W.A.S.P. - Dominator |
Published April 22 2007
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Mercy* |
| Genre | Heavy Metal |
Blackie Lawless
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Vocals
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| Tracks | 9 |
Blackie Lawless
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Guitar
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| Runningtime | 43 Min. |
Doug Blair
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Guitar
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| Label | Demolition Records |
Mike Duda
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Bass
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| Release | 20 April 2007 |
Mike Dupke
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Drums
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| Country | USA |
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Keyboard
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| Similar artists | --- | ||
Blackie and W.A.S.P. are back with the follow-up to the 2004 double release of The Neon God pt. I and pt. II. W.A.S.P. are in no way as controversial in the present day as they were in the eighties, but with Dominator, they are taking a step back to that time, as this is an album with the classic W.A.S.P. sound. When the album starts with Mercy, the epic touch that was present on the Neon God saga is washed away, this is back to basics.
Blackie and his boys are pumping out the track with determination and this is a song that ought to work greatly live with its driving force forward. Long, Long Way To Go is a straightforward classic W.A.S.P. rocker with the pounding drums keeping a steady pace. The song is rather intense and has a Motörhead rhythm that make W.A.S.P. come out with re-vitalized feeling.
Blackie Lawless has a certain something in his voice, it is raw yet it can sound so vulnerable like in Take Me Up that starts as a ballad to then go to mid-tempo, and despite the fact that it is a slower and softer song, it has a raw feeling. When he puts some emotion in his voice, he makes it believable and it is as if his life depends on the words he sings. Blackie is not the most perfect vocalist when it comes to techniques, but he has a unique voice that comes out very persuasive and most of all, perfectly suited for his long time running band.
The track Burning Man is for Dominator what Chainsaw Charlie is for The Crimson Idol, and is the kind of song that I completely love with W.A.S.P. It is with an up-tempo beat and a hard driving galloping rhythm The Burning Man smashes all in its way like a tsunami. Heavy metal at its finest.
Lyrically, Dominator is criticizing the American government, and it becomes most apparent in the song Heaven's Hung In Black that uses parts of When Johnny Comes Marching Home as intro. That song is based on an Irish antiwar song and was a popular song of the American Civil War that expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war.
The words Heaven's Hung In Black was originally uttered by Abraham Lincoln regarding the casualties at Gettysburg during the civil war, but Blackie has taken the quote and moved it forward in history to the war in Iraq and the song is a bout a dying soldier standing at the Gates of Heaven but is told by St. Peter that there is no more room in heaven because of all of the fighting, so he must come back some other time.
The song it self starts slow with Blackie's voice and a guitar before it builds up, and this is the epic of the album with its a little more then seven minutes. To me this is not that exciting as it is too much of a ballad before the song builds up to a crescendo in the ending. Although it is great to hear Blackie really sing out here, the song is unnecessary long. Then you have the reprise version of the song, the short version. Heaven's Hung In Black (Reprise) is the acoustic version, and as the first one was long already this does not add anything.
Heaven's Blessed and Teacher are songs that do not really add anything to the album, but on the other hand, they do not fall out of frame either. Up-tempo songs that oozes quite much of the classic W.A.S.P., songs that get you going but without making a lasting impression. The final song on the standard version of Dominator (the limited edition comes with a bonus track) is a classic W.A.S.P. rock 'n' roller. Deal With The Devil, with the typical rock 'n' roll guitars and Blackie's harsh voice, makes me think of songs like Blind In Texas and Sunset And Babylon, songs that are as much rock 'n' roll as it is heavy metal.
When you listen to Dominator, you know instantly it is W.A.S.P. you are listening to, old fans will probably not be disappointed with this one and it feels a bit more energizing compared with The Neon God pt. II.
See
also review of: Golgotha ,
Babylon
, The Neon God Part
I , The Neon God
Part II
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Performance
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Originality
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Production
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Vocals
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Songwriting
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8 |
7 |
4 |
7 |
6 |
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Summary
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6 chalices of 10 - Thomas |
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