I had heard something about Christopher Lee creating a heavy metal album about Charlemagne a little while back so I went searching for more information. Sure enough, I found an article about a project the actor has undertaken to create an album of symphonic metal about the Holy Roman Emperor from which he is a direct descendant.

There is more information on the project at Charlemagne: By The Sword and the Cross. The album isn’t released until March 15, but you can listen to some samples here.

It isn’t screaming 80s Heavy Metal. That would be a little too much to hope from an 87 old. The Charlemagne snippets sound more like Broadway than heavy metal. One of the samples is actually labeled as a rehearsal for the stage musical. Though Lee apparently has collaborated with the metal group Manowar. You gotta give it up for a guy who will make a foray into metal at that age.

Much as I am a Lord of the Rings fan and liked his role in the Star Wars saga, I hate to admit the songs didn’t really excite me. I didn’t think it was very good Broadway type material much less metal. But if his star power leads to some people learning and perhaps remembering some history along the way, I can’t complain too much.