NEW YORK (Eclipse Records) - 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.
