Motörhead - Aftershock

Published October 23 2013

*=Staff's pick	Heartbreaker* Coup De Grace Lost Woman Blues End Of Time Do You Believe Death Machine* Dust And Glass Going To Mexico Silence When You Speak To Me* Crying Shame Queen Of The Damned Knife Keep Your Powder Dry Paralyzed

Genre	Heavy Metal	Lemmy Kilmister	Vocals
Tracks	14	Phil Campbell	Guitar
Running time	47 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	UDR	Lemmy Kilmister	Bass
Release	21 October 2013	Mikkey Dee	Drums
Country	England, Wales, Sweden	-	Keyboard
Producer	Cameron Webb
Similar artists	---

To write a review of a Motörhead album is like writing the same book a repeated number of times. Surely there are new stuff present on Aftershock, but basically this is pretty much similar to what we've heard from the band during the last decade. Lemmy and crew have even decided to record a bluesy track again, to create some variation with a song that significantly differs itself from the major part of the record, which mainly rocks hard in a customary way.

Fourteen songs and a total playing time of forty-seven minutes equals no time for breathers. Mikkey Dee sets the tone as he smashes the skins with usual force and I also find his plays vivid, energetic and vigorous. I wish I could say the same about Lemmy's vocal performance as well, but I can't. The man never made a name from a strong, powerful voice that ran on all cylinders, but I guess his age is finally taking its toll, because his voice seems a bit forced and it lacks potency and strength.

I've probably listened to this record over twenty times and I really can't find many kick-ass songs. I like the opener Heartbreaker and a pair of songs with an older appearance, like Death Machine and Silence When You Speak To Me. Motörhead is a band that in my opinion has had a lot of fillers on many albums, but Aftershock seems to have closed the gates on that all but flattering term and is more a compound of songs that are satisfactory.

As usual we hear this and that about that this is their best work ever, etc. In a way, some of those statements are true, if you look solely at the actual performance. The energy is still present and so is the will to create and this is their heaviest and meanest release in two decades. Yet, towards the end, it's the songs' strength and persistence that counts and with that in mind I hand out 6 chalices to a good record and I must say that that's pretty much what I expected from the veterans.

See also review of: Bad Magic , The Wörld Is Yours , Motörizer , Better Motörhead Than Dead

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	4	6	4	6

Summary
6 chalices of 10 - Tobbe