There has been conjecture that Motörhead’s latest album is titled in honour of frontman Lemmy Kilmister’s recent health problems, notably the insertion of an ICD (Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator) in his chest after he suffered cardiac arrhythmia and other circulatory issues. However, one listen to Aftershock gives the finger to any notion that his band is slowing down. It may not be a match for 2010’s The World is Yours, a beast of an album whose fearless Götterdämmerung defiance was startling, but there’s enough solid Motörhead jolt to satisfy.
Boasting the ramped-up amphetamine blues-rock of recent years rather than a return to the manic metal of 2004’s Inferno, its 14 songs aren't all attention-grabbers. The opening “Heartbreaker” and closing “Paralyzed” mean business, though, and book-end a collection that also contains surprises. “Lost Woman Blues” is a Lynyrd Skynyrd-style boogie, to which guitarist Phil Campbell adds righteous Seventies raunch, and the slow, simple lament for the passing of time, “Dust and Glass”, is brief and effective. More typical and just as welcome is “Do You Believe”, wherein Lemmy returns with gusto to a favourite theme: “Don’t know what I did last night/But I sure did it good/Running wild, outta sight/Lost in Hollywood/I believe in rock’n’roll/I believe in songs/Put your faith behind it/And you won’t go far wrong.” The joy of it is he still sounds convinced, and the music’s equally committed.
Of course, those who think all Motörhead sounds the same will regard Aftershock as more evidence for the prosecution. This isn’t a band looking to explore new ground. Motorhead’s 21 studio albums do sound the same, all could have been made at any point in their nigh-on 40 year career. For some – and I am one – there is a honed brilliance in this when they get it right, a perfection. And Aftershock gets it right enough of the time.
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