Probot – Probot

Release Date: February 20, 2004
Reviewed by Jeff Brinn

With nearly four years in the making, Dave Grohl’s eagerly awaited metal project PROBOT has finally seen the light of day. Call it a flash back; call it a self-indulgent claim to still being heavy. Call it what ever you like but enjoy it all the same.

Grohl has some how gotten together eleven of eighties best underground vocalists from such heavy weight bands as Voi Vod, Corrosion of Conformity, D.R.I., Motorhead, Celtic Frost, Trouble, Sepultura, Venom, King Diamond, Napalm Death, and The Obsessed. With Grohl playing most of the music it’s hard to believe that this is the same guy who made the FOO FIGHTERS a house hold pop rock name but all the same it rocks hard. Reminding me of mix tapes I used to make as a kid, PROBOT plays like a educational lesson in the roots of metal and hard core and how it was meant to be played, hard, fast, and heavy. After many times of listening to this album I have yet to find a stand out track or at that matter any lack luster tracks that seem easy to set a side as throwaways. It’s nice to see that many of these artists even gave Dave the chance to incorporate them into what must have seemed like a very hard pitch from the beginning. Who could have ever imagined Venom’s Cronos or Celtic Frost’s Tom G. Warrior accepting an invitation to play with a member of the Foo Fighters on what must have sounded like career suicide from the beginning.

To all the fans of the Foo Fighters, this most likely wont have any appeal but for the skeptical metal heads it should be given a chance. Kudos goes out to Dave Grohl for letting the independent label Southern Lord handle the release so as not to have Dave’s name plastered on the cover. In all respects, PROBOT rocks harder then ever imagined.