W.A.S.P – Golgotha
Release Date: October 9th, 2015
Label: Napalm Records
So the question is: Just how good can a W.A.S.P record be in 2015? Well, after giving one listen to W.A.S.P’s latest album Golgotha, I can honestly answer that question by saying that it can be fucking outstanding. The last time W.A.S.P released an album was back in 2009 with Babylon marking this the longest span of time between releases. Blackie Lawless really used that time wisely because Golgotha really turned out to be without a doubt one of my favorite W.A.S.P albums to date.
The opening song, “Scream” opens that kind of trademark W.A.S.P riffage that is a cross between “Wild Child” and something we would’ve heard off of The Headless Children. Much like “Scream”, “Shotgun” is once again sounding more like old school W.A.S.P than anything they’ve done in the last 20 something years while “Miss You” is eerily reminiscent of “Sleeping in the Fire” from the band’s now legendary self titled debut.
Here’s the thing. You might be reading this thinking that I’m saying all of this like it’s bad but on the contrary. As a long time W.A.S.P fan, I think it’s fucking fantastic that Blackie has dipped back in to the songs of long ago to pull inspiration from. Not only does this make the album sound so melodically beautiful and dark, it also reminds me just how fucking timeless and classic those early W.A.S.P standards are and how so many of those songs do stand the test of time.
The “God” theme is very much prevalent in Blackie’s lyrics on Golgotha. Even the title of the album is a reference to the hallowed grounds where Jesus Christ was crucified. Christianity and W.A.S.P were never two things that I thought I would ever see go together but with age comes growth and with growth comes change. Who am I to condemn anyone for their own changes in life but all I can say is that Golgotha has Blackie Lawless playing, singing, and writing like a man who has found something that he has either been looking for or running from all his life. Just listening to the song “Miss You” gave me chills and while I don’t share in his Christian faith, I can feel his emotion in this song. That is a truly powerful thing. Golgotha is one of W.A.S.P’s strongest outputs in years and no matter how you slice it, Golgotha is a great metal masterpiece.
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