“I lost contact with what they were doing recently, a long time ago!” I know not who said that nonsense sentence but realised that it fitted my thoughts on WASP perfectly. 

Famed for unsubtle lyrics, nine foot tall Blackie Lawless and his chainsaw fire-spitting codpiece, ludicrous back combed hair and Chris Holmes well documented narcotics habit, WASP were very 80’s metal. They were briefly a semi-big attraction, with pyro’ aplenty at their shows and a great sense of theatrics they were good value knockabout rock. The one thing they didn’t ever really possess on any level were a clutch of truly great songs. “Animal, Fuck Like a Beast” gained notoriety for it’s picture disc (yes DISC!! It was vinyl!), but otherwise they were strictly old second division. 

So Dominator is a new album, what do we get? Well no surprises but a little more maturity, better production values, a couple of superb stand out tracks that could easily be Dio era Sabbath and some filler. 

Blackie always did have a raspy growl and a nice attempt at melody but they do fall down again with the quality control. The straight down the line rockers tend to be the better numbers, predictable maybe but with some neat riffs and  noteworthy choruses they do grow, its when they drift into epoch inducing intro’s and heart wrenching lyrics and the power chords and clichés are tossed in and mixed clumsily. These numbers have all the right ingredients but lack conviction and are half assed in their execution. Pity as they could be, with a little lighter touch and some humour, saveable but the painful solo’s and exaggerated atmospherics just kill any hope of salvation. 

I understand the need for changes of pace, light and shade etc but do they really have to try and pull the heartstrings so painfully? Stick to the melodic rockier stuff big man, though not necessarily world beating there is definitely a future in my opinion as that’s where the talent well runs deepest. The closing track encapsulates perfectly what WASP do best, quality riff, great chorus and neat solo building to a tight and fast paced finish. Great track, more of those please. 

So Dominator does exactly as you would expect, it’s the same old WASP, same tidy, pointedly catchy numbers and same old failings in the hanky and lighter waving department. Still, they could re-light his codpiece on stage, we live in hope?

Let us know your views on Dominator

Track Listing

Mercy
Burn
Take Me Up
Heavens Blessed
Heavens Hung In Black
Long, Long Way To Go
Teacher
Heavens Hung In Black (Reprise)
Burning Man

Line Up

Blackie Lawless - Vocals/Guitars
Mike Duda - Bass
Doug Blair - Guitars
Mike Dupke - Drums