It was looking like Motörhead would lead the ranks to headline Psycho Las Vegas in 2016, except, as we all know, we lost Lemmy on December 28th, 2015 so sadly the gig would forever remain a fever dream induced by the desert heat. Following his death, Lemmy would be dubbed Psycho Las Vegas' "patron saint" and the legacy that is Motörhead became a driving force behind the three-day music festival previously known as Psycho De Mayo and Psycho California. Reinforcing the fact that Motörhead is a part of Psycho Las Vegas’s DNA, is the upcoming umlaut-adorned Motörhead tribute album Löve Me Förever: A Tribute Motörhead. The fitting first release from Psycho Las Vegas' new in-house record label, Psycho Waxx. The title is, of course, an homage to the band's song “Love Me Forever” from Motörhead’s 1991 record 1916.
The album includes Motörhead covers from bands who played Psycho Las Vegas in 2021–such as High on Fire who have played every Psycho Las Vegas since 2016 and their take on "Iron Fist," Exhorder ("Sacrifice"), EyeHateGod, ("Motörhead") Creeping Death ("In The Name of Tragedy"), Psycholona ("Iron Horse"), and Howling Giant/Chuck Garrick/Calico Cooper ("Love Me Like A Reptile), and others who, after they finished throttling your ears live, headed directly into the studio to record songs from Motörhead's expansive catalog. And if that's not enough fucking metal enough for you, in the midst of all this mayhem, Phil Anselmo (Pantera), Gary Holt (Slayer, Exodus), Chuck Garric (Alice Cooper, LA Guns), Kelley Juett (Mothership), Nick Oliveri (Kyuss) and Dwid Hellion (Integrity), and Zach Wheeler (Howling Giant), formed a headbanging "supergroup" and recorded what is said to be a gut-thrashing version of "Ace of Spades." Here's the complete track listing:
- King Dude – "Killed by Death"
- Stöner – "R.A.M.O.N.E.S."
- High on Fire – "Iron Fist"
- Cephalic Carnage – "Order/Fade to Black"
- Eyehategod – "Motörhead"
- Lord Buffalo – "God Was Never on Your Side"
- Howling Giant w/ Chuck Garric and Calico Cooper – "Love Me Like A Reptile"
- Mothership – "Bomber"
- Foie Gras – "Born to Lose"
- Psyclona – "Iron Horse"
- Blackwater Holylight w/ Matt Pike – "Please Don’t Touch"
- Creeping Death – "In The Name of Tragedy"
- The Bridge City Sinners – "Go to Hell"
- Exhorder – "Sacrifice"
- Death by Stereo– "Born to Raise Hell"
- Midnight – "Dirty Love"
- Relaxer – "America"
- Phil Anselmo, Gary Holt, Chuck Garric, Kelley Juett, Nick Oliveri, Dwid Hellion & Zach Wheeler – "Ace of Spades"
Now, let's talk a little bit about the Löve Me Förever physical release, which is available for pre-order now with an estimated ship date sometime in August of 2022. The double gatefold LP was pressed on limited-edition oxblood-colored 140-gram vinyl. Additionally, Psycho Waxx also partnered with Arizona-based indie record shop Zia for an exclusive double gatefold 140 gram pressing in a color called "Golden Nugget" limited to only 300 copies. The cover artwork (featuring a biker rolling down the Las Vegas strip wearing Lemmy's famous custom made Riff Raff/Pascal Davayat boots with the head of Motörhead mascot Snaggletooth), was done by artist Erick Cruz whose gritty work can be seen on albums by Creeping Death, Santa Ana thrash/black metal band Plagüe, and Orange County death metal band, Crematory Stench.
As we mentioned, you can pre-order Löve Me Förever at Psycho Waxx's official site. Also, if you haven't already seen the massive and fantastically eclectic lineup for Psycho Las Vegas 2022 (August 19th – 21st), you should know it will feature live performances from 121 bands (!) including High on Fire, Monster Magnet, King Woman, Ghostface Killah and GZA of Wu-Tang Clan (WU-TANG IS FOR THE CHILDREN!), Suicidal Tendencies, Mayhem, Boris, Mercyful Fate, and the aforementioned Crematory Stench. Tickets are on sale now, click here to get yours. Lastly, the bands set to play Psycho Las Vegas this August will also be headed into the studio to record more music for another Motörhead tribute album for Psycho Waxx–we'll share more details about that as soon as we can.
Now, let's have a listen to the exclusive premiere of EyeHateGod's crushing cover of "Motörhead" from Motörhead's debut record. Which, coincidentally, was originally released nearly 45-years-to-the-date of this year's Psycho Las Vegas on August 22nd, 1977.
