By Andrew Benjamin

Ozzy Osbourne may be known as the prince of darkness, but the title truly belongs to Rob Zombie.

The former frontman and namesake of White Zombie has been able to prove himself an excellent solo artist in the years since the band broke up. He’s also established himself as a skilled director with 2003’s House of 1,000 Corpses and last years The Devil’s Rejects.

His third album, Educated Horses, is a departure from his earlier sound and while with some flaws, is an adequate effort.

Unlike Zombie’s previous two albums, Horses places less of a focus on metal. Songs like “American Witch” and “Let It Bleed Out” still retain those heavy guitar riffs, window shattering drums and infamous gravelly vocals, but the album itself has more of a general rock sound.

Standouts include “Foxy, Foxy” a catchy song with clear, crisp vocals. This kind of cleaness is atypical of Zombie’s style, usually mired in fuzz and noise.The song is also stripped of the vintage horror style that he usually employs.

The appropriately titled “Devil’s Rejects,”works at the opposite spectrum as a great heavy metal song. Crushing, distorted guitar riffs and deathly vocals round it out as the best metal song on the album.

The flaws here will mainly be a bother to die-hard Zombie fans. Some might be disappointed by the different sound and tone of the album. Horses also downplays the usual horror film references and dark, nightmarish tones and lyrics.

Perhaps the biggest fault lies in the placement of songs. Instead of progressing from a soft to heavy, rock to metal sound, the songs are placed randomly, which can be distracting. This tends to be a problem only on the first listen, however.

While ultimately satisfying, the change of style Zombie undergoes on Horses could be dangerous for his career, possibly scaring off his most devoted fans.