W.A.S.P. - Dominator (2007) CD-Rip

Like most people I was more than a little concerned about the quality of W.A.S.P.'s forthcoming release 'Dominator'. Let's face it, Blackie's output since The Crimson Idol has been inconsistent to say the least, and while I still had high hopes for this album I gotta admit I had my doubts about it as well.

Seriously, my doubts have ALL just been fucking laid to rest in a BIG WAY.

Dominator has all the makings of a modern classic. Every track on here kicks massive amounts of ass. Vocal, guitar, and drumming performances are nothing short of superb from start to finish. Production-wise I have no complaints, though production doesn't generally bug me anyway (unless it's REALLY bad, but it ain't on here so who cares?). Lyrically Blackie's has given us something intelligent and thought-provoking, as he has always been capable of doing. Everything fits on here and is rounded and balanced, and that's what I like in a good album.

We open with Mercy, a killer opener reminiscent of Wild Child, all killer, catchy vocal hooks and bitchin' leads. What follows is more of the same; fantastic drumming, fantastic vocals, fantastic guitar-playing, fantastic lyrics, perfectly mixing the serious side of the Crimson Idol with the sense of fun of the s/t. There is not a weak track, not a moment of filler on the whole damn album. Take Me Up is as emotional and stirring as the Idol, the chorus on Teacher is so infectious that I will give you a dollar if you don't find yourself singing it to yourself in the next week, and the riffing on Heaven's Blessed is totally killer.

Heaven's Hung in Black is a titanically epic tune starting with an eerie keyboard rendition of 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' and building into a beautiful and powerful mix of melody and passion stretching over seven minutes, with one of the finest solos I've ever heard to close. Blackie reprises this song on the seventh track, which feels like a very natural closer to the album; leaving us with a profound sense of sobriety and closure. He then hits us harder than a shot of Dallas whisky with a fucking balls-out rocker in the vein of 'Blind In Texas' called 'Deal With The Devil'. This 30ml glass of 80 proof asskickery simply makes you wanna get drunk and bang your fucking head – like any good W.A.S.P. rocker should. One might criticise that it disrupts the dark, sombre note we were left on at the end of the Reprise, but if you approach it as something of a bonus track this ain't much of a problem. Certainly the album would have suffered from disincluding it – it DOES kick ass, after all – and tacking it on the end is definitely the best place to put it without disrupting the flow of the rest of the album.

Conclusion? This a pure fucking W.A.S.P. album; well-deserving of a place in the hallowed halls of the band's first five albums. Anyone who knows me will tell you I have little respect for most metal released after 1992, but 'Dominator' is one of those albums that gives me a certain sense of confidence about the future of heavy metal.