PROFESSOR BLACK – I Am The Rock

PROFESSOR BLACK - I Am The Rock
  • 6.5/10
    PROFESSOR BLACK - I Am The Rock - 6.5/10
6.5/10

Summary

High Roller Records
Release date: October 5, 2018

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Madly prolific multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter Chris Black (Dawnbringer, Superchrist, High Spirits, others) is dropping three—count them, three—albums under the Professor Black name in October. LVPVS, a four-song instrumental Progressive Metal album, the Bathory-esque Sunrise, and I Am The Rock, the focus of today’s review. A quick bite into the tracklist of each the three reveals astounding diversity and command of style; the well-named Professor knows his Metal history and can add his own story to it.

I Am The Rock is at once the most recognizable and clearest tribute of the set; with Motörhead being honored in every track, bassline, riff and lyric—even the cover art recalls past Motörhead titles like Overkill and Another Perfect Day. The titles, too, are pure Motörhead—so much so that all but the most ardent fan would have trouble picking out the real Motörhead song from the following lineup–_“Shakedown”, “Bad News”, “Get It On”, “I Got Mine”, “Hard To Please” (Give up? “I Got Mine”, off Another Perfect Day).

So Professor Black comes to praise Lemmy, not to bury him, and for the most part he succeeds admirably. He’s a better singer than Lemmy—not a better vocalist—which means he isn’t quite as well suited for the format as Mr. Kilmister, but who is? The songs don’t hit with quite the visceral force that Motörhead at their best did, but most are at least as good as Motörhead at their worst, and some—notably the title cut, “Get It On”, “Bad News”,and “Hired Gun”, are probably being sung along to by ol’ Snaggletooth himself in Heavy Metal heaven.

TUNE INTO METALEXPRESSRADIO.COM at NOON & MIDNIGHT (EST) / 6:00 & 18:00 (CET) TO HEAR THE BEST TRACKS FROM THIS UPCOMING RELEASE!!!

Author

  • Daniel Waters

    Daniel was a reviewer here at Metal Express Radio. Iron Maiden’s Piece Of Mind wasn’t the first Metal album he owned, but it was the one that lifted the lid off his soul when he received the record as a gift on his 15th birthday. He's been a Metal fan ever since. He's probably best known as the author of various Young Adult novels such as the Generation Dead series and the ghost story Break My Heart 1,000 Times, now also a major motion picture entitled I Still See You, starring Bella Thorne. Writing and music, especially Heavy Metal music, has always been inextricably linked in his mind and career. His first paid gig doing any type of writing was for Cemetery Dance, where he wrote a horror-themed music column called Dead Beats, and when he was writing the first Generation Dead novel he had a ritual where he started his writing day with a Metal playlist that kicked off with “Crushing Belial” by Shadows Fall.

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