Review by Felix on June 9, 2019.

"Mercy" is the name of the first track, but Blackie Lawless knows no mercy. Welcome to Dominator, another album by the one-man-show called W.A.S.P. Yes, the master of his own circus made a few experiments during his career, but here it becomes again quite obvious that this man is caught in his own song patterns. "Mercy" is a good song, no doubt about it. A casual yet effective riff creates a slightly dark atmosphere and it goes without saying that the song boasts with an extremely good flow. Not to mention the strong vocals which are always able to make the difference. However, don't think that there is any new element, any unexpected detail or something like that. Lawless does what he almost always did, no more, no less, and he does it in a good way. Take it or leave it, but don't come to the conclusion that he is challenging himself in any way. The dude rocks within the frontiers of his own comfort zone. However, I tend to take it due to the catchy chorus and the coherent overall picture.

Good news, the opener is not the only strong metal rocker on this album. "The Burning Man" or "Teacher" go in the same direction and in particular "Heaven's Blessed" sounds the alarm. W.A.S.P. prove evidence that they can break out of quite commercial frames and deliver songs with a spiny appearance. Too bad that Lawless sees no sense in making an album with this kind of songs exclusively. His semi-ballads like "Take Me Up" give the listener a more than sufficient portion of schmaltz. I freely admit that the song is not really despicable in terms of melody and atmosphere, they walk on trodden paths and integrate as many stereotypes as possible. As mentioned before, I like the voice of Blackie L., but sometimes his whining and lamenting lacks authenticity. I don't think that millionaires should sing about their broken heart or something like that. Come on, dudes, it's easy to cry as long as you are rich. Nevertheless, Lawless cannot be blamed for delivering shitty numbers here, even though it remains a mystery to me why he offers a reprise instead of another new song - and by the way, why is "Heaven's Hung in Black" introduced by the melody of "When Johnny Is Coming Home Again"?

Every now and then, a faceless number has conquered a place on Dominator. The second piece is a high-speed number, not in objective terms but compared with the catalogue of the group. Unfortunately, the one-tone-riff fails to push "Long, Long Way to Go" on a high level. Once again, I am not speaking about a throwaway track, but it seems to be written in a loveless manner. The closer, a wannabe-good-times rocker, also does not give me much. On the other hand, the production scores with density, evenness and maturity. And what about Lawless himself? His portion of music is predictable, but predictably solid or even good - and his mentality is reflected by these lines in the booklet: "I love my country, but I'm scared to death of its government. Nothing I have ever written is truer." I am confused, because I could not express it better myself, although I live in another country than Lawless. Maybe this situation was the real reason why he wrote a song called "Mercy". He and me, we have one thing in common: we dominate nothing.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on June 9, 2019.

"Mercy" is the name of the first track, but Blackie Lawless knows no mercy. Welcome to Dominator, another album by the one-man-show called W.A.S.P. Yes, the master of his own circus made a few experiments during his career, but here it becomes again quite obvious that this man is caught in his own song patterns. "Mercy" is a good song, no doubt about it. A casual yet effective riff creates a slightly dark atmosphere and it goes without saying that the song boasts with an extremely good flow. Not to mention the strong vocals which are always able to make the difference. However, don't think that there is any new element, any unexpected detail or something like that. Lawless does what he almost always did, no more, no less, and he does it in a good way. Take it or leave it, but don't come to the conclusion that he is challenging himself in any way. The dude rocks within the frontiers of his own comfort zone. However, I tend to take it due to the catchy chorus and the coherent overall picture.

Good news, the opener is not the only strong metal rocker on this album. "The Burning Man" or "Teacher" go in the same direction and in particular "Heaven's Blessed" sounds the alarm. W.A.S.P. prove evidence that they can break out of quite commercial frames and deliver songs with a spiny appearance. Too bad that Lawless sees no sense in making an album with this kind of songs exclusively. His semi-ballads like "Take Me Up" give the listener a more than sufficient portion of schmaltz. I freely admit that the song is not really despicable in terms of melody and atmosphere, they walk on trodden paths and integrate as many stereotypes as possible. As mentioned before, I like the voice of Blackie L., but sometimes his whining and lamenting lacks authenticity. I don't think that millionaires should sing about their broken heart or something like that. Come on, dudes, it's easy to cry as long as you are rich. Nevertheless, Lawless cannot be blamed for delivering shitty numbers here, even though it remains a mystery to me why he offers a reprise instead of another new song - and by the way, why is "Heaven's Hung in Black" introduced by the melody of "When Johnny Is Coming Home Again"?

Every now and then, a faceless number has conquered a place on Dominator. The second piece is a high-speed number, not in objective terms but compared with the catalogue of the group. Unfortunately, the one-tone-riff fails to push "Long, Long Way to Go" on a high level. Once again, I am not speaking about a throwaway track, but it seems to be written in a loveless manner. The closer, a wannabe-good-times rocker, also does not give me much. On the other hand, the production scores with density, evenness and maturity. And what about Lawless himself? His portion of music is predictable, but predictably solid or even good - and his mentality is reflected by these lines in the booklet: "I love my country, but I'm scared to death of its government. Nothing I have ever written is truer." I am confused, because I could not express it better myself, although I live in another country than Lawless. Maybe this situation was the real reason why he wrote a song called "Mercy". He and me, we have one thing in common: we dominate nothing.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Carl on September 16, 2020.

Industrial metal, how much more 90's can you get without bringing Fred Durst into the equation? The late 80's and early to mid 90's saw quite a lot of these bands emerging, fusing metal riffing to pounding drum machine rhythms and samples. Both the US and the UK had their kind of style, with the English acts tending towards the groundwork laid out by the mighty Godflesh and their US counterparts usually taking their cues more from NIN and Ministry. There are exceptions of course, Skin Chamber, Soulstorm (I know, I know, they're Canadian, but you get the point) and this here Puncture.

Puncture offer up some pounding industrial metal on their debut album, but the influence of US leading lights like the aforementioned NIN and Ministry only shines through occasionally. The basis for the music is, again, Godflesh but Puncture takes this and runs with it, adding a lot more other ingredients to the pretty volatile mix. On top of the death metal riffing and the barked vocals the band sprinkles the influence of industrial originators like Front Line Assembly and Skinny Puppy. Weird sounds and sampled spoken word passages are interwoven throughout the album, setting a menacing atmosphere.

The band has managed to craft their songs in a way that each track has a face of it's own without making the album sound like a compilation record. From the Voivod riffing in 'Nailed to a Cross' and 'American Dream', the Front Line Assembly stomp in 'Youth gone Mild' and the EBM/rave intro to 'Procession', each track has something to distinguish it from the other. And boy, did somebody really like the Public Enemy album "It Takes a Nation of Millions ..." because I heard different samples off of it throughout. All their influences come together in a solid frame of drum machine driven Godflesh-isms and in their heavier moments Puncture also brings to mind the first Fear Factory album as well as Meathook Seed's debut. This is solid and varied industrial metal from a band that perhaps deserves more recognition than it gets.

If I have to make a point of critique it is that the album lasts a bit too long. Perhaps the band could have left off a track like 'Craft' that lasts too long and isn't such an interesting song either. With music that aims for relentless intensity like this, it's probably a good idea to keep it short and focused. Other than that, this is a remorseless piece of death-infused industrial hostility sure to please those into acts like Skrew, G.G.F.H., mid 90's Front Line Assembly and Sonic Violence.

Rating: 8 out of 10