HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Probot – Probot
Dave Grohl has always worn his love of punk and hardcore on his sleeve, pre NIRVANA, he was the drummer in DC hardcore heroes SCREAM after all (and featured on their brilliant comeback album DC Special that came out last year) and has always spoken of his love of bands like BAD BRAINS, VOID, NAKED RAYGUN and MINOR THREAT. He has also never hidden his love of heavy metal, citing legends like BLACK SABBATH and MOTÖRHEAD as huge influences alongside bands like SEPULTURA and CELTIC FROST (legend has it that early on NIRVANA would constantly play a cassette on tour that had CELTIC FROST on one side and cult alternative rockers THE SMITHEREENS on the other).
It is that genuine love of metal that led Grohl to release the music of his fictional side project DREAM WIDOW in 2022 to tie in with the FOO FIGHTERS tongue-in-cheek horror comedy film Studio 666, with the band’s music taking its cues from the thrash and death metal greats like SLAYER, VENOM, EXODUS and TESTAMENT, it further shows off Grohl‘s love for metal.
This wasn’t Grohl‘s first foray into the extreme side of music though, and if you rewind back eighteen years from the release of DREAM WIDOW, you get PROBOT and their self-titled debut album (which is now celebrating its twentieth anniversary) and it still stands up as one of the best things that Grohl has been part of (and when you take into account that includes Nevermind, In Utero, The Colour And The Shape and Songs For The Deaf for starters, you know that it means business.
Gathering a host of bona fide metal icons (as well as some of hardcore’s finest for good measure) to play on Probot, Grohl‘s tribute to the music he loves was done with sheer passion and that shines through on the albums eleven tracks, or twelve if you include the hidden track that features TENACIOUS D‘s Jack Black.
With the majority of the music on the record played by Dave Grohl (much as he did on the first FOO FIGHTERS album), he enlisted a dream lineup of his favourite metal and hardcore musicians to sing on the album. Whilst the majority of them on his initial wishlist (there were a few that didn’t come to fruition including SLAYER‘s Tom Araya, PANTERA‘s Phil Anselmo and Jeff Becerra from POSSESSED) but the final lineup is a dream come true for any fan of extreme music.
Helping to assemble the personnel on the album with Grohl was ZWAN guitar player Matt Sweeney and BRUTAL TRUTH vocalist Kevin Sharp, who provided contacts with the artist in question, and who they got on board for Probot still stands up as truly impressive to this day.
Notable vocalists include Cronos from VENOM, Max Cavalera from SEPULTURA/SOULFY, Lemmy from MOTÖRHEAD, Mike Dean from CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, Kurt Brecht of DRI, Lee Dorrian from CATHEDRAL/NAPALM DEATH, Wino from SAINT VITUS/THE OBSESSED, Tom G. Warrior from CELTIC FROST, and King Diamond from MERCYFUL FATE. Combine that with guest guitarists Kim Thayil from SOUNDGARDEN, Bubba Dupree from VOID, Erol Unala from CELTIC FROST/APOLLYON SUN and Matt Sweeney, and you’ve got a truly staggering lineup of musicians participating. Coming together under one banner, songs like Centuries Of Sin, Access Babylon, Ice Cold Man and The Emerald Law undoubtedly delivered in all aspects.
With awesome as expected cover artwork by Away from VOIVOD that suited PROBOT perfectly and released on the the bastion of heaviness that is Southern Lord Recordings, the Probot album was a perfect encapsulation of Dave Grohl‘s love of heavy music in all its forms.
Due to the magnitude of musicians involved in the project, PROBOT was never intended to be a viable touring prospect, but there were instances of Probot songs coming together in live songs that must have been historic for those lucky enough to witness them. Lemmy joined the FOO FIGHTERS to play Shake Your Blood at London’s Hyde Park in 2006, and again in Berlin in 2011. The song’s accompanying music video became a rock club stable and claimed heavy rotation of music video channels when it was released and featured a live performance featuring the Suicide Girls alongside Grohl, Lemmy and Wino.
Eric Wagner featured on vocals for a performance of My Tortured Soul on MTV‘s Headbangers Ball with band that featured Grohl on drums, Wino and Greg Anderson of Sunn O))) on guitars and FOO FIGHTERS producer Nick Raskuliecz on bass. You can only dream of a gig where all the guests turned up to play the album. VENOM, SOULFLY and CATHEDRAL did play Centuries Of Sin, Red War and Ice Cold Man respectively live over the years which is a nice touch, demonstrating the strength of Probot.
Probot stands as a love letter to the metal and hardcore that Dave Grohl adored and was influenced by when he was growing up, music which has influenced him both as a musician and as a person. Ultimately, this is ageless as it acts as a kind of time capsule to the music that Grohl loves. Probot is a phenomenal collection of extreme music’s finest ever artists, and having Lemmy, Wino, Cronos, Tom G. Warrior and King Diamond on the same album is still mind-blowing to this day!
Probot was originally released on February 10th, 2004 via Southern Lord Recordings.