Motorhead: you should know who these guys are, after being around since the late 1970’s. Pioneers of Speed Metal, influential for Thrash Metal and groundbreaking when they first began. A fast, turbo-charged band, they have helped revolutionize music for decades. Whether it be ‘Ace of Spades’ or ‘Motorhead’, you have heard at least one of their tracks. ‘Aftershock’ is their twenty-second album and it proves that the band are still as strong, fast and powerful as they were when they first began.
Kickstarting this fast-paced blitz fest is the track ‘Heartbreaker’. A fast and ferocious paced song, it gives you an idea of what is yet to come from the band. It continues to prove that the aging heroes are still able to be as crazy as ever and shows us that they still have something to say. The intense drumming, fast riffing, furiously distorted bass-lines and the ough, god-like voice that is Lemmy, it is something that only few of their age could ever dream of unleashing. A speed demon; it is utterly fantastic.
The album continues its speed frenzy of fast, brutal Speed Metal, it blitzes its way through awesome, intense and immersive tracks ‘Lost Woman Blues’, ‘Death Machine’, ‘Silence When You Speak To Me’ and ‘Knife’ before ending on the intense power that is ‘Paralyzed’. Not so surprisingly, that is how you feel after the album ends. Ending on great power and in gritty fashion, it proves that the oldies of Speed Metal are here to make a statement. It is raw, intense and gritty, full of power, faster than a minigun and immersive, this is something that Lemmy and co. can be proud of, showing the world that age really is just a number.
It’s a brutal assault on your senses and is something that only gods could produce, it solidifies their legacy as one of the biggest, most influential and ground-breaking bands to have existed yet. It’s production keeps the overly-distorted, gritty feel that the band has always seemed to have. It is impressive and is just as strong as any other album the band has released over their rather extensive career. Believe me, it is solid work, right down to the tight mix and dirty, rough sound that pours through the speakers.
It is filled with machine gun drumming, highly distorted riffing and some of the grittiest basslines in a damn long while. Not to forget Lemmy’s rough, working man vocals that dominate on the album, still as strong as they were back in ‘79. It is some great stuff and will make any Motorhead fan lose their minds whilst smiling like a child. It is ground-breaking, amazing and downright intense.
So, even now, twenty-two albums in, Motorhead proves that their age means nothing, that they can still be as raw and solid as they were when they released their earliest albums. Lemmy proves to us that he is still God and it cements their legacy deep into your mind. This raw, powerful, fast and intense, being one of the best, most solid releases thus far this year. It is worth a purchase and is still a form of beautiful art, only which can be crafted by the masterminds behind the legend that helped craft Speed, Heavy and Thrash Metal, revolutionizing music still with their impressive, blunt-force, no-holds-barred approach to music.
An essential purchase for fans of the extreme, Motorhead thus prove that they are still as powerful as they have ever been and that they’re not a force to be reckoned with. One heck of a release.
9.5/10
- Asa