Probot

Pioneering grunge with Nirvana and redefining pop with Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl realises his rock’n’roll dream and records a metal album with his favourite heavy-music front-men from the ’80s and ’90s. Painstakingly assembling each track and playing nearly all instruments himself, he then sent the tapes to interested parties so that they could add their signature vocals. Worlds apart from Tony Iommi’s embarrassing 2000 solo album with guest singers (Grohl included), Grohl tailored his songs in the exact styles of the bands to which he pays homage — though the finished cuts vary widely in listen-ability. Sure, Cronos’ "Centuries Of Sin” resembles vintage Venom, Max Cavalera’s "Red War” smacks of Sepultura’s Chaos A.D., and Kurt Brecht’s "Silent Spring” is classic DRI, but Lemmy’s "Shake Your Blood” sounds like every other Motörhead tune ever made, Tom G. Warrior’s "Big Sky” is a belly flop into Celtic Frost’s Cold Lake, and King Diamond can’t get "Sweet Dreams” off the ground, even with his mighty falsetto. The strongest tracks dive into the doom genre: Lee Dorrian’s "Ice Cold Man,” which is just as gloomy as most of Cathedral’s post-Soul Sacrifice output; Wino’s incendiary "The Emerald Law” distils the best from both the Obsessed and Spirit Caravan; and Eric Wagner’s soulful "My Tortured Soul” is akin to his post-Trouble band Lid. Most of Grohl’s teenybopper fans won’t get the mail-order metal of Probot, but rest assured that, despite its covers-album feel, head bangers will be giving this album two-fisted devil horns.