Probot
Probot
Southern Lord
My first experience with this band was the
"Shake Your Blood" video a few weeks ago on MTV2’s Headbangers Ball. From the opening drums to the simple-yet-ass-kicking guitars, I thought to myself,
"Wow, this sounds like Motorhead." Then the gruff and throaty vocal stylings of Lemmy Kilmeister kicked in. Total
"Ace of Spades" stuff. I’m thinking Lemmy has a new band called Probot, so I was interested. Then I hear that it’s really the goofy front man for
Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl’s side project. That blew me away. I never cared for
Nirvana, however the Foo Fighters are catchy and fun to listen to. But I never thought that Dave
was an old school metalhead. According to interviews, this is the music he grew up with and loved. Dave plays all the instruments here, with the occasional guest guitarist like Kim Thayil of
Soundgarden, or the vocalists themselves playing an instrument. The vocalists were picked by Dave because, well first off it’s his project, second…he likes them. I hear other vocalists were considered, but for whatever reason didn’t pan out. Mille Petrozza of
Kreator, or Tom Araya from Slayer for example. Regardless, this is still an impressive lineup.
Dave did the music, and the songs sound like they would fit in as a lost track of the bands represented. Favorite tracks include "Shake Your Blood", "Ice Cold Man", "My Tortured Soul", and "Sweet Dreams". The other songs are definitely good, but I just dig on the doomy tunes. "Big Sky" and "Dictatosaurus" are my least favorite though. Never was a big fan of Celtic Frost or Voivod. The stoner rock sound of "The Emerald Law" is all sorts of trippy and perfect for turning on the blacklight and watching the lava lamp all day. Also, there’s a bonus track at the end. It’s not listed anywhere, but it’s rumored to be Jack Black on vocals. Something about being a warlock?
Give up any preconceptions you have about Dave Grohl. Just because he’s better known for his more commercially acceptable work in Foo Fighters and Nirvana, the fact that he got vocalists from some relatively unknown 80’s metal bands and did songs with them makes Dave good in my book. Two Horns Up!.
