Drummer Dave Grohl is best known for his role as the drummer in both Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, but what is less known is the fact that he basically grew up in the '80s as a metal fan. With many of the genre's "classic" bands being amongst his influences and faves, it is slightly surprising that he would now make a metal album -- but certainly not a shock. The most alluring aspect of this project is that while Grohl did virtually all of the writing for the album, he ventured out into the (semi-underground) metal world to recruit vocalists for his creations. The process yields a dark, moody, doom/stoner/grungy feel to the music, with a pulsing atmosphere throughout. There's plenty of bottom-heaviness, thickness, and aggression to go around, and it's great to see someone from the original early-90s grunge scene pay a solid homage to true metal.
The powerful "Red War" features Max Cavalera, and has plenty of those Sepultura and Soulfly drums. Lemmy helps make "Shake Your Blood" a constant churner, and Kurt Brecht of D.R.I. sings on the punky and rolling "Silent Spring."
Lee Dorian of Cathedral appears on "Ice Cold Man," which creeps and sludges along, while both "The Emerald Law" (with Wino from Obsessed) and "Big Sky" (with Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost) are good, dark, and mesmerizing. King Diamond brings his falsettos to "Sweet Dreams" Voivod's Snake sings overtop the stop-and-go verses of "Dictatosaurus," and Cronos from Venom leads to way on "Centuries of Sin."
The disc's top spot is "My Tortured Soul," with Eric Wagner from Trouble providing an ungodly vocal performance. The track features an intoxicating doom pulse from start to end. A bonus is the hidden track "I Am the Warlock" at the album's end, with Jack Black offering up some grinding vocals on what is yet another pretty solid cut.

TRACK LIST: Centuries of Sin/Red War/Shake Your Blood/Access Babylon/Silent Spring/Ice Cold Man/The Emerald Law/Big Sky/Dictatosaurus/My Tortured Soul/Sweet Dreams - I Am the Warlock