Released: August 29, 2006
Motörhead had become easier to recognize than to hear.
By 2006, the shorthand was settled: Lemmy’s distorted bass and wrecked voice, Phil Campbell’s riffs, and Mikkey Dee hammering behind them. You knew what Motörhead sounded like before the record started. But by album eighteen, had that familiarity made it harder to notice how much the trio could do within that sound?
Released on August 29, 2006, Kiss of Death was Motörhead’s second album with producer Cameron Webb following Inferno. Webb keeps the instruments distinct enough to expose the machinery. Dee’s kick and snare cut through cleanly, Campbell’s guitar has a sharp metallic edge, and Lemmy’s bass grinds through the middle of the mix. The volume never buries the details.
“Sucker” opens with a clipped, palm-muted attack that locks Campbell and Dee together. The verses move in short bursts, while the chorus widens enough for Lemmy’s phrasing to become the hook. “One Night Stand” changes the gait. Its riff swings, Lemmy plays the unapologetic creep, and Dee sits deeper in the pocket. “Trigger” turns again, beginning with a brighter guitar figure before tightening into a fast, churning rhythm. Its chorus is nearly cheerful by Motörhead standards.
Speed was never the band’s only gear.
“Under the Gun” begins with Lemmy picking out a blunt bass figure before the full band drops into a slower, choppy groove. Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez adds further low end, giving the track an unusually broad bottom. “Living in the Past” pushes that weight into a stop-start riff, with Campbell breaking the guitar into palm-muted blocks and Dee punching through the gaps. Each pause makes the next chord hit harder.
Then comes “God Was Never on Your Side,” the song that breaks the familiar Motörhead outline wide open. Campbell’s acoustic figure gives Lemmy room to sing in a measured lower register, with Dee holding back until the electric guitars rise around him. C.C. DeVille plays the solo, and Zoli Téglás adds backing vocals, but Lemmy controls the song. His lyric examines suffering, silence, and the idea of divine protection without the jokes found in “One Night Stand” or “Christine.” His voice grows harsher as the arrangement expands, yet every word remains clear. The acoustic opening allows the anger to build instead of spending it immediately.
That same bitterness runs through “Sword of Glory,” where Lemmy attacks war and the way history turns slaughter into honor. “Kingdom of the Worm” goes somewhere uglier. A marching guitar pattern and crawling bass entrance support one of Lemmy’s lowest vocal performances. He practically speaks the verses before the title becomes a grim group chant. The track creates its menace through repetition and restraint, not tempo.
“Going Down,” co-written with Campbell’s son Todd, ends the standard album with quick hammer-on figures, a loose rock-and-roll rhythm, and a deliberate callback to “Doctor Rock.” After songs about religion, war, and decay, Lemmy finishes behind the microphone, bragging about the band. It is a fitting reminder that Motörhead could stare into the grave without giving up the joke.
So had familiarity made the band’s range easy to miss? Absolutely. “Trigger,” “God Was Never on Your Side” and “Kingdom of the Worm” use the same three musicians and the same basic vocabulary, yet their rhythms, arrangements, and moods are miles apart. Kiss of Death sounds exactly like Motörhead. The mistake was in assuming that the music could only sound one way.
Written by Rob Joncas for DeadNoteMedia.
Artist information and music courtesy of the band.
© 2026 DeadNoteMedia. All rights reserved.
DeadNoteMedia 