They say a leopard never changes it's spots. Well, when it comes to heavy metal MOTÖRHEAD are indeed the proverbial leopard. 'Motörizer', their 19th studio album, sounds like MOTÖRHEAD - and although blatantly simple, that's the only overall description required of the 11 tracks gracing this CD.

MOTÖRHEAD's most recent releases, 'Inferno' and 'Kiss of Death' were both highly impressive and well received by their hordes of fans. 'Motörizer' maintains these high standards and is certainly one of the band's better releases since the classic 'Ace of Spades' album.

The musicianship of the trio is as strong as ever. Phil Campbell again impresses with plenty of solo work, some great fills and no-end of down and dirty riffs (just check out the riff to chorus of 'Teach You How to Sing the Blues'). The best riffs of the album appear on the excellent 'One Short Life'. Mickey Dee again puts in a thunderous performance on drums, and Lemmy is his usual self, snorting his clever old lyrics, and he continues to chug along with that powerful Rickenbacker bass.

Once again, Lemmy shows off his love for punk heroes THE RAMONES, with their influence perhaps best displayed in album opener 'Runaround Man'. 'Rock Out' is about the closest MOTÖRHEAD get to approaching the boundaries of commercial territory and this one would work great as a future live set opener. Do lyrics get any more boisterous then 'rock out, with your cock out'!? Another notable moment is the blues rocker 'English Rose' – which re-vists the mood of 'Christine' from 'Kiss of Death'.

Groundbreaking it is not. Loud, heavy, obnoxious and filthy – damn right it sure is! 'Motörizer' is yet another slab of MOTÖRHEAD doing what they do best. Fans of the band will not be disappointed.

Rating 4.0/5.0

James Allman

Release Date: 1st September 2008