It's been awhile.

In fact, it's been a long while. Five years to be exact.

That's how long it's been since Rob Zombie put out a record.

But even after more days between albums than a Simple Life star has between meals -- a period which saw the birth of two feature films and a new band -- Zombie says he's feeling fresh as a daisy.

"If there's one thing that never stops, it's fun," says Zombie, who will play the Corral Centre with opening act Anthrax tonight.

In fact, he says, taking a few years off to make movies may have helped give his music a new birth.

"This is the most fun I've had on a tour in a very long time. Sometimes, people just didn't get along, and it would bring things down, and sometimes that would show through on stage. Now, everyone's getting along."

Playing with Zombie on this tour is guitarist John 5 (ex-Marilyn Manson), longtime bassist Blasko and drummer Tommy Clufetos (ex-Alice Cooper & Ted Nugent).

Zombie refers to the group as "the greatest show on earth -- minus the elephants."

When Zombie and the boys emerged after three months in the same studio that produced his last two efforts, The Sinister Urge and Hellbilly Deluxe, they were eager to take the resulting album -- Educated Horses -- on the road.

"Good stuff usually comes quickly. I was very happy with it ... I was just hoping to make a record that was very layered, and I think I succeeded," he says.

But fear not, fans of old, Educated Horses won't be the only music Zombie fans can expect.

"I will play everything from a few new ones to the old White Zombie stuff," he says.

"I won't cram the new stuff down people's throats, that's not why they are there."

But there may be another reason fans show up to see Zombie these days.

A new swarm of fans have fallen for the mad-hattered filmmaker's style, as seen in his debut House of 1,000 Corpses and its sequel The Devil's Rejects.

Those fans will be tickled red to hear the dread-locked rocker will be giving us his rendering of the Halloween franchise.

"It's not a sequel, it's a new beginning," says Zombie, who, after a meeting with Bob Weinstein, wasn't sure he wanted to do a Halloween movie.

"John Carpenter's (the original) was a classic, but after that, I think with each sequel they seemed to degenerate more and more."

Then Zombie had an epiphany.

"I wanted to wipe the slate clean and start over.

"Movies are all about characters ... I think when we delve into the character of Michael Myers, it will make him even scarier."