WASP - The Neon God - Part 2 - The Demise

W.A.S.P. - The Neon God - Part 2 – The Demise		Metal-Is / Sanctuary
	Posted: 10/17/04 Reviewed by: Lynn Phillips Category: Heavy Metal Released: 2004 Label URL: www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.com Artist URL: www.waspnation.com

The continuation of *The Neon God* concept piece has finally arrived and the question on everyone’s mind is “how it does it compare to *Part 1 – The Rise?” Personally, I liked The Rise* but it fell just short of greatness for a multitude of reasons: there were too many short song snippets and interludes used to tell the story; there weren’t enough strong, rocking tracks; there was an overall feeling of stylistic uniformity among too many of the songs; and finally when the band decided to get experimental with their sound, it failed miserably. On the other hand, I did find *The Neon God’s story and theme interesting and enjoyed the fact that the disc was in the same vein as such classics as The Headless Children* and *The Crimson Idol, a style that suits the band quite well. The good news is that The Demise* has corrected most of the mistakes found on its predecessor, making it a must-have for any fan of the band. “Never Say Die” opens *The Demise, and Darrell Roberts’ nasty riff adds a little aggression to the music, something that was missing from the songs on The Rise. This turns out to be one of the better W.A.S.P songs penned in many years, as the chorus, solo and Blackie’s wailing scream are the epitome of what good metal’s all about. Right away, it’s evident that Blackie focused more on writing songs that worked with the story, rather than writing a novel and struggling to flesh out some music to go along with it. In fact, the story this time out, is wrapped up in about 2 pages of moderately sized text, as opposed to Blackie’s mini version of War and Peace* that accompanied *The Rise. That’s not to say that the story isn’t important, because it is used throughout all nine tracks of The Demise, but now we have more flat out rocking tracks, and the album is stronger because of them. Other song highlights include “Tear Down the Walls“ and “Destinies to Come.“ The strength of these songs lies in Roberts’ metallic riffing and the sometimes frenzied drumming from Stet Howland. This drumming is a refreshing return to the heavy style found on The Crimson Idol, something that was sorely missing on The Rise. Not that I want to close this review on a downer but it is worth mentioning that “Clockwork Mary“ has a bland and redundant style. A feeling of déjà vu sets in on this track, as you may feel like this sounds like a filler track from The Rise. The Bloody Truth: W.A.S.P. has returned to a style that suits them perfectly. Fans of The Crimson Idol* and *Still Not Black Enough* will find a lot to like here. This time around, the songs are the focus of the cd rather than the story, and the album is better because of it. As always, Blackie's voice sounds great, and the music is heavy and diverse enough to make *The Demise* a marked improvement over its predecessor.

Posted: 10/17/04