Metalhead comedian Brian Posehn is set to release is collab-heavy comedy album, Grandpa Metal, on Valentine’s Day. The LP touts collaborative efforts with members of Slipknot, Slayer, Testament, and others. Posehn has now offered up the title track, which he wrote with Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian.
In classic Posehn fashion, the comic took the opportunity to poke some fun at the Anthrax axeman in the song’s lyrics, which target aging, close-minded metalheads. As Posehn explained it, Ian fit that archetype perfectly, but the thrash-metal legend didn’t find the concept funny until he became the butt of the joke itself.
“The idea is that all guys my age are kind of grandpa metal, stuck in the ’80s or whenever they liked heavy metal,” Posehn, 53, told Billboard. “Their opinions have not changed since then. I came on the idea of just making fun of Scott, because he literally hasn’t liked a new band since Refused, and I find that funny. Once I decided it would just be me busting his balls, I started filling the song with as many old-guy jokes as I could … commenting on all the different things I love about heavy metal and having a sense of humor about all these different genres of music and commenting on them.”
The album is filled with similar heavy metal inside jokes and cover songs (like his previously released hilarious rendition of A-ha’s “Take on Me”), with Posehn’s vocals sitting somewhere between stand-up spoken word and death growls. He’s backed by a soundtrack of quality metal thanks to contributions from members of the aforementioned bands, as well as musicians from Soundgarden, Dethklok, Amon Amarth, Machine Head, Dokken, and more.
“Working with those people really elevated it,” Posehn said. “I always wanted to fill it with guests — that was always my intention. I was always going to fill the songs with my favorite guitar players, and the singers … well, there’s a reason I tell jokes and haven’t been a singer my whole life, and some of these songs needed real singers. Now that it’s all done and I’m sitting back and looking at it, that all these people said yes is mind-blowing.”
Posehn is also planning to take Grandpa Metal on the road with Ian. Just don’t expect a full-blown metal show from the comedian.
“Scott and I plan on doing these limited tours where we do spoken word and standup,” Posehn said, “and at the end of the show, I bring him back out and we do ‘Grandpa Metal’ and one or two other songs, stripped-down versions of ’em. That’s about the most you’ll get out of me. I didn’t do this record to get out there for two years of touring.”
Pre-order Grandpa Metal via Megaforce, and listen to the title track below.
Comedian Brian Posehn and Anthrax’s Scott Ian collab on new song “Grandpa Metal”: Stream
Jon Hadusek
