Dying for the World

This week a prominent person passed away in the British Royal Family and now we must all be sad, if the yellow press is to be believed. Well, "dying for the world" will probably not have been his intention and if it was, he did it relatively late after 99 years. The eponymous record by solo entertainer B. Lawless - what a glorious transition - is naturally not a member of the Royals, but even if it consisted of releases by WASP, "Dying for the World" would at best get the role of Diana's riding instructor. But wait, that might not have been such a bad role.

All in all, however, Blackie's full-length fortunately has little royalty to it anyway. The production is quite crisp. It may not have anything aggressive, but it certainly carries a rebellious element. Of course, Blackie rebels against absolutely nothing in real life, apart from allegedly too low fees. But here it's all about his art – and his music certainly puts you in a good mood. The mastermind and his temporary companions deliver two small highlights with the well-constructed opener and the driving "My Wicked Heart" at the beginning. Naturally, someone could have told Blackie that the "ohoho" parts in "My Wicked Heart" actually belong to "Chainsaw Charlie", but what the hell. That doesn't diminish the value of this peppy number and the similarly crafted "Hell for Eternity" also blows the auditory canal free. Not enough with this; "Revengeance" can almost be described as unbridled. Indeed, the album has powerful moments. Of course, there is also schmaltz on "Dying for the World", but many songs present themselves pleasantly rocky without any kitsch.

The ten tracks were released nine months after 9/11 and that may explain the album title and the pathetic lyrics in the booklet. Still, I would have been grateful if Blackie hadn't made his trauma quite so broad here. His patriotism leads him to interesting views ("it's been said that New York is the Capitol of the World" - I don't know anyone in Europe who says such nonsense, but surely all Africans and Asians believe that...), but they have little to do with reality. So you're more happy about a strong headbanger like "Stone Cold Killer", whose chorus perfectly combines catchiness and aggressiveness. “Rubber Man" also doesn't mince words when it comes to heaviness, and all in all, this results in a remarkable musical hit rate.

So apart from the sticky ballads and Blackie's ramblings, there's no reason to be angry about "Dying for the World". Of course, especially the second version of "Hallowed Ground" is a waste of time. Nevertheless, all things considered, we are left with a relatively unadjusted, gnarly disc. It avoids undue experimentation, relies on the well-known strengths of the outfit and actually gives the listener pretty much what he probably wants to hear when he buys a WASP CD. Therefore I have no convincing explanation why it leads a shadowy existence in the catalogue of Blackie’s sonic circus. Probably no one even at Buckingham Palace can answer that for me.

Hey, remember that thing about Unholy Terror feeling like a rehash of early '90s W.A.S.P. that could have been good with more personality? Thank our lucky stars, because all the longer we needed to wait was a year. Perhaps a tragic event like 9/11 is what it takes to light a fire under some artists, because Dying For The World is one of the most criminally overlooked records ever made. It doesn't get any hate, it just doesn't get much attention in general, and I'm here for every bit of it.

We've seen Blackie and co. in their darker days with the infamous K.F.D., but the aesthetic couldn't be anymore different if it tried. Though that one is impressive and underrated, this is where W.A.S.P. were able to achieve that style without a lick of effect, machine, or change in bottom style. At its core, this is still channeling the energy we got from The Headless Children onward, but it got a personality of its own. The guitar tones hit new, harsh levels of mean, the chord progressions take minor keys and implement explosive ends, and the levels of anger mixed with fear in Blackie's voice are the sharpest they've been since The Crimson Idol.

If that isn't enough, Dying For The World does this with such a steady barrier. Frankie Benali delivers the fills perfectly, and the galloping guitars that dominate a lot of these tracks fall right in place with them. The instruments in general are layered very nicely, which gives some help to the vocals. Harmonizing is still frequently used, something that always worked well with W.A.S.P., and the beautiful production capitalizes this. Finally, the songwriting itself captures all of this by casting out incredibly catchy lines that stick in your head, be it the chorus or one of the verses.

Naturally, this execution is going to call for a lot of emotional build-up. "Black Bone Torso" in its entirety is a suspense track meant for "Hell For Eternity." This is one of the best songs, a bit of a celebratory one that captures some of the highest levels of power and vocal outburst over an excited curve. Opener "Shadow Man" is also a fuming number, focusing more on anger and doubling down on the vocal delivery for the verses and hellish fury for the chorus. "Trail Of Tears" is the superior softee here with its creeping background licks, and the simplified rock 'n roll energy of "Revengeance" is so much fun. My only real complaint is the big ballad "Hallowed Ground," as it has the same issue as a lot of the previous record. This one feels like a total rehash of older ballads that could have stood more originality. Trimming off this song and maybe another one couldn't hurt (say, the acoustic version thrown on the end?).

But yeah, the lack of attention that this record receives is pretty sad. This really should have been the true comeback album from the band. Before this it was either too safe, too obvious, or too experimental for the normie metal dork ears since the early '90s. So it would make sense that this comes back with a raging (re)vengeance. If you haven't given this a chance, I can't recommend it enough, especially if you're a fan of The Headless Children.

Originally written for Metal Inferno

Following quite rapidly on the heels of 2001's excellent Unholy Terror, we now see the release of Wasp’s new output Dying For The World, an album which Lawless himself describes as a collection of songs to go kill people with.

True enough, the mood seems to be pretty grim straight from the beginning on with opener Shadow Man bringing back memories of the Kill Fuck Die album, (but this time without any of the electronics) and this basically sets the tone for the rest of the songs, taking you through stages of anger & desperation in turn.

This release also sees yet another different Wasp line-up, with guitarist Chris Holmes once again leaving the band and making way for Darrel Roberts, and long-time collaborator Frankie Banali completely taking over Stett Howland’s spot. On one hand this is a shame, because personally I found the previous line-up one of the strongest of the bands career, but on the other, both new members do their job more than adequately, and Lawless’s songwriting is, as usual, tops. (and of course, so is the production).

Anyway, coming back to the songs themselves, other highlights (apart from the opener) include both acoustic and normal versions of Hallowed Ground, which sports some of Blackie’s most emotional vocals in years, the up-tempo and catchy like hell Revengeance & My Wicked Heart and finally, what is probably the most experimental song on the album,Trial Of Tears, which features an incredible tension built-up towards the end.

To finish of this review I can say that once again, this is another first class release from Wasp, a band which never really disappointed me in the past (and probably never will in the future either, if the last albums are anything to go by), and is even slightly better than their previous one Unholy Terror.

Like the title to the review says this IS what Unholy Terror should have been (i.e a good album). This album isn't really a progression or even that much of a change in style from Unholy Terror, just a better written album. Like Unholy Terror this album seems to be written with prior albums "The Headless Children" and "The Crimson Idol" in mind.

The album kicks off with "Shadow Man", a very good song with a catchy chorus and good build up. The opening lines of the song don't even sound like Blackie, they're raspy for a few seconds until Blackie shows up in full force. The next song "My Wicked Heart" is a song that was obviously written with "The Crimson Idol" in mind and could easily fit onto the album without anybody noticing. "Black Bone Torso" comes in at track 3 and it's more of a short and soft musical piece talking about the preachers who molest young children...a very chilling song. "Hell for Eternity" kicks off with a "ONE, TWO, FUCK YOU!!!" and heads into one of the best songs on the album.

"Hallowed Ground" the mandatory ballad comes next, W.A.S.P has only done a small handful of good ballads and this one isn't one of them. It's a decent song with a very strong lyrics that speek of the Twin Towers coming down, the song just doesn't do anything for me unfortunately.

"Revengeance" is a good song and redeems the album after the average and sometimes boring "Hallowed Ground". Another ballad "Trail of Tears" comes next and I'm surprised as it's a pretty good ballad, compared to most W.A.S.P. ballads it's a masterpeice. The only problem with this song though is that it slowly builds and builds then it builds some more and just when you think the songs is going to reach a climax...it stops!!! What the hell?!? It's just about to climax and it ends. Actually, if there was a climax to the song it could be a classic and possible W.A.S.P's best song but they ruin it by ending it early.

Next is "Stone Cold Killers". I love the chorus in this one, it's a signature W.A.S.P. sing along chorus that will leave you wanting more! Up next is "Rubber Man" an above average song that could have used a little bit more work but it works and it's worthy of being on a W.A.S.P. album. Now that would be a great end to a very good album but unfortunately there's one more song...a different take of "Hallowed Ground", now you get to hear the song acoustically. I do not like this version at all and I find it to be a waste of time especially because I find that repeating a song at the end of the disc just ruins the flow and vibe of the album, I press the stop button as soon as "Rubber Man" is over to tell you the truth.

Overall a good disc and THIS is what "Unholy Terror" should have been, actually this is what the return to form that the band promised in 1999 should have been but instead they released "Helldorado". If you already like W.A.S.P. or you want a decent intro into this band I suggest you go out and buy this A.S.A.P.