Reviews

The 'legendary' Manticore Tapes (named after the studio they were recorded in), have sat in a box somewhere for almost 50 years until they have finally seen the light of day for this release. These rehearsals are the first recordings of Lemmy joined by Fast Eddie Clarke and Philthy Phil Taylor. It has been heralded as 'lost album', but that simply isn't true - as these are merely rough run-throughs, probably recorded to see how the band sounds on tape. Launching with the instrumental 'Intro', the recordings reveal themselves to be rough but completely listenable. There isn't a lot of distortion present, and Lemmy's bass cuts through better than on most studio recordings, as he hasn't quite reached the point sonically where he is filling the same space as the guitar. Fast Eddie gets a chance to show off his soloing, and the three musicians lock together wonderfully to create a cohesive sound. 'Leaving Here' is next, a cover of the Eddie Holland song that seemed to be a band favourite. Musically it is raucous, but Lemmy's vocals are restrained - and he sounds somewhat unsure of his place. This no doubt is a result of these tapes merely being a rehearsal, as they seem to vary in conviction from song to song. 'Vibrator' is bursting with an energy even later studio recordings were lacking, and 'The Watcher' has more of a bluesy feel than the final version. The song 'Motorhead' shows how much dirtier the soon-to-be recorded debut album could have sounded with the right production. John Mayall's 'Witch Doctor' is a highlight, and sounds the most like what the band would soon become. This is by no means an essential addition to the Motorhead collection, as the performances feel like they require work and care to get them to where they eventually would land. It is however and amazing time capsule for fans into a studio in August 1976 where a band was literally being born performing these tracks.

Probably a band that many are aware of these days. One of the pioneers of the Industrial Metal sound. Loaded up with heavy guitars, thumping drums, and then the element of synthesizers and sampling which is much more prominent now. Along with Fear Factory I reckon they lead the way in this sound and it has lasted for some time. Listening to this record again for the first time in a long time, it brings back memories. 'N.W.O (New World Order)' is the quintessential track to explain what I have mentioned above. With band leader Al Jourgensen leading his vocal in between samples it creates an attractive sound. Some might argue quite repetitive and simplistic in its sound. The music still alludes itself into a typical metal song with a guitar solo nicely placed within the song. Oh I must mention that good old Al J at this point in time had a penchant hatred for the current USA President at the time (George Bush Senior). Other highlights through the album are TVII which is non-stop guitar riffing and drum pelting, spilt every 20 or so seconds with some poignant vocals again addressing social issues of the day (connect the goddam dots!!). A lot of work has been out into this album not to make it a paint-by-numbers song after song. Each track is very different from the others. All with the underlying industrial and in places thrash metal tempo but building on that baseline with very different add-ins if I can call it that. From different instruments and their sound, but also with Al's vocals. It really does make each track quite unique. The highlight of the album for me is 'Jesus Built My Hot Rod'. It's not the best effort musically, but simplistically when there is a need to ''Ding a dig-dang my dang-along ding-dong'', you must put your hand up and say yes I am in. It's the spoken work in this track that perfectly rounds out a brutal assault on the ears for a very fast-paced song. Other highlights are of course the title track 'Psalm 69' which is irrelevant in its topic as it is a song that essentially wraps up the album. All up my assessment is if you want to listen to something new that was a genre leader in this space, take a listen. I'll just add finally that I did get to see them live when The Big Day Out was around in the 90's and they delivered the show in spoons. A band with an amazing legacy.