Inferno

Ozzy's become a cartoonish coot. Metallica's cut their hair and forsaken their download-dependent fans. So where can aging metal diehards look for inspiration? Lemmy, of course. The Motorhead frontman continues to grind out guttural, death-defying thrash-metal without any sign of going soft, batty, or even deaf. Inferno comes on like a sledgehammer to the face with an ambush of punishing riffs and maniacal, machine-gun drumming on "Terminal Show." "Suicide" dials down the speed but ups the heaviness, stomping along with the low-end menace of classic Sabbath. Lemmy's strangled hellhound growl fits both just fine and even works well bellowing through the southern-rock blitzkrieg "Life's a Bitch." The biggest stretch is "Whorehouse Blues," a convincing country blues lament complete with acoustic guitar and harmonica, through which Lemmy staggers with a wasted, seen-it-all grumble—proof positive that Motorhead's addiction to noise is not a crutch, but a conscious choice.