PROFESSOR BLACK
I AM THE ROCK

There is just no stopping Chris “The Professor” Black. With High Spirits and Dawnbringer he has created some of the best and most unconventional heavy metal music around today. And don't forget Aktor. What about Pharaoh, Superchrist and Nachmystium? Well, forget about all those. It's solo album time. Not one, not two but three: »LVPVS«, »Sunrise« and »I Am the Rock«. All issued simultaneously (on vinyl) via High Roller Records.

“It’s a very High Roller thing to do! Over the top!,” laughs Chris Black. “But there may be downsides to all three albums being released simultaneously as well. We’ll see. But ultimately, I decided that would make it most convenient for the audience. If someone wants to buy two or maybe even all three albums, they can do it with only one trip to the store. Or one mailorder delivery, as the case may be. That convenience was the deciding factor.”

At first glance »I Am The Rock« is the one solo album that fulfills the listener's expectations 100%. It surely has this Motörhead feel about it. Was it the easiest of the three albums to write? “Actually, it was both easy and hard,” replies Chris Black. “This type of song comes to me very naturally, however, I did have a very exact concept to keep in mind. I couldn’t stray too far.”

Take a song like "Dance Of Death" for example, it's more Motörhead than Motörhead ever was since »Iron Fist« … “It’s one of my favorite songs,” beams Chris Black. “But make sure you check out 'Burner' or 'See Me Burning'! And the chorus harmonies are right off of  »Sacrifice«. I love the 90s-era Motörhead just as much as the 70s and 80s stuff. By the way, for »I Am the Rock«, almost all of the guitars were played by my colleague Mark Sugar. I did a handful of solos, but 'Shakedown' for example is Mark all the way. If we are being strict about the definition of a 'solo album', then »Sunrise« is the only one here where I played all of the instruments myself"