W.A.S.P.
Dying For The World
(Sanctuary / Metal-Is Records)

Blackie Lawless: Lead Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards
Mike Duda: Bass Guitar & Vocals
Darrell Roberts: Lead Guitar & Vocals
Frankie Banali: Drums

W.A.S.P. The mere mention of the band's name immediately invokes a stunned hush in many and triggers a malicious grin across the faces of others. Having spent many years as a thorn in the side of fundamentalists and politically correct society, the Los Angeles based quartet unequivocally spawned a generation of extreme heavy metal. Fueled by the vivid lyrical prowess of vocalist/guitarist/ringleader Blackie Lawless, the unabashed stage show, complete with buzzsaw blade gauntlets, raw meat, pyrotechnics, porn, a spark-shooting codpiece, and the band's trademark closer - drinking blood from a skull continues to shock. Although largely known for brazen, primal songs like "I Wanna Be Somebody," "L.O.V.E. Machine," "Blind In Texas," and the one that started it all - "Animal: Fuck Like A Beast," W.A.S.P. became commended for ambitious efforts, including The Headless Children, The Crimson Idol and last year's Unholy Terror.

Which brings us to 2002.

America has been violated, and Staten Island native Blackie Lawless has a renewed bloodlust. The recent national tragedy thrust the man into a frenzy, through which was spawned the most intense album of the band's entire career, to be known as Dying For The World. Blackie affirms: "This is without question, the most vicious album I've ever done lyrically. I want people to understand that this thing we're dealing with is a long way from over. This whole Middle East situation is going to have to be dealt with sooner or later."

While not a conceptual piece, Dying For The World does have its share of current events-influenced material. From the bludgeoning lead-track "Shadow Man", through the spiteful "Hell For Eternity," the mournful "Hallowed Ground," the acidic "Revengeance" and skin-flaying "Stone Cold Killers," it's apparent what invigorates Blackie's creative energies. He feels the best way to construct a song is by first generating the right title. "It normally points me in the direction that it's going to go," Blackie admits. "After I left NY, 'Hallowed Ground' became pretty self-explanatory. I was trying to create something that described my original emotions (when I was down at Ground Zero)�I felt like a kid, like I was seeing everything through a child's eyes. When a kid is abused, he has a confused look that says 'why is this happening, and where am I going to go from here?' I wasn't writing especially with contempt, but more with confusion."

While other tracks reveal further facets of Blackie's views on religion ("Black Bone Torso"), music industry tyranny ("Rubber Man"), and even HIMSELF ("My Wicked Heart"), the most adventurous song is the sobering "Trail Of Tears." Lawless elaborates: "'Trail Of Tears' is quite a departure from anything we've ever done before. After the last tour, I went out to the desert to reacquaint myself with my ancestry, and I was listening to A LOT of Native American Indian music�and I kept thinking that this was a little piece of history I felt people really needed to hear about. It's all about the uncertainty of a people not knowing what's going to happen to them."

Another surprise found on Dying For The World is an acoustic version of "Hallowed Ground," which Blackie felt NEEDED to be included. "It was too good to leave off! There are two completely different feelings with the versions of that song. The acoustic one has a certain starkness to it because there is no band competing around it. This was something I learned when we did The Crimson Idol. I used to get frustrated, especially after Headless Children, as I always felt lyrics were what I did best, and I thought I was saying some things that had some pretty deep meaning to it. So, why aren't people hearing a lot of what I'm saying? Then I figured it out�when people go to see a band live; they are listening with their eyes and not their ears. Take the band away, and the words create a glare."

Recorded and mixed by Blackie at his Fort Apache studio in L.A., Dying For The World is a very ambitious effort. Always making an effort to challenge himself and the band, Blackie looked to the past for influence. "You go back to your roots. The whole band started on a 2-part harmony, which was directly taken from The Beatles. Everything we did when we started was based on that principle�if you're going to learn from somebody, learn from the best. I've been looking at various psychedelic acid rock influences and thinking about marrying them with traditional Metal. Through the experimenting, I opened a door that will probably take me into the future. I can really explore this place, and I'm definitely going to combine these elements on the next record."

Although W.A.S.P. enjoys the challenge of writing & recording, the band has had its share of speed bumps. Following the Unholy Terror sessions, guitarist Chris Holmes bowed out of the band. But the process of breaking in new members (guitarist Darrell Roberts joined just prior to the Unholy Terror World Tour, and drummer Frankie Banali was a longtime collaborator) was creatively satisfying for Blackie.

On Darrell: "Looking at this record as a whole, I think what he did is absolutely stunning. It's not how flashy you are; it's playing the RIGHT stuff to go in the RIGHT parts. The last couple things Darrell did on the album 'Revengeance' and 'Stone Cold Killers,' I gave him very little input�it was basically him just sitting down and playing!"

On Frankie: "The man made enormous contributions! There's never a record that him & I have done where I've felt that we haven't broken some sort of new ground�it's miraculous to watch his mind work. With him, I really try to push the envelope."

As for trying to please everyone by giving the fans what they want to hear, Lawless feels that his work is most effective when he writes for himself. "There've been 4 times in my entire career that I've written from a belligerent point of view, and those ended up being the best records I've ever done: The Crimson Idol, Headless Children, W.A.S.P., and Dying For The World. I stopped thinking about what other people are thinking. I write for myself."

Even though working in the studio was a rigorous and rewarding experience for Blackie, beware, for the man has not lost an ounce of his potent volatility. W.A.S.P. is, and will always be, a dangerous band to the closed-minded and hypocritical, but to close with a line from the liner notes: "Fuck political correctness; that went down with the Trade Center."


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