course, Alice Cooper (main pic) and Rob Zombie (small pic) are pioneers and icons in the horror-rock scenes and, alongside working and touring together, they hold a great respect for one another’s talents.
Alice said, “It's sort of like Dracula vs. Frankenstein, we're like this generation’s classic monsters. When we're not onstage frightening audiences, we'll be backstage trying to scare each other,” while Rob added, “The dream or nightmare comes true! This will be without a doubt a rock 'n' roll spooktacular for all the cool ghouls."
1. Alice Cooper is the King of Halloween and all things horror - fact. Donning a dark persona onstage every night in a career spanning decades, Vince Furnier is the glorified master of maniacs and trickery; trading his golf-playing, friendly persona for the darker, death-defying man we’ve grown to love on stage. Alice spoke about his dark aesthetic at Download Festival this summer, saying “The idea of being in a band is attitude, so I don’t get it. Somebody says, ‘Well they’re trying to look normal’ and I’m like ‘Why? Why would you want to look normal?’”
Subjecting himself to hanging, the iron maiden, lethal injection and decapitation to name just a few causes of demise, he has been killed in front of millions thousands of times on end. His devilish theatrics embrace horror and death the whole year round; Halloween just gives more of a reason for others to join in, not that his legion of fans require any reason other than “I’m going to see Alice Cooper”.
Realistically, what’s scarier or more fascinating than the man who should have died a thousand deaths yet still roams free?
2. Not content with just bringing that theatrically horrific look to his heavy metal sound, Rob Zombie is also an established film director, focussing in on the horror genre. Movie-wise, Rob has embraced his inner-love for all things gore by directing ‘House of 1000 Corpses’ (2003) to ‘The Haunted World of El Superbeasto’, which fuses that love with his slick humour and comedic wit.
While some of his creations cause the occasional mixed review amongst critics, even those media-doubters offer some praise; one noting “Zombie's passion for the horror genre is tough to match. The guy is a student of the genre and studies everything from classic horror to modern sub-genres that have been created.”
This compliment applies itself across Rob’s career. Even the simplicity of a band name vouches for his links to horror; White Zombie being named after the 1932 horror movie of the same name by Victor and Edward Halperin. Lyrically, they doused their work in fantasy, heavily influenced by horror and satanic imagery.
Aesthetically, he lives up to this impression built around him. Donning dramatic warpaint on their faces and dousing themselves in blood, Rob and his fellow bandmates capture that darker element that supports his visual talents as a director. Musically, the song dedicated lovingly to the ladies of the crowd is often ‘Living Dead Girl’; romanticising zombies at best. No matter what angle you look at Rob, it’s clear to see that he holds a love for horror and displays this thoroughly through his many projects.
Both Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie, together and separately, set the bench mark for all that seek to bring a great horror aesthetic or feel to their musical careers – this is a given. If they both stopped today, they would remain legends of the genre for eternity; but who will take over their titles?
Seemingly unshakeable from this feature, both aforementioned legends helped support the case of the two further bands who deserve props for performing with a darker element, one of which is assumedly controversial.
3. Performing as the opening act on the Halloween Hootenanny Tour, Murderdolls have earned the right to follow in their footsteps, purely from this coveted support slot alone. Brainchild of Wednesday 13 and Slipknot’s Joey Jordison, the band play creator to tracks such as ‘She Was A Teenage Zombie’, which boasts “She was a teenage zombie, drop dead gorgeous, that’s for sure.” Alongside their black leathers and general attire, the band take to the stage with pallid faces with black smears for decoration, embodying the darker and the undead.
While they’re not as vicarious as their predecessors in terms of stage production, the band encompass a great energy and visual feel to what they do. With their stage ensemble finding itself becoming bolder with each tour, the band not only represent a more modern embodiment of horror, but one that – given time - could reach the levels of theatrics the legends sustain.
4. Our second successor is the more widely controversial choice, but one that comes with a lot of backing from those in a position of power. Hollywood’s latest dark-force, Black Veil Brides, are not only dividing the inhabitants of music scenes today, but they’re taking over the world at a rapid pace against this evident adversity.
The band hold no qualms over admitting that they take great influences from their musical icons – hosting an armour onstage reminiscent of KISS’s esteemed outfits, establishing individual face designs for each member; again, much like KISS. In varying interviews, Andy (Six) Biersack has openly referred to the influences drawn from Alice Cooper and Motley Crue, to name but two more. Having drawn the inevitable comparisons, let us draw the line; for this line is the one that throws the band’s reputation into unwarranted disarray.
While picking up his Kerrang! Icon Award, Alice Cooper himself “cited [Black Veil Brides] as being one of the bands that's bringing back the image in the show”. Now, as one of the founding fathers (for all intents and purposes) of today’s rock-horror scene, if Alice Cooper says you’re doing something right, it’s safe to assume that you are indeed doing something right. The band have the support of the big guns in the industry and, to be perfectly honest, the aggression towards them seems increasingly unjustified with each icon that backs their pursuit of a more visually enhancing show.
While both Murderdolls and Black Veil Brides are both visually enhancing, they’ve yet to reach that level to be considered completely iconic. Murderdolls are not only longstanding in the industry, but find their tours highly anticipated as the two main members have other musical projects that often take priority. With the live opportunities sometimes rare, the band garner the attention of many, selling out venues with ease.
Black Veil Brides are interesting. They’re so widely disliked, yet, in just months they gone from supporting Murderdolls to selling out the same venues themselves easily. There’s an unmistakable growth surrounding Black Veil Brides, causing thousands to imitate their dress, much like their icons achieve. It’s safe to say that, regardless of the negative opinions linked with the Californian fivesome, they are set to be one of the driving forces in aesthetically dark music and, whether or not you like it, they have the support of thousands, including the key players. Their front man is merely 20, and already they’re hitting dizzying heights in their career. Agree or disagree, they will continue to take over the world one sell-out show at a time.
When Halloween comes around this year, you may take yourself off to a night out doused in fake blood or overzealous black make-up; but, for some, there is a longstanding musical tradition needs someone who embraces this need for darkness on a daily basis. While both Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie have successfully dedicated decades to embracing horror and darkness in their varying forms, it’s key to look to the future of who will carry on their legacy in a refreshed, yet continuously dark, way.
These are just theories as to who will become iconic down the road, but no one will ever replace Alice or Rob. Just as night follows day, we need people to follow on from what these two have dedicated themselves to and continue this great tradition of embracing that darker side of music. While only two successors were suggested, there are plenty out there waiting for a horrific world domination.
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2. Not content with just bringing that theatrically horrific look to his heavy metal sound, Rob Zombie is also an established film director, focussing in on the horror genre. Movie-wise, Rob has embraced his inner-love for all things gore by directing ‘House of 1000 Corpses’ (2003) to ‘The Haunted World of El Superbeasto’, which fuses that love with his slick humour and comedic wit. 
