Image has always been an attention getter in the rock n' roll business, often to the detriment of the music. It was inevitable that, in many cases, image would overshadow the music makers. In 2001, a quick scan of the charts proves that style often supersedes substance.
Fortunately, Blackie Lawless and W.A.S.P. continue to prove that a band can continue creating challenging, powerful and ruthless albums and grow musically, even if some people choose to paste a static image of the distant past in their minds without considering the musical growth. The shocking songs and raw meat, blood-and-guts stage show of W.A.S.P.'s early-1980s debut are integral to the band's history, but they are just that. History.
Lawless isn't afraid to tackle controversial topics in W.A.S.P.'s music, and is concerned over much of what he sees in the world today, and along with lead guitarist Chris Holmes, bassist Mike Duda, and drummer Stet Howland has created the dark, brutal, threatening and thought provoking new album, Unholy Terror, which will be released on April 2nd through Metal-is Records.
Written and produced by Lawless, he explains: "Unholy Terror deals with socio, religious and political hypocrisy. I had a fundamentalist Christian upbringing and I grew up seeing the world through a very different pair of eyes. This album attempts to draw attention to those hypocritical points of view".
"This record is in no way intended to be blasphemous or an attack on religion, but specifically man's interpretation of what they believe the Bible says.
Lawless clarifies the lyrics in the song 'Charisma' by stating: "There's a dark side of charisma that mesmerizes all of us when we look at the world figures who posses that dark gift. In the song there's a line that goes 'Preaching fear and using religion with the Bible and Koran', often organised religions wield a mighty power over its congregations in the name of God"
Unholy Terror tracks include: 'Hate To Love Me', 'Wasted White Boys', 'Charisma', 'Who Slayed Baby Jane?' 'Evermore', 'Let It Roar', 'Euphoria', 'Raven Heart' and 'Loco-motive Man'.
Lawless says: "The lyrics of 'Loco-motive Man' are an open letter, written by a person who is describing what it is they are about to do and why. It's about someone who is unloved and starved of attention and is going to their school with the intention of murder-suicide. Hopefully if enough attention is brought to the idea of 'why' it happens maybe more of it could be prevented".
The provocative lyrical approach to this album does not detract from the fact that this is still essentially a Rock n' Roll record, soaked in the trademark high-octane music Lawless has made his own.
Blackie Lawless certainly isn't a man who will allow himself to be backed into a corner, and he comes out fighting fiercely on Unholy Terror.
