Probot
Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl has always been an unabashed metalhead--Nirvanawere heavily indebted toBlack Sabbath. Now the multi-instrumentalist indulges his adolescent fantasies by inviting a slew of '80s underground metal vocalists to caterwaul their original lyrics set to a dozen Grohl-penned instrumentals. None of the results rival "Ace of Spades" or "Paranoid," but as vanity projects go Probot is a hell of a lot of skull-crushing fun. Remarkably diverse, too, from the doom-laden dirge "Ice Cold Man"--voiced by Lee Dorrian ofNapalm Death--to the hardcore thrash of "Access Babylon," a collaboration with Mike Dean fromCorrosion of Conformity. Mainstream music lovers will only recognize a couple of names, but the most distinctive turns come courtesy of cult artists, particularlyD.R.I.'s Kurt Brecht and his blood vessel-bursting bellow on "Silent Spring," and the creepy Goth intonations of Tom G. Warrior (Apollyon Sun/Celtic Frost) on "Big Sky."--Kurt B. Reighley