William Shatner has been to space, he helped launch the Star Trek franchise, and now he's made a metal album. Seemingly taking a page out of the book of late actor Christopher Lee, Shatner is the latest elderly celebrity to try to appease the rock gods.
Weeks after shooting down rumors of a secret meeting with Paramount+, Shatner has announced that a metal album he contributed to, Black Flame by Nuclear Messiah, is now available for purchase. He also dropped a video featuring his bit from the album, and it's as wild as one might imagine.
William Shatner's Video For His Metal Album Is Wild
William Shatner is featured in the title track for Nuclear Messiah's latest album, as the metal super group added the sci-fi actor to its long list of heavy metal contributors. Take a look at Shatner, as he sets the stage for the face-melting madness that is on the way:
This is happening now and in the futuređź! đłđ±Watch for my heavy metal album with all of the gods of metal contributing their talents.đđđ»đž pic.twitter.com/3df2ZHsBesApril 28, 2026
It's the vocal chops we'd expect from a celebrity who had a one-and-done appearance on The Masked Singer. Of course, William Shatner's "singing" has always been more of a narration akin to beat poetry, which, honestly, goes pretty well with this metal track titled "The Prophet of Fallout." Unfortunately, that's the only track he's directly credited to, though what a way to kick off an album.
Black Flame has a physical release available for purchase, but can also be found on Spotify and other music streaming services.
William Shatner Isn't The Only Legend On This Metal Album
Nuclear Messiah is a large metal supergroup that boasts contributions from 35 different big names in the industry. Zakk Wylde, Ritchie Blackmore, Henry Rollins, and even alleged One Piece fan Rob Halford contributed to the album, making for a who's who of classic metal legends.
So, the 95-year-old actor and activist was the odd man out in this project, but William Shatner had an important role to play all the same. I'm sure many of these rock icons at least knew of him prior to him joining the album, if they hadn't seen him in his various Star Trek appearances and movie roles over the years.
Plus, in an age where the metal genre isn't quite as thriving in the mainstream as it once was, it couldn't hurt to get some positive PR from featuring an actor with 2.4 million followers on X to help spread the word. All this to say, I knew nothing about this album before I saw William Shatner post a video about it, and now I can't wait to listen to the whole thing. That's what we call successful marketing, ladies and gentlemen.
Listen to Nuclear Messiah's Black Flame wherever you get your music, and stick with CinemaBlend as we chronicle what's up with William Shatner and Star Trek these days. These are exciting times for both, it would seem, as I can never predict what either will do next.
