"PROBOT - A TRIBUTE TO THE GODS OF METAL"

Heavy metal’s legitimacy as a viable musical force, has always been dictated by its loyal hardcore fan base. It is an art form that has never truly been accepted by the mainstream press and has been ridiculed by countless religious groups and even the United States Government. In the 80’s, the P.M.R.C. attacked Metal music, sighting it as being depraved and a destructive force against the youth. Well…who cares….Heavy metal is the voice and emotional release of the youth…even for us middle aged dudes. There is nothing like metal…it is probably the most honest and purest form of truth there is. Glam/hair metal being the exception, heavy metal looks at life from a totally different angle, than other forms of music. Metalheads are the outcasts of mainstream society…and we like it that way.

In the beginning, “BLACK SABBATH” viewed the world as an ugly, scary place. Flower power was not their message…free love and peace were figments of a twisted imagination, on the hippie’s part. Sabbath saw the gloom and doom that existed and refused to ignore it. They wrote about real issues and mixed in a bit of the occult, to rile things up. This approach to music would transform and mutate into different genres and subgenre’s which got more creative musically and lyrically…speed, thrash, black, death…etc metal, would influence kids to pick up instruments, form bands and continue the legacy of heavy metal. One such person is Dave Grohl. Raised in Wash. D.C., Grohl was influenced by hardcore punk and heavy metal. His love for both, would sustain his drive and ambition, to become a working musician. Making his way to Seattle, Wa. in the early 90’s, he hooked up with Kris Novoselic-bass and Kurt Cobain-vocals, guitar and joined “NIRVANA”. Heavy metal was finding mainstream success with bands like “POISON”, “CINDERELLA”, “MOTLEY CRUE”, “METALLICA” and in minor ways with bands such as “SLAYER” and “MEGADETH”…“HEADBANGER’S BALL” on MTV helped promote metal in all its glorious forms. Now the sad part…with the success of “NIRVANA” and the Grunge movement, heavy metal disappeared overnight. But the underground still thrived…it always has...and always will.

Since Mr. Grohl helped throw the lifeless corpse of heavy metal into its grave and shovel dirt onto it, it seems only appropriate that he one day make amends and revisit that grave and resurrect its contents…thus giving life to his creation…“PROBOT”. “PROBOT” is a history lesson of sorts, gathering eleven of hardcore punk/metal’s lead throats, from years gone past. Four years in the making, Grohl wanted to pay homage to those who he admired, when he was a kid…the inspirations and the idolized. Grohl shows off his multi-instrumental abilities and composition skills on all eleven tracks. “SOUNDGARDEN” guitarist Kim Thayil provided additional guitar work on “Ice Cold Man” and “Sweet Dreams”. Guitarist Erol Unala…a member of Tom G. Warrior’s industrial band “APOLLYON SUN” contributed to “Big Sky”. Bubba Dupree…guitarist for D.C. hardcore band “VOID”, lends his skills to “Access Babylon”. Grohl sent tapes to varying studio’s, so each singer could add their personal touch to each song. Grohl wrote all the music and each vocalist supplied lyrics and killer performances. Grohl did a more than adequate job, in capturing the essence and feel of the bands that each vocalist is best known for.

Overall, this collection is quite enjoyable and does bring back memories. In my early twenties, I would go to L’Amour’s, in Brooklyn and see some great bands, such as “LOUDNESS”, “ANVIL”, “RAVEN” and “METALLICA”, on their “Kill Em’ All” tour.

I discovered a lot of music through my friends and when I first heard “VENOM”…I was just blown away. “Welcome To Hell” was an extremely brutal album. This was a release that was harmful to your stereo speakers…if you played it too loud, the speakers would smoke and burn. “Sons Of Satan”, “Poison”, “Witching Hour” and “Live Like An Angel (Die Like A Devil” defined the “VENOM” sound and served as a blueprint for the metal genre known as “BLACK METAL”. Cronos’ thunderous bass sound, rattled my bones…and his vocals…simply hellish…I knew I was going to rock n’ roll hell for sure, because I liked it so much.

I saw “MOTORHEAD” with “OZZY OSBOURNE” on his “Blizzard Of Ozz” tour, at the Palladium in N.Y.C. “Lemmy” made an instant impact on me. He owned the stage and every person in that audience…to me, “Lemmy” is the epitome of all that is metal. “No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith” is the “MOTORHEAD” release that really knocked my socks off. It is an accurate representation of “MOTORHEAD‘s” thrash/punk rumblings performed live. It’s just a great album and one of my favorite live releases.

The Danish metal band “MERCYFUL FATE” was one of those bands that simply kicked my butt. Their debut release “Melissa” is a satanic onslaught of metal madness. The entire album is brutally evil and demonic in nature, yet melodic and intelligent. Bands such as “KISS” and “ALICE COOPER” wore black and white face make-up, to emphasize a particular character they portrayed. “MERCYFUL FATE” front man “King Diamond” incorporated this look with a specific design, that emulated evil and mystery. In the “BLACK METAL” scene, this application of face make-up would be known as “CORPSE PAINT”. With songs like “Evil”, Desecration Of Souls”, “Black Masses”, “Doomed By The Living Dead” and the blasphemous “Nuns Have No Fun” solidified their influence among up and coming bands, in the “BLACK METAL” genre. King Diamond has no equal when it comes to his vocal abilities…no one sings like him. His hauntingly powerful falsetto screams, conjure the Devil with each diabolical note…amazingly good stuff indeed.

“Animosity” by “CORROSION OF CONFORMITY” was such an intense album…fast, slamming and hardcore through and through. ”Mike Dean’s” strangled vocals and gut wrenching, unintelligible growls were so brutally angry. “Loss For Words”, “Holier”, “Hungry Child’ and “Intervention” are some of the most heaviest, distortion laden songs, I’ve heard up to that point.

“VOIVOD” is a band that is so unique and devastating in their musical approach. Their first three releases “War And Pain”, Rrroooaaarrr” and “Killing Technology” for me sums up the reasons why I love speed and thrash metal so much. “Snake’s” vocals were filled with so much urgency, delirium and brute force…his vocals accentuated the terrors and horrors of their lyrics. “Korgull The Exterminator”, “War And Pain”, “Killing Technology”, “Order Of The Black Guards”, “Build Your Weapons” and “Lost In Space” are all classic examples of “VOIVOD’s” creative genius and originality. The eye catching artwork for their albums…all done by drummer “Away”, who also did the artwork for this cd, was visionary in promoting an apocalyptic, science fictionesque theme, which has remained throughout their career.

“Dealing With It” was my first introduction to Houston, Texas’ “DIRTY ROTTEN IMBECILES’ or better known as “D.R.I.”. “Dealing With It” features twenty five tracks that embraced the rage and raw attitude of hardcore punk with the velocity of thrash metal. The term “CROSSOVER” refers to the combining of two genres of music and creating a new one. “D.R.I.” broke down boundaries between punks and metalheads and helped fuse the two scenes together. Atonal vocalist “Kurt Brecht” delivered incendiary fast vocal rants on such songs as “Couch Slouch“, “Reaganomics“, “Argument Then War”, “God Is Broke” and the longest song on this release…“Nursing Home Blues”. Their later work leaned more towards metal, but “Dealing With It” stayed more true to their hardcore roots.

“CELTIC FROST” was birthed from the ashes of the death/black metal monster known as “HELLHAMMER”. “Tom G. Warrior” was directly influenced by “VENOM” and he took this influence, to create some pretty vicious songs…and some atrocious examples of repetitive noise. “HELLHAMMER” experimented with their undeveloped sound by using a lot of distortion, reverb and echoed vocal effects. “Warrior’s” guttural throat ripping vocal style and heavily distorted guitar sound, would influence many “BLACK METAL” bands such as “GORGOROTH”, “OBITUARY”, Japanese female trio “GALLHAMMER” and Washington, D.C.’s own Dave Grohl. “CELTIC FROST’S” “Emperor’s Return” was the first album I bought of theirs. It was very different than what I was usually listening to at the time. “CELTIC FROST” was less extreme sounding as “HELLHAMMER”, but there was a definite direction, cohesiveness and discipline, that the latter was missing. “Circle Of The Tyrants”, “Dethroned Emperor”, “Morbid Tales“, “Visual Aggression” and “Suicidal Winds” droned, pounded and buzz sawed from my speakers in defiant misery.

During my youth, I never listened to “SEPULTURA”, “CATHEDRAL”, “THE OBSESSED” or “TROUBLE”. I do thank Dave Grohl for turning me on to them. I have discovered their music in the form of “PROBOT” and have become a fan as well. This is why I think this project is valuable and historical, for up and coming generations of musicians and lovers of music. Dave Grohl approached this project, from a fan’s point of view and it works very well. He, like all who have idols, still find that connection, that can never be severed. I salute you Dave…and forgive you, for killing metal.


PROBOT

1. "Centuries of Sin" with Cronos (Venom)-vocals, lyrics, war bass
2. "Red War" with Max Cavalera (Sepultura)-vocals, lyrics
3. "Shake Your Blood" with Lemmy (Motorhead)-vocals, lyrics, bass
4. "Access Babylon" with Mike Dean (C.O.C)-vocals, lyrics
5. "Silent Spring" with Kurt Brecht (D.R.I.)-vocals, lyrics
6. "Ice Cold Man" with Lee Dorrian (Cathedral, Napalm Death)-vocals, lyrics
7. "The Emerald Law" with Wino (The Obsessed)-vocals, lyrics, lead guitar
8. "Big Sky" with Tom G. Warrior (Hellhammer, Celtic Frost)-vocals, lyrics
9. "Dictatorsaurus" with Snake (Voivod)-vocals, lyrics
10. "My Tortured Soul" with Eric Wagner (Trouble)-vocals, lyrics
11. "Sweet Dreams" with King Diamond (Mercyful Fate, King Diamond)-vocals, lyrics
"I Am the Warlock" with Jack Black (Tenacious D) (Hidden Track)


CHEERS YOU LOT!!!!!