Have you ever asked yourself who would win in a wrestling match between Lemmy and God? No? Good. Because that my friends is a trick question because, as we all know, Lemmy is God.
One of Lemmy's more memorable mantras was "Born to Lose, Live to Win." He believed in this way of life so deeply that he had it tattooed on his arm. And belief in those marching orders is exactly the stance Orange, County California hardcore punk band Death by Stereo took when they chose to cover Motörhead's "Born to Raise Hell," found on the band's 1993 album Bastards for the upcoming Motörhead tribute record, Löve Me Förever: A Tribute to Motörhead.
Another version of the song, featuring Ice-T and Whitfield Crane of Ugly Kid Joe, famously appears on the 1994 soundtrack to the film Airheads. Lemmy also makes a brief guest appearance in the film as himself because when you get Lemmy to be in one of your movies, it's because you actually want Lemmy to play himself in your film. In Lemmy's autobiography White Line Fever (which was updated in 2021 to include the last thirteen years of Lemmy's remarkable existence), Kilmister calls Bastards "one of the best albums we (Motörhead) ever did" (noted in the documentary Motörhead: The Guts and the Glory (2005). And if you want to disagree with Lemmy (or Phil Campbell for that matter as he has laid similar praise on the record as well in the doc), then be my guest–but you're going to be pretty lonely there pal.
All this makes Death by Stereo's choice to cover "Born to Raise Hell" from Motörhead's massive catalog of metal a very special selection. Sure to be appreciated by Motörhead fans everywhere, you can watch it here, as well as over on the very metal Banger TV where it premiered today. Another thing to be appreciated is Death By Stereo vocalist Ephram Schultz's appreciation of Lemmy and how the two sometimes ran into each other around LA while Lemmy was still making the rounds:
“If you were ever in Hollywood, you would see Lemmy all the time. He was always at the Rainbow at the bar playing video poker. One time we were at a party in Whittier (a city in Los Angeles) where a video was being shot. Lemmy pulled up in a limo and we started drinking Habaschu (a snake-derived liquor cultivated in Japan) together. It was a brief moment, but in it, he (Lemmy) was so kind and so nice to us. That just left a permanent mark in my brain.”
If for some strange reason, Death by Stereo's version of "Born to Raise Hell" doesn't make you want to take a radio station hostage and make them change their programming to ALL MOTÖRHEAD ALL THE TIME, I don't know what will. Except, of course, the other sick Motörhead covers coming to you soon from Psycho Waxx's, Löve Me Förever: A Tribute to Motörhead which were all recorded behind the scenes during Psycho Las Vegas in 2021.
