W.A.S.P. will be returning with a new studio album entitled Golgotha next year, one that founder and frontman Blackie Lawless says will sound similar to 2009’s Babylon and 2007’s Dominator.
“We’re about three weeks away from finishing the next one, so it will be out next year and it will be called Golgotha,” Lawless announced at a Sweden Rock Festival press conference. “Golgotha is Hebrew for place of the skull and it’s the hill where Christ was crucified. It’s interesting when you see a lot of bands going around using Satanic images, or images of death and things like that, and I’m thinking all they need to do is look at the source cause it’s right there. If you want death, there’s enough to go around there.”
As for what fans can expect musically from Golgotha, Lawless says, “It sounds… probably more similar to the last two that we’ve done. We’ve been working on this thing for four years now, and I don’t know if you guys heard but I had a little hiccup last year, and that delayed recording for about a year. I broke my leg — that too was an interesting trip (laughs). There’s one thing I learned when I was doing The Crimson Idol. If you make a record over too long of periods of time you have to be very, very careful because the record you start out making is not the record you end up finishing because you’ve changed so much as a person over a three or four year period. You’ve got to be very careful to hold onto that vision. But from what I’m hearing so far, and it’s not completely mixed yet, but it has definite overtones of the last two records.”
Lawless also addressed his decision to stop playing the W.A.S.P. classic Animal (Fucks Like A Beast by saying, “”I look at it like this. I’m a representative of the most high God, and I have to be very careful about the things I say and do. I’m gonna answer one day for the things that I’ve done and I wanna make sure that when I do, that my slate is clean. But equally as important as that, I think, is I’ve been given an opportunity to stand in front of people and you’re either gonna say something positive or you’re gonna say something mindless –there is no in between. You’re either one or the other. And I’m just trying my best, and I’m not saying that I’m doing it all the time, but I’m trying my best to say something that I think could help somebody’s life.”
Watch video from Blackie’s Sweden Rock Festival press conference below.
additional source: sleazeroxx.com
87 Responses
I wish I could have been there, but had to settle for watching Blackie and the guys perform at this year’s Sweden Rocks, on Youtube. Still, I was absolutely blown away by his vocal prowess. I think he has gotten better with age. Vintage Blackie!
You know what kills me? If a metal performer is really good at their job, they get these ridiculous accusations of corrupting their audience, when all it is is that they worked hard to hone their craft.
You gotta remember that nobody fed off of those ridiculous accusations of corrupting their audience more than Blackie Lawless. He was a total hound for that stuff back in the 80s. LIVE…IN THE RAW includes dedications to some of those people. He was good at his job as a singer/musician/songwriter but he was also good at at staying in character in public to his benefit.
You indicate that he was outrageous to garner the notoriety to further his career, but to say he was merely a provocateur, controversy for its own sake, I don’t think this was the case (not saying you do either). I think it was more of a hybrid motivation, part notoriety, and part social commentary. The social commentary in his act, since day one, still connected him to his craft. The part that gets me, is that, because he was so good at his job, he got hammered. So, instead of commenting on his acting skills, they persecuted him, as if he was really that person. Just unbelievably stupid.
Your insight on this has been pure genius from start to finish. These commentaries are all very provocative and on a very high level of intellect. I agree 100% with your accessment of my response to your comment. The KISS and Kottack stuff is just the same pro and anti guys arguing the same points and just getting nasty for the hell of it. It is becoming a tired act indeed, whereas this Blackie stuff is different types of fans all agreeing that W.A.S.P. has done great and interesting things through the years. There is no CHRISTAIN-W.A.S.P. camp and no “VINTAGE”W.A.S.P. camp. Just fans of great underappreciated music. Awesome stuff Clown.
I agree tremendously with DR and Jenna. Like Blackie, I too have had a heck of a faith walk in recent years. I can easily and without conscience distinguish the energy and musicianship of the music from its early themes. In truth, I don’t even wan to hear “Animal” anymore. I am a big fan of the albums “Headless Children,” “Crimson Idol,” “Dying for the World,” and “Babylon.” Blackie’s introspective and more mature material is WAY more appealing. I admire his faith walk AND his metal music tenacity. Unlike others, I can see faith and powerful metal music co-existing, not being mutually exclusive or antithetical. Alice Cooper, Head, Fieldy, Phil Collen, C.C. Deville, Dave Mustaine, Dave Ellefson, and others have reconciled their past, their faith, and their music as well and are satisfying me at every turn. I’m a happy fan. I’m ecstatic that WASP continues to write, record, and tour. Blackie’s gonna finish with guns blazing.
I can’t believe this dismissal of “Animal,” a great song about domination and submission, between consenting adults: it’s closed minded.
Very well put. My hats off to you
So, Blackie is not a “literalist!” The song is fantasy for God’s sake, give me freaking break already.