|
The Americans are back with a new album which is called The Neon God Pt. 1 - The Rise. A conceptual album and more a metal opera then just a simple concept album. When you hear the first notes - Overture - of the album it's clear from the beginning, this is W.A.S.P.! The band's first songs on this album is Why Am I Here / Wishing Well. Starting slowly, acoustic - just an intro. Then Wishing Well, an up-tempo track, really heavy and the unique vocals of Blackie Lawless who changes between anger and desperation... Sadness... Self-pity. Sure, the music is somehow dictated by the story, but it has all facets and is full of emotions. The tracks have the typical W.A.S.P. sound. And they have other elements. Some parts are heavier then the band been in the past. Personally I think that guitarist Darrell Robertson fits better to the band. He has a wide range of sounds, from aggressive riffs to emotional parts. This is a very intense album which might need a few spins to get into, but it's worth spending time. Personally I found it very easy to get into it, even if this is very ambitious.
The story? Well, Mr. Lawless said: "This is War And Peace versus somebody just reading the preface of the first page." A radical metaphor for the concept. The story is not placed in a specific place... Town. He asked himself "What does it take to create a monster? Where does somebody have to get tweaked - and how often - to turn into something that can potentially be this?" His answer is the essence of The Neon God Pt. 1. The protagonist is that kind of character. His next question was "What takes this character further then other cult leaders?" The answer to this is that "he actually believes, at times". Blackie explained "In my mind I saw something very similar to the Manson family, or what Hitler had done with the Brown Shirts." And so this story carries on. A challenge to reconsider the own view of life, concepts of social life / society and the false prophets.
If you liked W.A.S.P. in the past, you won't regret buying this album. Beside that fans of Heavy Metal, Power Meta
|
|