Kiss Of Death

Change can be a good thing but for most of us, there are some things in life that we like just the way they are whether it be a relationship, a job or your favorite beer. For a die hard music fan and especially heavy metal fans, we tend to be less open to changes in the music of the bands that we know and love. Some bands change all the time and that works for some but there are a few veterans in the hard rock and metal scene that just keep on putting out quality material album after album without ever really changing that much. At the top of a relatively short list of classic bands including AC/DC and Iron Maiden that fall into that category, is the mighty Motorhead. Blending in a healthy dose of high energy blues with punk and classic rock and roll, these guys have always delivered in their almost 30 years of existence. Front man Lemmy Kilmister is the sole remaining original member of this trio that includes Phil Campbell on guitar and Mickey Dee on drums. Starting with the Hammered album in 2002 and continuing with Inferno in 2002, Motorhead has been on a tear, putting out some of the best and consistent quality music of their career. This brings us to their latest album Kiss Of Death, due to be released August 29th via Sanctuary Records. Like your favorite leather jacket, another new Motorhead album gives you the sense of comfort and familiarity that fans of the band have come to expect and with Kiss Of Death, the Motorhead machine just keeping rolling along just like it always has.

Lemmy and company have come up with another great set of songs that although have familiar elements as other material from the past, excels in the delivery and with a good old-fashioned rock and roll song writing approach. Songs range from speedier classic Motorhead styles to slower bluesy rock as well as some down and dirty rollicking and heavy rock and roll. Sucker gets the album underway with it's speedy old school riffing style, menacing vocals by Lemmy and some killer double bass by Mickey Dee for the chorus section. One Night Stand is somewhat autobiographical look at Lemmy's sex life and fuses some great bluesy heavy rock that even has hints of *gulp* melody. The line "I've been a slut all my life" pretty much sums it up. Trigger sees the return of the charging and fast Motorhead with some great thematic riffing by Phil Campbell for the pre-chorus. God Was Never On Your Side shows another side of the band that we haven't seen in a while. With an acoustic guitar intro and Lemmy's voice, this one builds in intensity and heaviness with a classic power ballad style (without the syrupy lyrics of course!) including tasteful melodic leads by Phil Campbell. Living In The Past features a great romping riff and pounding heaviness all wrapped up in a nice leather Motorhead package. With Christine, Lemmy pulls out the rockabilly and blues feel of the classic 50's greats but with a definitive Motorhead touch. He even steals a few lines from The Rolling Stones classic Brown Sugar on this one. Two other tracks really kick some serious butt with the classic speedy style and that's Sword Of Glory and Going Down. Both have a great charging sound and solid riffs and rivals anything they've done in the past as far as intensity. There's s couple of tracks that experiment with lower tunings. Motorhead usually is already tuned to E flat but with Be My Baby and Kingdom Of The Worm, they tune down to C# to attempt a more "modern" feel. Be My Baby is a little substandard with the rest of the album but with Kingdom Of The Worm, I think it actually works quite well. With this track, the lower tuning, the heavy riffs and more sinister vocal by Lemmy gives the track a more foreboding sense and an almost Death Metal feel. The album finishes with another version of R.A.M.O.N.E.S., a tribute to the Ramones and a tune that is also found on their 1916 album. I'm not sure why they did it again but hey, it's a great song and we lost another one of the Ramones last year.

This album seriously rocks from start to finish. After a couple of listens, it settles in and becomes another "comfortable" addition to the Motorhead legacy. They've tried a couple of new things but pretty much have stuck to the formula that has brought them so much success over the years. As with most of their albums, there's lots of variety in tempos and song styles and once again, the poetic ability of Lemmy with his lyrics really makes the songs. Great catchy riffs and the kind of lyrics that actually make you want to listen to them is all part of a great Motorhead song and this album has lots! With modern metal taking so many new tangents away from traditional song writing, it's great to see that there still are some artists like Lemmy that although write heavy and reckless tunes, still stick to the basic rock and roll song writing formula that come out of the 50's and 60's albeit with a slightly demented twist! A new Motorhead album is like a visit from an old friend. I'm going to enjoy this "visit" for quite a while.....excellent album!!