Year: 2022
Total Time: 42:31
Label: RCA
Everything started with a short story that David Grohl wrote. During the quarantine the idea evolved to a film and in February 2022 “Studio 666”, Foo Fighters’ comedy-horror cult film was released in theaters.
Spoiler ALLERT!
The story: members of the rock band Foo Fighters move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock ‘n’ roll history to record their much-anticipated 10th album. Once in the house, Dave Grohl finds himself grappling with a composer’s/writer’s block. Wondering in the house, he finds himself in the basement where lies an old reel-to-reel tape recorder with and album by a band called Dream Widow. Grohl plays the tape, he decides to steal the music and claim it as his own and now supernatural forces threaten both the completion of the album and the lives of the band members. Finally, he gets possessed, kills everyone in the band and follows a solo career.
As cameos (except of the Foos) we find some very famous artists; I’d like to mention only three: Lionel Richie who appears to play himself in one of the films funniest scenes where David Grohl tries a rendition of Richie’s “Hello”. John Carpenter, who not only appears as the head sound engineer in the movie but also composed its main theme and last but not least Kerry King, who plays Krug, the Foo Fighters’ cable grunt and low-level sound tech.
The album we’re reviewing is the album by the fictional band DREAM WIDOW that’s featured in the film. Grohl did all of the vocals and played most of the instruments on DREAM WIDOW’s self-titled album, much like he did for Foo Fighters’ first album. In this case he did get a few assists from lead guitarist Jim Rota, who appears on the first five songs, and keyboardists Oliver Roman and Rami Jaffee, both of whom are sprinkled throughout.
So, we’re used to bands with pseudo metal/satanic imagery playing soft rock, even pop (yes, I mean Ghost), but how about the other way around? Clearly not a metal act, Foo Fighters have been around more than a while and have a huge fan base. David Grohl especially is one of the industry’s most recognizable figures, an innovating artist since day one and I think a really nice guy. But does he chug?
Yes he does. The album is great. It is a metal album that has the riffs, the energy, the production, the attitude. It has everything. And you know what? Even if at times it brings to mind some Slayer guitar work and Testament hooks, everything is filtered through Grohl’s prism (who really has nothing to prove to anyone) and that fact liberates the music from its influences. Eight tracks and almost 43 minutes of music, take the listener from a thrashy metal vibe (March of the Insane, The Sweet Abyss) all the way to some more gothic style stuff (Angel with Severed Wings), groovy Rob Zombied moments (Come All Ye Unfaithful) and doomy dark peaks (Becoming). The last song “Lacrimus dei Ebrius” is nothing less than an ode to Saint-Vitus and a masterpiece… in general.
The quality of the songs and the genuine metal approach prove not only that Dave Grohl is a very talented composer (that we already knew), but that he was and is a full-blown metal fan. We’ve seen him in the past speaking some Voivod love, we know he produces metal acts but know we witness his vision on how a metal album should sound. And in my oppinion it sounds great.
P.S. This review is being written the day that Taylor Hawkins’ death was announced. The Foo Fighter’s drummer was a huge chapter to the band’s sound and a heavy loss to the scene in general, as he already was a contemporary rock drumming legend. Our condolences to his family, bandmates and friends. May he rest in peace.
Rating: 8/10
Editor: Yiannis Tziallas
Related Link: DREAM WIDOW – Spotify Channel
