Motörhead fans unite! The gods have spoken and the loudest trio on planet Earth has delivered in the form of their 21st studio album, Aftershock. Lemmy and his crew definitely did not try to reinvent the wheel with this record. They just write the way they write and perform the way they perform and if you don’t like it, you can bugger off! That’s the attitude I get from Aftershock and I think that any fan of Motörhead will fall in love with this album.
The first track, “Heartbreaker,” rips right into your classic Motörhead-type riff followed by Lemmy’s notorious aggressive vocals, and it leads into songs like “Coupe De Grace,” “Going To Mexico” and “End Of Time” that showcase the band’s classic sound. Lemmy does, however, break it down in the smoky biker bar blues track “Dust And Glass,” where his late-night vocals are something that you don’t hear too often. Then there’s the energetic punk flavoring of “Queen Of The Damned” that opens with a bassline that’s reminiscent of “Ace Of Spades.” Another song that I felt wasn’t so Motörhead-esque was the deliciously steamy and mournful “Lost Woman Blues,” which to me displays how diverse Lemmy’s voice can be.
Aftershock is a 14-track album that might be some of their best songwriting in years, which might be a bold statement, but I have admit, the album does not take long to grow on you. I mean, for crying out loud, it’s MOTÖRHEAD! These 14 songs are fast, full of swagger, punch you in the teeth, and possess the dirty, filthy grooves that made this band what they are today. I’m starting to really believe that Lemmy Kilmister, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee, collectively known as Motörhead, are simply not a band. They’re an actual genre!
In A Word: MOTÖRHEAD!
