W.A.S.P.
The Neon God: Pt. 2 – The Demise
Sanctuary Records
It may just be me, but it seems like W.A.S.P. slowly has been transforming themselves in a clone of The Cult over the last couple of decades. Their transformation seems to be nearing it’s completion with this, the second part of Blackie Lawless’s much hyped “The Neon God” saga, The Demise.
Lawless and crew are rockin’ out like it’s 1988 all over again. It’s clear, judging from Lawless’s song titles and lyrics, that he’s not lost his flair for the profound: “Never say die, never say die, no, no, never say die, my boy.” True poetry. I guess you should also know that the lyrics of the album act as a script between “Jesse” and various other characters, including his “congregation” and his mom. Apparently, Jesse is struggling with being “The Neon God.” He could also be struggling because the band telling his story is W.A.S.P.
Without a doubt, the music on this disc is some of the most uninspired “heavy metal” that I’ve ever heard. The only thing that even sort of sounds passionate is Blackie’s voice. But after decades of being a rock star, his voice sounds gnarled and worn out. He still gives it his all, and he totally gets into what he’s doing, but the music behind him is stale. The guitar tone is totally late ’80s glam metal (in a bad way), the drums are almost completely missing from the mix and the song structures are formulaic. W.A.S.P. could have saved the world a headache if they had just broken up when the ’80s ended.
Sanctuary Records: http://www.sanctuaryrecords.com
