To some, Motörhead will always be more icon than band, a series of irreducible images: frontman Lemmy Kilmister tilting his head to sneer into a downturned mic; his trademark muttonchops, moles, and vintage Rickenbacker; that arresting Gothic-font logo, complete with purely cosmetic umlaut. But Motörhead are, above all, a working outfit. The earthy counterpart to grandiose NWOBHM contemporaries Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, they’ve positioned themselves as the UK answer to ZZ Top—paring down their palette to the bare essentials, cruising the globe decade after decade, and churning out new material in their unmistakable biker-punk thrash’n’roll idiom.
The three-year interim between Aftershock—the new 21st Motörhead LP—and its 2010 predecessor, The World Is Yours, was an unusually long one for the band, who have averaged a studio album every other year for the duration of their nearly four-decade career. It’s tempting to read into the data, given Lemmy’s health scare at the Wacken Open Air fest this past August. But if the 67-year-old frontman is slowing down, he’s not letting it on here.
via Motörhead: Aftershock | Album Reviews | Pitchfork.
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