Motorhead

The latest blast of steel, blood, anger and exhilaration from mastermind Lemmy Kilmister (bass) and his longtime band mates Phil Campbell (guitars) and Mikkey Dee (drums) rockets out of the gate at top speed with “Terminal Show,” an expression of the album’s central theme of a world too long embroiled in senseless violence. “Have we been wise, or are we despised?” Lemmy asks rhetorically in his trademark rough-edged sing/shout. A further critique of the rationalization of war is stated in “In the Name of Tragedy”: “Lay back and dream in the death machine/Pity you still think like a monkey.” But despite the dire straits of the current human situation and the dour observations in the lyrics, Inferno, like every Motorhead project, revels in the sheer physical exuberance of three guys rocking out like no other trio ever. Campbell’s gorgeously layered guitar interlude on “Keys to the Kingdom” and Lemmy and his acoustic guitar duet on “Whorehouse Blues” add new facets to this always worthwhile band.