W.A.S.P.
Babylon

At a certain point in their career, some legendary bands hardly have anything left to prove. There are many, perhaps too many, examples: There are bands that have made musical stagnation, in the truest sense of the word, a real habit, such as AC/DC, Krokus, or ZZ Top. There are others, however, who, while revisiting the same genre for years, have always found the opportunity to reinvent themselves without losing their roots, and W.A.S.P. definitely fall into this category. Or perhaps it's more conventional to say Blackie Lawless's creation, since W.A.S.P. have always seen him as the central figure behind practically everything. He is credited with those masterpieces known as "The Headless Children", "Unholy Terror", or the more well-known and rightly appreciated "The Crimson Idol." The band, known in the '80s for their gruesome and terrifying shows featuring torture wheels, knife-throwing, blood-drinking, nun-raping, and more, reached 2009 fully aware they had given everything they had.

It must be said, before starting with the track analysis, that Lawless has always exhibited throughout his life a hatred toward religion, especially Christianity, influenced by teachings that marked him during adolescence, a hatred expressed openly particularly in albums like "Dying For The World" and the aforementioned "Unholy Terror." In the early months of 2009, W.A.S.P.'s leader converted to Christianity, and many at the time thought this radical change might bring musical novelties. But it didn't happen; in fact, the result is more than satisfying.

In May 2009, "Babylon" emerged, featuring on its cover the four horsemen of the Apocalypse leaving a burning and lost city, a decidedly enticing invitation to take the album. The songs inside are certainly not less appealing. "Crazy" has the role of starting the listening experience, and although what we hear is an excellent song, the allusions to "Wild Child", one of the most famous songs of the American group, are strong. The true strong pieces of the album, however, prove to be "Babylon's Burning" and "Thunder Red", where the former has a decidedly driven rhythm with the drums that do not stop even for a moment, and excellent bass work, while in the latter it is Lawless's voice that takes command, and hearing how it hasn't changed from more than twenty years ago is truly magnificent. Like a good wine, the older it gets, the better it improves. The slow tracks of the CD are also very successful, such as "Godless Run", characterized by a pathos that grows more and more, and "Into The Fire", which although this too has strong echoes of the past ("Sleeping In The Fire"), does its job well. There are two covers present in this album, the first is "Burn" by Deep Purple, highly successful thanks to increased speed and the leader's voice, and "Promised Land", a cover of the Chuck Berry piece, which proves to be engaging and quite fun to listen to, with excellent work from all members, especially Doug Blair, who delivers quite a nice solo at the end.

The expectations upon the release of this album were high, and I would say they have been fully met. Lawless's conversion certainly had a decisive impact on the making of this album, and it is most evident in the lyrics, always important in a W.A.S.P. record. But what satisfies the listener is the fact that even after all this, Blackie Lawless's creation is alive and well, with a significant attitudinal change, but as said at the beginning, it has never forgotten its origins and its way of doing things. And even though 30 years have passed, it's always nice to have certain confirmations from a band that has never let down its fans. Passed with flying colors.