Chris Holmes feels Blackie Lawless was trying to outdo Marilyn Manson with W.A.S.P.’s ‘K.F.D.’ album

Chris Holmes feels Blackie Lawless was trying to outdo Marilyn Manson with W.A.S.P.’s ‘K.F.D.’ album

Former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes was recently interviewed by Andrew Daly for Metal Edge Mag. Holmes had two stints in W.A.S.P. with the first from 1983 to 1990 and then again from 1995 to 2001. During Holmes‘ first stint in W.A.S.P., the group released the albums W.A.S.P. (1984), The Last Command (1985), Inside The Electric Circus (1986) and The Headless Children (1989) and during his second stint, he played on the records Kill Fuck Die (1997), Helldorado (1999) and Unholy Terror (2001).

With respect to whether it was difficult to walk away from W.A.S.P., Holmes indicated (with slight edits): “It didn’t matter because if I didn’t walk away, Blackie [Lawless] would have just gone behind my back and gotten someone to take my spot. He’d be trying other people out behind my back, but to my face, everything was fine. For example, the second time around, he’d already tried Darrell [Roberts] out, and I had no idea. But I didn’t care because I had already come to learn how much of a narcissist he was. So, it didn’t shock me. That shit started back in the ’80s when he insisted on being on the cover by himself.”

In terms of why he decided to return to W.A.S.P. in 1995, Holmes stated: “I thought it could be different but quickly learned it wouldn’t be. The last album I did in the ’80s, The Headless Children, was only as good as it was because I was doing all the guitars. I told him, “Let me do this my way, or I’m quitting.” And when I came back, I thought it would be better, but as we began to work on Kill Fuck Die, I found out the situation wasn’t any better.” Holmes added: “I quickly realized that I was working with a massive narcissist. Blackie was in control of the whole record, and guess what happened — Kill Fuck Die sounds like shit. And the reason why that record sounds the way it does is that Blackie Lawless was really scared of Marilyn Manson taking his spot in rock ‘n’ roll. So, he had to try and outdo Marilyn Manson. I hate that record. I know some people love it, but to me, it’s a piece of crap.”

You can read the rest of the interview with Chris Holmes via Metal Edge Mag‘s website.

W.A.S.P.‘s K.F.D. EPK: