Powerman 5000

You would be forgiven if you assumed that Powerman 5000 was a protein-rich meal-replacement shake or the name of a roughly three-mile charity race benefiting lupus sufferers. But you'd be wrong. It is, in fact, the 15-year-old industrial metal band fronted by Rob Zombie's real-life kid brother, Spider One (a.k.a...

By Craig Outhier

November 12, 2009

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You would be forgiven if you assumed that Powerman 5000 was a protein-rich meal-replacement shake or the name of a roughly three-mile charity race benefiting lupus sufferers. But you'd be wrong. It is, in fact, the 15-year-old industrial metal band fronted by Rob Zombie's real-life kid brother, Spider One (a.k.a. Michael David Cummings). Once again, you'd be forgiven if you forgot this. After peaking commercially with the sci-fi fueled, gold-selling long-play Tonight the Stars Revolt! (1999), PM5K slammed headfirst in the onerous '00s. First, the band's follow-up record, Anyone for Doomsday?, was axed shortly before its 2001 release, supposedly because of 9/11. Then came a prolonged spasm of upheaval as Spider completely refurbished his supporting cast — not once, but twice. Functionally speaking, however, PM5K may have jumped the shark way back in 1996, when it appeared on an episode of Beverly Hills 90210. What kind of self-respecting anti-conformity rock band would do that? Now Spider and friends are back with a new album, Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere, which features such tracks as "V for Vampire" and "Horrorshow." Looks like the horror-rock apple never falls far from the Zombie family tree.

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