Artist: Motörhead
Title: Aftershock
Genre: Metal
Release Date: 18th October 2013
Label: Rykodisc (Warner)
Album Review
A mission statement from way back in the ‘70’s saw MOTÖRHEAD founder and mainstay Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister declare his music “will be so loud that if we move next door to you, your grass will die”. And indeed, the band have powered their way through subsequent decades with a constant aural assault of fast, hard riffs, lyrics about sex, drugs and gambling and the unmistakable 60-a-day raspy bark of National Treasure Lemmy. Throw in a lifestyle that would make Keith Richards blush and a punishing live schedule and it’s a miracle the 68 year old frontman isn’t, well, dead. Yet here he is, and here they are, MOTÖRHEAD defying the odds and releasing ‘Aftershock’ in the dying throes of 2013.
It starts with a lilting refrain on viola, and is joined by cello, piano and gently strummed guitar before we hear a hushed whisper of “my love, so sweet the flowers grow…” Tsk. Of course it doesn’t. This is MOTÖRHEAD, and MOTÖRHEAD are reliably themselves. It starts with guitars. Fast ones. And madly played bass. And drums everywhere. And that voice, like a much-loved but knackered old rug, gnarly, ropey and badly stained but oddly comforting. ‘Heartbreaker’ is, essentially, all you need to know about MOTÖRHEAD, and for that reason it represents the perfect opening track.
When the pace slackens, as on ‘Lost Woman Blues’, it sounds like another band altogether, a dust-bowl bluesy swing and swagger replacing the foot-to-the-floor speed metal of say, ‘End Of Time’. Lemmy’s gritty vocal turn on the former has all the bruised, betrayed world-weariness of the very best old blues singers, his final line “she took it all out of me” sounding totally believable. ‘Dust And Glass’ is another low-slung growler, a half empty JD bottle of bitterness and regret, and it shows just how many strings to the bow MOTÖRHEAD have when they want. And for a band in their fifth decade, that’s quite something.
There are moments when it’s easy to switch off, despite the power and volume, songs such as ‘Queen Of The Damned’ still desperately trying to recreate the bands undisputed classic ‘Ace Of Spades’. You can even sing it over the chorus here. But as a whole this is a hugely enjoyable romp through a kind of filthy rock ‘n roll that has long since cleaned up its act and sobered up, and it’s good to see MOTÖRHEAD showing no sign of slowing or compromising. Fast and furious, ‘Aftershock’ is proof that sometimes there’s absolutely no need to teach an old dog new tricks.
Tracklist
01. Heartbreaker
02. Coup De Grace
03. Lost Woman Blues
04. End Of Time
05. Do You Believe
06. Death Machine
07. Dust And Glass
08. Going To Mexico
09. Silence When You Speak
10. Crying Shame
11. Queen Of The Damned
12. Knife
13. Keep Your Powder Dry
14. Paralyzed
Line-up
Lemmy
Phil Campbell
Mikkey Dee
Website
http://iMOTÖRHEAD.com/ / https://www.facebook.com/OfficialMOTÖRHEAD
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 7.5
Sound: 7.5
Total: 7.5 / 10
Comments powered by CComment