“Tremble… for the Nuclear Messiah has come!”
Star Trek fans are obviously used to their fair share of incredible music produced over the years for the science fiction franchise. Fortunately, there have been more instances of good versus bad when broaching the subject. For instance, the musical scores of Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner are clearly the best representations, while the “music” from The Original Series season 3 episode “The Way to Eden” represents one of Trek’s lowest moments ever penned to a stave or staff. And then there are the franchise-adjacent musical endeavors, like those by William Shatner.
Shatner, who fans know all too well, has dabbled in music before, with albums like Shatner Claus (2018) and Feedback Where Will The Animals Sleep? Songs For Kids And Other Living Things. However, Shatner is now boldly going where bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden have gone before. And Trekkies can check out a preview (below) of Shatner’s headbanging contribution to Nuclear Messiah, courtesy of the Star Trek icon’s Instagram account:
Nuclear Messiah is an unprecedented “supergroup” of artists, who collaborated on the new album Black Flame from Cleopatra Records, featuring 11 songs from the who’s who of the heavy metal world. And the first single, which is titled “The Prophet of Fallout,” is performed by Star Trek’s Shatner and none other than Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland!
Looking through Nuclear Messiah’s set of Black Flame songs, Shatner only contributes to the “Prophet of Fallout,” which is just over a minute long on the album. You've essentially heard the whole song if you check out the preview above.
However, if you’re a fan of this genre of music, you’re going to want to check this out. In addition to Chris Poland, other members of Megadeth from over the years, including Marty Friedman, Dave Ellefson, and Glen Drover, are all jamming on this incredible project.
I love Star Trek, and I love William Shatner. However, the actor did not sell me on Black Flame, rather it was Sebastian Bach. I still listen to Skid Row to this day, so lead singer Bach’s participation in this project had me at hello — Jerry Maguire-style! And his song, “Look at Yourself” is worth listening to the new heavy metal album all by itself.
Black Flame can be purchased for the sale price of $14.98, marked down from $15.98, on Cleopatra Records' official website. However, if you want to sample the work of Nuclear Messiah before committing to buy it, check out the album on Spotify.
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Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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