“Metal has always been a place where imagination gets loud,” Shatner says. “This album is a gathering of forces—each artist bringing their fire, their precision, their chaos. I chose them because they have something to say, and because metal demands honesty.”
Shatner’s latest headbanging endeavor comes on the heels of his contributions to the upcoming album by Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland’s band, Nuclear Messiah. “When Nuclear Messiah came to life, something clicked,” Shatner said. “It wasn’t just a track—it was a doorway. It made me want to go all the way in, bring in the best metal players I could find, and create something fearless.” While full details have yet to be released, Shatner teased a mix of covers and originals. “I’ve spent a lifetime exploring in both reality and fiction,” he continues. “Now I am stepping out into the unknown once again with my new project in heavy metal. I am covering Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden, as well as a number of new songs written by my team. The whole project is destined for this year. I hope you will join me in the exploration.”
Shatner has had a long and interesting side career in music. His unmistakable staccato style became an indelible part of his celebrity, with his version of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” from his 1969 album, The Transformed Man, adding to his idiosyncratic legend. Over the years, he’d again make more pop songs his own, including his beloved covers of Elton John’s “Rocket Man” and Pulp’s “Common People.”
He’s hardly the first sci-fi and fantasy luminary to make a late-in-life pivot to metal. In 2010, 88-year-old Christopher Lee, a classically trained singer with a booming baritone in his own right, who had worked with the likes of Manowar during his career, released his first symphonic heavy metal album, Charlemagne: By The Sword And The Cross. In 2012, he became the oldest person to ever enter the Billboard charts with “Jingle Hell,” a metal Christmas carol. A sequel to the album, Charlemagne: The Omens Of Death, and more Satanic Christmas carols soon followed.