A lot of critics like myself have been recently talking about
\nthe comeback of metal – older groups like Judas Priest and W.A.S.P.
\nhave come back to the forefront, while others like Quiet Riot and
\nRatt have decided to reunite.<\/p>\n
Motorhead, though, is a unique case. They have continued plowing
\nforward with their own style of metal, irregardless of the state of
\nthe genre and the smoking wreckage of former bands that have fallen
\nin their path. Reduced to a three-piece again a few years ago,
\nMotorhead continues to follow their own hearts and, led by their
\nomnipresent bassist\/vocalist\/
\nubermensch<\/i> Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, they have continued to pad
\ntheir fan base.<\/p>\n
Their latest effort,
\nSnake Bite Love<\/i>, seems to sum up the ’90s version of the
\nband, with influences in the songwriting dipping back to their 1991
\nalbum
\n1916<\/i> – and in doing so, they take a minor step
\nbackwards.<\/p>\n
One of the most outspoken frontmen of any genre (with maybe the
\nexception of Zack De La Rocha of Rage Against The Machine), Lemmy
\nagain pulls no punches in his lyrics here. From the “politician
\nswine” on both sides of the Atlantic (“Take The Blame”) to those
\nout to deceive (“Don’t Lie To Me”), Kilmister’s venom hasn’t
\nweakened over 25 years – if anything, it’s more potent now.<\/p>\n
With guitarist Phil Campbell and drummer Mickey Dee still on
\nboard, Motorhead’s sound is just as strong as it has been in years,
\nthough there are times that the second guitar of Wurzel is still
\nmissed, if only to fill out the sound (nothing against Campbell’s
\nplaying, for he is one of the band’s best guitarists to fill that
\nslot).<\/p>\n
The overall sound of
\nSnake Bite Love<\/i> is slower than some of Motorhead’s recent
\nalbums. While such rockers like
\nBastards<\/i> and
\nSacrifice<\/i> almost reverted Motorhead back to speed metal,
\nSnake Bite Love<\/i>‘s tempo shifts down a gear or two, as heard
\non “Joy Of Labour” and the first single “Love For Sale”. And while
\nsongs in this vein show that Lemmy and crew can write slower tempo
\nsongs, I have to admit I miss the all-out thrashing of some of the
\nnumbers. “Joy Of Labour” does give Lemmy a chance to show off his
\ntalents on the bass guitar, something I think a lot of people have
\ntaken for granted.<\/p>\n
And as often as the music challenges the listener to keep up
\n(“Assassin,” complete with its bizarre tempo – is that 13\/8 time?)
\nMotorhead go out to just entertain their fans as well. The title
\ntrack is one of the funniest, most interesting numbers they’ve done
\nin some time – this coming from someone who thinks their last weak
\nalbum was
\nIron Fist<\/i> back in 1982.<\/p>\n
I don’t remember where I read it, but Lemmy claims the last time
\nhe tried “singing” was on
\nOrgasmatron<\/i> in 1986. Three words: bullshit, bullshit,
\nbullshit. Lemmy shows more than once on
\nSnake Bite Love<\/i> that he is a competent, albeit hoarse,
\nvocalist; the softer moments on “Dead And Gone,” the harmony vocals
\non “Love For Sale,” the harmonies on “Joy Of Labour”… I think you
\nget the point. He might not be Michael Bolton… but then again, is
\nthat a bad thing? No singer, my arse.<\/p>\n
While
\nSnake Bite Love<\/i> does keep Motorhead’s energy level far into
\nthe redline, one can’t help but notice that some of the songwriting
\nseems to feel like these are leftovers from
\n1916<\/i>, an album which had to grow on you before it displayed
\nits true glory. Since receiving an advance copy of this album a few
\nweeks ago, I’ve listened to it about 15 times, and only now am I
\nreally starting to warm up to it completely. On first listen, it’s
\nas cuddly as a pit viper.<\/p>\n
Motorhead fans will surely swallow
\nSnake Bite Love<\/i> whole, and it is worth investing the time
\nand money in. But it also could possibly be a warning sign that
\nthings won’t always be so glorious for Motorhead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5666],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-38728","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-motorhead","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38728"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}