BLACKIE LAWLESS Wants Next W.A.S.P. Album To Be 'An Old-Time Rock And Roll Record'

During an appearance earlier today (Wednesday, October 19) on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", W.A.S.P. leader Blackie Lawless was asked if there are any plans for the band to release new music to coincide with its 40th-anniversary celebrations. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We had started working on a record over a year ago. And I'm hoping to be able to finish it sometime in January/February, before we start the European [40th-anniversary] tour. It won't be out until after the tour is finished, but I'm hoping to have it wrapped up by the time we start. That's the plan.

"Have you ever seen a dog in the middle of a floor chasing his butt? That's what's going on here," Blackie continued. "It's just busy, and it's gonna be like this for probably the next year. But then again, we lost — all of us lost — a big chunk of our lives with this pandemic. So we're putting the hammer down on this. And we're gonna do everything we can. We're gonna take this thing all over the world, because we go to Europe in March; and then we'll do Australia after that; and then South America. And we've got some plans for next summer, but I don't really wanna get into that right now."

Asked by host Eddie Trunk if W.A.S.P.'s next album will be a concept record, Blackie said: "What's in my heart right now, I want this to be a rock and roll record — an old-time rock and roll record. That's what I'm feeling. And it could be some sort of adverse reaction to what's going on in the world, maybe. I don't know; I don't really wanna think about it that much. I'm just following my gut right now. I want something that feels good. And that's where my head is right now.

"I learned years ago, you make records based on who you are at that moment," Lawless added. "And that's where I am at this moment. I wanna do something that feels really good."

W.A.S.P.'s latest release was "ReIdolized (The Soundtrack To The Crimson Idol)", which came out in February 2018. It was a new version of the band's classic 1992 album "The Crimson Idol", which was re-recorded to accompany the movie of the same name to mark the 25th anniversary of the original LP's release. The re-recorded version also features four songs missing from the original album.

W.A.S.P.'s most recent studio album of all-new original material was 2015's "Golgotha".

W.A.S.P.'s first live performance since December 2019 took place on July 23 at Skansen in Stockholm, Sweden. A week later (July 30),W.A.S.P. also played at Skogsröjet festival in Rejmyre, Sweden.

W.A.S.P. recently postponed its European 40th-anniversary tour, originally scheduled for spring of 2022, until the spring of 2023. The new dates will take place in March, April and May of 2023. All tickets previously purchased for the 2022 tour will be valid at the rescheduled 2023 shows.

W.A.S.P. will embark on its first U.S. tour in a decade later this month. The trek will coincide the band's 40th anniversary and will include support from ARMORED SAINT and MICHAEL SCHENKER on select shows.

Lawless has led W.A.S.P. as its lead vocalist and primary songwriter since its beginning. His unique brand of visual, social and political comment took the group to worldwide heights and sold millions of records alongside a legacy of sold-out shows across the globe for four decades. He is joined in W.A.S.P.'s current lineup by bassist Mike Duda and guitarist Doug Blair, whose tenures in the band span 26 and 18 years respectively, along with drummer extraordinaire Aquiles Priester.