Rob Zombie's much-anticipated new album Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is finally out today, and has been receiving high praise upon it's release.

In their 3-out-of-4-star review of the record, USA Today writes: The supremely weird filmmaker/screenwriter/director/graphic artist/metal-rocker returns - from where? Electroshock therapy? A failed spiritual retreat? A Dumpster behind a B-movie backlot? - with a sequel to his 1998 platinum-seller, and it's an entertaining slab of sly, stupid posturing. Horror/sci-fi freaks will lap up the packaging, production and themes; head-bangers and dance-floor demons can pummel each other silly to the masterfully crafted bombast; and literary types can glom on to such haikus as "Bouncing pom-poms, bouncing pom-poms, rave on with me."

Shockhound gave the album 4 stars, raving Zombie's always possessed a pronounced tongue-in-cheek charm, and that panache happily remains intact. The pulpy monster movie freaks that populated the landscape of the first installment - "Living Dead Girl," "Resurrection Joe and Rosa Whore," etc. - have been replaced by some new creeps, namely "Jesus Frankenstein," "Virgin Witch" and "Werewolf Women of the SS." Zombie clearly has a blast creating and exploring this sonic sideshow, and listeners will too.

Meanwhile, Ultimate Guitar, who gave the album an 8.3/10 writes: While Hellbilly Deluxe 2 doesn't ignore or obliterate what came in between it and the original, which is two albums, it does feel like the next logical step from that particular album and does pick up where the original Hellbilly left off. It's not like Zombie is cashing in on his past; he's always had a signature sound and this album feels like the chronological companion piece to the mega-selling version that came out over a decade ago! Go ahead and take a listen to 'Sick Bubblegum' and try not to sing along or hum the chorus. Zombie remains as deft as ever with making a melody stick to your ribs and your brain! 'Jesus Frankenstein' and 'Mars Need Women' are also fun, plugged in romps!

And Noisecreep weighs in that, 'Hellbilly, Version 2.0' finds Mr. Zombie singing about B-grade horror movies and other kitschy things, over crunchy, industrial-aggro riffery. 'Sick Bubblegum' will make you feel like it's the late '90s all over again.

A dozen years after his genre-defining solo debut, "Hellbilly Deluxe," Zombie has unleashed a sequel of sorts with the grim self-explanatory subtitle: "Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool." His obsessions remain fast cars, famous monsters, bikinis and sci-fi, which Zombie and guitarist John 5 translate into brutal hooks and a new musical clarity amid the sludge-storm. 

The singer again steamrolls sacred family traditions with a wicked sense of fun while riffs and beats erupt like muscle cars. The album opens with "Jesus Frankenstein," layering waves of Black Sabbath gloom with madman electric guitar and a steady, oppressive beat, as Zombie groans: "Hallowed be thy name, redeemer of the witches, is what he became . . ." 

The B movie fetishes unfold from one blood-spattered track to the next, helpfully illustrated across 24 lurid booklet pages that Zombie art-directed himself. He's always been a master of brash multimedia visions, first in his elaborate stage shows and now as an established film director, and each medium informs the others.

The leering track "Werewolf Women of the S.S." was also the title of a mock film trailer Zombie directed for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's exploitation movie tribute "Grindhouse" in 2007. Here it's a frantic creep-show rocker Herman Munster might crank up en route to the drag strip. He also shares some hard-won wisdom on "Death and Destiny Inside the Dream Factory," describing Hollywood as a place and idea to "crush your idols, they can afford it baby / Permanently vile and fascinating." There is no instant hit of the "Living Dead Girl" variety, but across 11 songs, "Hellbilly Deluxe 2" is Zombie's most consistently tuneful record to date, without sacrificing the noise and industrial beats of the past.

FEARnet writes:

So... after endless hints and teases, about a hundred release delays, endless fan rumors and speculations, and an eleventh hour label-jump from Geffen to Roadrunner, Rob Zombie's fourth full-length studio album has finally fallen into my grubby, blood-stained little claws, so that I might better solve the mystery that's been hanging in the air for these many months: is Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool (whatever the hell that means) a worthy sequel to Rob's chartbusting, triple-platinum-selling, career-defining 1998 solo debut that brought us such immortal classics as Living Dead Girl, Dragula and Superbeast? Well jeez, I'm not gonna tell you all that before the jump... flip it over, read on and find out!

Managing to recover some of the evil mojo lost after the decent but much less horror-heavy Educated Horses, Rob opted this time to keep one foot planted in the gritty, roots-rock-meets-alt-metal sound of that 2005 release, while casting back a decidedly evil eye on the heavy-chugging, sample-heavy, danceable pop-metal mayhem he carried over from his White Zombie days – and which powered both the original classic Hellbilly Deluxe and solid follow-up The Sinister Urge. The result of this hybrid creation may not necessarily attain the same legendary status as its “prequel” - it's probably unreasonable to expect that kind of lightning to strike twice – but it's still a solid, mean and rough ride, and recaptures a lot of the first album’s industrial spookhouse vibe.

The engine inside this beast is a rock-solid instrumental unit that began life as Rob's regular touring company over the past couple of years and eventually became his official studio band – namely guitarist John 5, bassist Piggy D, and drummer Tommy Clufetos. The intuitive strength and tightness of that lineup came across during Zombie's last few tours, and it feels like that connectivity continued into the studio for these sessions. The absence of original guitarist Mike Riggs marks Hellbilly 2 as a less direct sequel – don’t expect it to sound as if Rob’s picking up where the original left off – but John 5’s talent is still quite complimentary to the old-school Zombie sound, and his effortless lead work gives the formula plenty of flash without resorting to overcomplicated, show-offy solos.

Although slightly front-loaded with more straightforward and radio-friendly material (countless F-bombs aside, that is), the album still gets off to a nuclear-powered start with the eerie opening soundscape and nasty mega-riffage of Jesus Frankenstein, which perfectly captures the first album’s evil aggression. Unfortunately, the follow-up (and most recent single) Sick Bubblegum, though benefiting from a nicely meaty mid-tempo riff, comes off a bit repetitive and saps some of that corpse-grinding energy. The following track (and first single) What? manages to rock the Zombie groove with greater success, thanks to a solid hook, seriously heavy distortion and some cool organ/guitar interplay.

Mars Needs Women gets off to a colorful acoustic start – one of many examples of John 5’s country & blues influences and amazing versatility – and blasts into one of the band’s deepest, meanest riffs, kicking the album into a sort of violent backwoods midsection that continues with the sleazy Werewolf, Baby! – a swampy cowpunk rocker that feels like a nitrous-injected mod on the Educated Horses engine. The only downside to this pair is their rather simplistic choruses, the same weakness which drags down Sick Bubblegum. Virgin Witch is a standout, though – another good example of technically skilled but lean and refined guitar work, underscored by a dark, mean and ominous undercurrent – and sure to become a fan favorite. Death and Destiny Inside the Dream Factory is a bit of a Horses throwback, and threatens to drag down the middle section, but Burn picks things back up nicely with a solid, boot-stomping grind before the cosmic prog-sounding Cease to Exist enters to create an atmospheric segue to the album's powerful final act.

Taking its name from Rob's memorable faux-trailer from Grindhouse, the seriously fun party track Werewolf Women of the SS is a solid surf-rock-flavored number that’s a reverent nod to the beloved Munsters theme, and another new favorite of mine… but the crown jewel which brings the proceedings to a chilling and apocalyptic close is the ten-minute epic The Man Who Laughs (which takes its title from the creepy 1928 film, alleged inspiration for Batman’s arch-nemesis the Joker). This one stands apart as one of the current RZ lineup's most memorable offerings, thanks to some impressively cinematic string passages and freeform progressive-rock overtones, complete with the requisite self-indulgent (at nearly four minutes) drum solo. Thankfully this magnum opus maintains such a consistently maniacal energy that it never wears out its welcome, and I’d personally rank it pretty high in the Zombie canon.

Note that if you plunk down the extra coin for the Special Edition CD (either with the cool retro-swag and coffin box, or without) or expanded download version, you'll be treated to remixes of What?, Jesus Frankenstein and Sick Bubblegum... none of which is particularly groundbreaking in its own right, but for my money it's generally worthwhile having a “Naughty Cheerleader” mix of just about anything.

Still wondering how Hellbilly Deluxe 2 stacks up to the original? In other words, is this sequel – like Zombie's silver-screen standout The Devil's Rejects – ballsy and clever enough to stand up to, or even surpass, its predecessor? In that context, I'd have to say... not really. If taken as a cross-pollination of that late-'90s Zombie groove and his mid-'00s raunch-rock, then for the most part this project actually works pretty well. But if this is truly Rob's CD swan song – he's gone on record to declare this the last gasp of the plastic era – then he may not be going out with all guns blazing like Rejects' notorious Firefly clan. But with the talent he's assembled on this record, there's still a lingering promise of more good things in the future. It might not be what we're used to, but I'd say it's worth holding out for.

And, finally, from Craveonline:

Rock’s resident master of macabre, shock rock’s slinger of sludge, horror’s howling voice of insanity, the Superbeast, aka Rob Zombie, returns with a vicious aural assault on an album titled Hellbilly Deluxe 2.

In all honesty, I haven’t listened to Rob Zombie since The Sinister Urge and I originally became a fan when I first heard White Zombie’s La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1. To be fair to you and this review, I’ve since gone back and listened to (for the first time) Educated Horses.

At first I wanted to say that Hellbilly Deluxe 2 was a move away from the remixed/club feel of his earlier work, but after listening to the somewhat ominous Educated Horses I have to say that it’s a bit of a return to it. However, despite being championed as a “sequel” to 1998’s Hellbilly Deluxe, the new album is considerably more rooted in classic metal riffs and hooks (on tracks such as “Jesus Frankenstein” and “Virgin Witch”), with a bit of psychobilly sprinkled in (see tracks “What?” and “Werewolf Women of the SS”), and some southern slide and bluesy charm (“Werewolf, baby”) than Zombie’s first two solo efforts.

Although it’s clear that Rob Zombie is evolving, which is a good thing for an artist to do, fans of his earlier work won’t be disappointed as there are the typical Zombie grooves and frat-house fist-pumping anthems along with the sci-fi/horror-inspired samples on this recording. A particularly pleasing surprise was the ode to the ‘70s drum solo in middle of the 9:44 track “The Man Who Laughs.”

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 is Rob Zombie’s first album with Roadrunner Records, and although reception of the first single, “What?”, hasn’t been astonishing, the standout tracks I think people will enjoy most are “Jesus Frankenstein,” “Sick Bubblegum,” “Mars Needs Women” (the first track I went back to listen to a second time), “Werewolf Women of the SS” (something that sounds like Quentin Tarantino would enjoy), and “The Man Who Laughs.”

The album also features the closest thing resembling a band Rob Zombie has had since his days in White Zombie. Working closely with his most sustained touring band, you’ll find and hear the influences of John 5, Piggy D., and Tommy Clufetos. Also of note is the fact that Hellbilly Deluxe 2 may be the last CD Rob Zombie releases, as he’s interested in moving to a strictly digital format of distribution. As such, if you’re a fan of his album art, you will want to pick up this CD, which will feature collaborations with a number of artists (Dan Brereton, Alex Horley, David Hartman, and Sam Shearon).

If you’re looking for an album to get your blood flowing, pick up Hellbilly Deluxe 2.