Probot?

[El Chuxter]

I'm kinda surprised that on a Star Wars fansite with a healthy population of metalheads, this band hasn't been mentioned yet. I'd have started something sooner, but I just heard about them.

Apparently this is a side project of sorts for Dave "the cool guy from Nirvana" Grohl, featuring plenty of old-school metal gods who never got the credit they deserve. It has vocals by Lemmy and several others (not that Lemmy alone isn't enough ).

So, uh, I have no capability to download audio, and this kind of stuff doesn't get any radio play in the LA area. I'm seriously considering picking it up without hearing anything from it, since it sounds pretty safe. (Dave Grohl alone is pretty much enough to warrant that.)

Anyone familiar with this group or have any info on them? (Mabs, I'm looking in your direction. )

[mabudonicus]

I was hoping this would be a review, man, I could have posted the same as above

You know what I know, I wasn't even sure that the project got completed... I'll ask around and get back here, I imagine it's a good deal as long as it's quick

[arctangent]

i think probot is released in early march. i have read a couple of reviews of it, one really good review and one so-so review that said there was not much continuety but then i don't know what the reviewer expected from an album with a different vocalist and musical style on each track .

i have heard the track that features cronos from venom (centuries of sin, i think) and its pretty good. it sounds just like prime time venom in fact which can only be a good thing really.

but what the rest sounds like is anybody's guess. each track sounds different because each track was written specifically for the singer involved.

[Rocketboy]

Probot is out now. I saw it the other day, but haven't heard any of it yet.

[darthvyn]

i've heard it, i work at tower records right now. i don't have any money but if i did i would pick this up in a heartbeat. it rocks!

[James Boba Fettfield]

arc, you are correct about Centuries of Sin. I was thinking the same thing about it being just like a Venom track. Great way to start off this album. A song where a man can growl and sing but still be understood. Take note metal vocalists of today.

Red War, again, another great track! Sepultura fans rejoice, Cavalera! Red Waarrrrghhh will fol-low my enemy!! I reminded of a toned down version of "ROOOOTS, BLOODY ROOOOOOOTS!"

Shake Your Blood has God, I mean Lemmy on it. It's not as metal as the first two songs, but it fits with Lemmy. Nothing bad with this track.

Access Babylon sucks. It's fast, but I don't feel the metal. It's no fault of Dean, I just don't want to even nod my head to this. I am glad this one clocks in under 2, or else I would have had to skip it.

Silent Spring is back to the metal I want to hear. Brecht isn't singing with the ferocity as Cavalera and Cronos, but that's the thing with these kinds of albums, you can't expect each of the guys to sing alike. "That's not the way that I am!"

Ice Cold Man is a slow song that moves along at that pace, but it still remains heavy. Nothing like a song about eternal winter and mother nature crying to keep a guy interested in the album. This song is also the first to break the 5 minute mark, almost reaching 6.

The Emerald Law is a contrast to the previous song. We get some quieter slow bits and some more upbeat and fast parts. About four minutes into this one and I thought it was going to suck, I have no idea what they were trying to go for with that sound, but thankfully we can a swift kick to the a** after it's over with some music that rocks.

Big Sky is an alright song, nothing really stood out for me. Not bad, but alright.

Dictatorsaurus has Snake singing vocals here. If you don't know Snake, then I suggest you enlighten your mind with Voivod. I don't know how else to say it, it's Snake and if you hate it...well, I'm sure the radio can give you your daily fix of Nickelback and Disturbed.

My Tortured Soul is an ok entry. It didn't too much for me in the "rock out" way, but it's not terrible.

Sweet Dreams with the vocals of King Diamond. I don't know, but this didn't seem very "Mercyful Fate" to me, but that's not a bad thing. Kind Diamond wails and growls, it's great.


And the hidden track at the end of Sweet Dreams...I'm not quite sure what to say. It begins with the announcement that "I'm going to f*** your life up. I'm going to crush your soul. Two demons stand beside me." Any song that begins with that and has the music to match it deserves to be applauded. I enjoyed this hidden bonus.



Overall the album is great. Don't expect a lot of focus on guitar work, since this is about Dave Grohl and metal vocalists. That's where the emphasis is placed, but I'm sure most people will know this. Expect drums and vocals, that's what you get. Good album, heavy, and it's metal. Not much else to say.

[mabudonicus]

Nothing like a song about eternal winter and mother nature crying to keep a guy interested in the album.

now that's metal

Thanks for the overview, man... doesn't sound as "melodic" or as full of twin guitar attacks as I had hoped, but it's got Lemmy

[James Boba Fettfield]

Yeah, that's how I felt about it, mab. It certainly, to me, did not have that melodic feeling. You know where it feels like you're traveling along with the music...it's hard to describe it. Like the melodic stuff takes your mind to other places and you're just lost in awe of it....like a sublime thing.

Man, I've been reading too many Wordsworth poems to think of music like that. I guess the best way to say it, don't expect a magic ride with the sweet sounds of a guitar, because it's not really there. Not a bad thing, really.

Oddly enough, those lines you quoted me on, mab, belong to a semi-melodic sounding piece. The song reminds me of something sad, and the lyrics don't help to lighten the mood.

Ice cold man watches earth die
Eternal winter takes its reign
Devoid of light filled with pain
Ice cold man watches earth die
Bleak the atmosphere
Freezing warmest tears
The earth a ball of ice
Bodies frozen cold
Glacier heart and soul (sounds like he says "glassier" and not "glacier", not sure what he is saying really, but glacier makes sense)
All warmth has long since died
In his arctic hearse man rides death universe
For one final time through black frosted sun
Into oblivion

But wait, look at these lines from the hidden track that's 9 minutes into the last track (which is great, I love the whole "ohhhhhh" thing going on after each verse):

I whisper the ancient scriptures
I drink the blood of the lamb
And as I begin to levitate
This is the day of the damned
I am the warlock

Whatever happened to singing about warlocks anyway?

[arctangent]

Whatever happened to singing about warlocks anyway?

ronnie jame dio still does, doesn't he !

[El Chuxter]

This finally arrived in the mail (I'm a cheapskate and would rather save the $1 in sales tax), and after one listen I must say it's an excellent work. I'm not too familiar with most of the guys (insert "" smiley here), but I think I'll be broadening my horizons in the near future. Especially King Diamond. Any recommendations on what to begin fixing a Mercyful Fate illiteracy with first?

BTW, anyone know who sings the hidden track? Is it Davey himself?