William Shatner Announces Heavy Metal Album With All-Star Lineup Of Guest Musicians
Metal: The final frontier. These are the voyages of a spry nonagenarian actor. His mission: to explore strange new musical subgenres; to seek out new riffs and new blast beats; to boldly shred where no man has shredded before…
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If there’s one thing that can be said about pop culture demigod William Shatner (Star Trek, Rescue 911, The Twilight Zone), it’s that he has worn many hats throughout his nearly ninety-five years on this planet.
He’s been an actor, a television host, a Starfleet officer, and a commercial space astronaut, but he has also carved out a small niche for himself in the music quadrant of the galaxy with spoken word albums featuring famous musicians from different genres. With this latest announcement, it appears that the “Shat Man” is ready to bang his head.
That’s right! The once and future Captain is setting his phaser to “Thrash” for his upcoming album that will feature guest appearances from Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society), Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Chris Poland (Megadeth), and Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream).
The announcement was made by indie Goth label, Cleopatra Records, on their website, and he confirmed it on his X account shortly after:
“Ladies, gentlemen, SWs fans,” part of Shatner’s tweet reads. “I have explored space. I have explored time. Now… I explore distortion. Yes. You read that correctly. I am releasing a HEAVY METAL album. Thirty-five metal virtuosos. Thunderous guitars. Chaos with purpose. Covers of legends like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest – and a few originals forged in the same cosmic fire. This project is, quite literally, a gathering of forces. Loud imagination. Honest intensity. Unapologetic exploration.”
This album was reportedly inspired by Shatner’s recent work with the metal supergroup Nuclear Messiah on their track, The Prophet of Fallout, and it wouldn’t be the Cap… I mean the ACTOR’s first mission with the minstrels of music’s most aggressive genre.
He has previously worked with both Wylde and Blackmore, along with other legends like Adrian Belew (King Crimson), Matt Chamberlain (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden), Steve Vai, and the punk prince of conformity himself, Henry Rollins, but he admits that this new venture will hit at an even deeper level than Blues, Prog Rock, Christmas songs, or anything produced by that guy from Ben Folds Five:
“Metal has always been a place where imagination gets loud,” said the 94-year-old Canadian actor. (via Cleopatra) “This album is a gathering of forces – each artist bringing their fire, their precision, their chaos. I chose them because they have something to say, and because metal demands honesty.”
For most metalheads, honesty is their only excuse, and you can try to rob it from them, but it’s no use. Their dedication to the art of shredding puts even the most diehard Trekkie to shame, and a Vulcan Nerve Pinch does very little to help someone who’s caught in the most. Below is William Shatner’s cover of the classic Black Sabbath song “Iron Man,” featuring Zakk Wylde on guitar and Mike Inez (Alice in Chains) on bass:
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