Once a friend asked me, while we were watching a W.A.S.P. video, how I could be a W.A.S.P. fan. “You are a woman! And all their sexist lyrics...” I said I didn’t care what the songs were about, they had extremely good music and that’s what mattered. I’m not that easily shocked. But with this new album Blackie has finally succeeded in shocking even me. The album was made in three months, in a wave of inspiration created by a belligerent mood. Blackie had received letters from Gulf war veterans, telling that they would actually chant Fuck Like A Beast and Wild Child while going into battle. He had started writing songs, when the attack on the Twin Towers took place. Blackie is an American. From New York. And he’s Pissed Off. So he says: “I started thinking along the lines of all those Hitler wannabe’s out there in the Middle East so I figured, here`s a new batch of songs to kill them by.” That’s quite a bold statement. But Blackie said: “Fuck political correctness. That went down with the Trade Center.” Not that he was that PC to begin with... But what about this album, with its heavy burden of anger and hate? “One two fuck you!” is the war cry which starts Hell For Eternity.

So is this just a therapeutic album for Blackie to vent his feelings, not important for the public? No. With an all-new excellent guitarist, a not-quite-new drummer, a well-known and trusted bassist and of course mister Lawless, who actually played all instruments himself on Black Bone Torso and Trail Of Tears, what I hear is W.A.S.P. in top form. With their own, characteristic sound but not shunning new ideas. And this album has some amazing new ideas, like the drum-oriented, Native-American inspired Trail Of Tears, and the psychedelic darkness of Shadow Man. On the other hand, it still holds true to the traditional early 80’s W.A.S.P. sound. It’s new, it’s different, but it’s undeniably W.A.S.P.. And I love it. Very varied, with traditional up-tempo heavy metal songs and very strong guitar solo’s, and stranger, slower, darker and even acoustic(!) songs, it still combines to an impressive wholeness. So let Blackie be pissed off. I wish everybody who was pissed off would go and write great albums like this one. Go get it. Play it. Listen to it. Love it. Just don’t go killing people by it.