Album Review: Phil Campbell - “Old Lions Still Roar”



Now obviously Phil Campbell deserves eternal respect for the riffs he contributed to Motorhead for thirty plus years but his debut album with his new band the Bastard Sons last year (The Age Of Absurdity) was a nondescript mainstream-metal-by-numbers effort and really made me think that without Lemmy he was destined to sink.

However, I’m pleased to report that Old Lions Still Roar, a collaborative effort between the Bastard Sons and various guest vocalists is a definite step up and arguably what they should have aimed for in the first place. Apart from a couple of dull acoustic-led numbers which you can safely skip (Rocking Chair and Left For Dead) plus a number featuring Benji from Skindred which could've been awesome but just drags (Dead Roses - what is it with Benj at the mo, the last Skindred album was bobbins as well! C'mon dude, sort it out, we're relying on ya!), this is generally pretty solid and enjoyable stuff.

With tracks featuring vocal contributions from the likes of Rob Halford (Straight Up), Orange Goblin's Ben Ward (Faith In Fire), Danko Jones (Walk The Talk) and Alice Cooper (Swing It) plus Dee Snider on the album's awesome highlight These Old Boots all of which play to the vocalists' strengths nicely plus Campbell and the Bastard Sons providing solid musical backup to boot, this is a generally sound effort and well worth investigating for the good bits. Welcome back Phil.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌖🌖🌖🌖🌖🌖🌖🌑🌑🌑 (7/10)

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