Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: W.A.S.P.
Label: Napalm Records
Release: 2015
Length: 55:00
Rating: 4/5
There’s zero chance W.A.S.P. would try anything new and add a pinch of freshness to their sound. After a lengthy break, the crew of the indestructible Blackie Lawless is back with a new album, »Golgotha«. During that break of a few years, Blackie once again managed to drop a few sensationalist statements. Among other things, he said that W.A.S.P. will never again, and supposedly that goes for the rest of their career, play their infamous hit Animal (Fuck Like A Beast) on stage, and that W.A.S.P. will now live “beautify” Chainsaw Charlie in the parts that might anger the Man Upstairs (the song has reportedly been adapted for the stage). Four years ago Lawless apparently went through a spiritual rebirth and finally kissed the hand of the creator he found within himself. So Blackie Lawless has turned into a purified man of the world, with no more black stains on his heart. From now on he’s a God-fearing Roman Catholic, too.
That’s obviously his basic right, but it’s also clear that the planet has too many, too many, too many converts of every stripe. Most of them get there out of comfort, self-interest and fear. In other words, they’re lying to themselves. Blackie needs neither the one, nor the other, nor the third, so let’s take him at his word that he’s sincere about this, though let’s be honest, nobody would’ve missed these convictions if Blackie weren’t now smuggling them into the W.A.S.P. music as well. So “Golgotha” also has a few hints about enlightenment and accepting Jesus’ sacrifice for the good of humanity. Stylistically, W.A.S.P. stay in familiar waters with the new record, the ones more or less fixed for good by their fourth album, »The Headless Children«. That Blackie’s heart has “softened” a little over the years is underlined early on the album by Last Runaway, which is built on a major key. A “cheerful” song, then. Then there’s Miss You, the band’s newest ballad. We just can’t shake the feeling the songs could be a bit shorter. There’s slightly too much repetition of motifs over the never-changing 4/4 beat (the songs make their point within four minutes, and anything beyond that is too much).
The new songs on “Golgotha” hold on to the punch and energy that defined many, if not most, of the band’s past albums. So »Golgotha« is tailor-made for the band’s fans, and the album’s songs will mesh perfectly with the classics of the iron-clad repertoire at gigs. In these new times, when metal has pushed to the extreme limits of brutality, the W.A.S.P. style amounts to a noisier version of hard rock. The rhythmic drive keeps the band’s typical rolling gait, propped up by heavy use of double bass drum pedals. Speaking of drummers, just before the album came out Blackie fired drummer Mike Dupke, who lasted nine years in W.A.S.P., which makes »Golgotha« his last W.A.S.P. album. On top of that rhythmic framework stands a massive wall of riffing guitars, generously backed in the background by the chunky sound of Hammond lines. Typical. As for the musicality, the listener quickly gets the feeling that the lead motifs of the new songs are basically repackaged. Every song can instantly remind you of some phrase already worn out in the eighties or later. But that’s the W.A.S.P. approach. Recognizable from a mile away. Especially once Blackie kicks in with his famous shrill vocals, which still serve him more than well these days.
So W.A.S.P. keep the energy and drive going. They stay hungry even in their later years. »Golgotha« is a hugely likable, very, very “homey”-sounding W.A.S.P. album that will keep tugging at the heartstrings of the band’s big old guard of fans for a long time to come.
Line-up
Blackie Lawless – vocals, guitar, keyboards
Doug Blair – guitar, backing vocals
Mike Duda – bass guitar
Mike Dupke – drums
Production
Blackie Lawless
Tracklist
01. Scream
02. Last Runaway
03. Shotgun
04. Miss You
05. Fallen Under
06. Slaves of the New World Order
07. Eyes of My Maker
08. Hero of the World
09. Golgotha
