Night At The Mausoleum: Wednesday 13 Raises The Dead

“Comparing this record to 'The Dixie Dead'...I just made the sound heavier. I wanted to revamp and recharge everything I think I've become over the years. It was a conscious decision to make a really heavy, balls-out, different kinda record.”

You could easily write off that statement as nothing more than inane music-biz hyperbole: it's a new year and there's a new album/tour to shove down some throats. The album, when it arrives, will be predictably 'heavier, yet more melodic'. As well as being exactly the same as the last one.

That is not the case with Wednesday 13, though. Ten years into a solo career after a further decade fronting Frankenstein Drag Queens From Planet 13 and Murderdolls, the man could easily churn out horror punk ditties ‘til he drops. But, ‘Monsters Of The Universe: Come Out & Plague’, his new album, shows that, hold the bullshit, he’s evolving in fine style.

“I guess a lot of fans listen to Frankenstein Drag Queens, hear the 1996 sound and go: 'Yeah, that's raw! It's punk and fast!'” he said. “When I listen to it, I go: 'Wow, that's raw and fast because I only had $200 and had to record it in four hours'. That's the beauty of those records – I don't think they would have been how they are if I'd spent a month on 'em.

“I guess I could try make a three-chord punk rock record again, but I dunno, it'd just be taking a step backwards. I did so many records in that style and for years I felt like I'd done enough of it. Eventually I'll touch back on it on a song here or there, but I don't think a full horror punk album is on the cards right now.”

Wednesday has not only abandoned his horror-punk past in terms of the tunes, but also in terms of aesthetic. His sixth solo full-length is a concept album. You gasp. “This is madness!” you cry, shielding yourself from Gerard Butler's hard-hitting sandals.

“To be honest with you, I'm really not a fan of any kind of concept album other than 'Welcome To My Nightmare' – I'm not even sure I understand that and I'm a huge Alice Cooper fan,” he laughed. “When I started this concept record, I didn't want it to be that you have to understand the story to like the record. I guess, in a nutshell, the concept is: what if you woke up one day and found out everything you grew up learning and studying your whole life was a lie?' And then you found out all these things you'd heard weren't true were true.

“That's kinda the story. People wake up and find out everything they've lived their whole life for is a lie, and the government was behind it all. Then the government go: 'Yeah, everything you thought you knew was wrong. By the way, there's a plague unleashed on you and you'll all be dead within a couple of months and by the time you're all dead, we'll be re-populating the Earth with our new breed of people'. That's what the alien invasion part of the story is.”

As Ron Burgundy would say: "Boy, that escalated quickly." Then again, the metal landscape is, at times, a very, very serious place. Sometimes it's nice to cut loose with a dose of escapism and, well, fun. “My zombie take on it isn't your typical Walking Dead zombie plague,” Wednesday revealed, careful to avoid the brain-eating bandwagon. “These zombies are turned into incubators for the aliens, then these aliens kinda hatch out of them and repopulate the Earth. It's a little weird, but oh well. There's no happy endings. Earth dies.”

So there you have it. Wednesday 13's gone and written an album about government conspiracies. He even touches on the Reptilian Agenda during Serpents Of Society, and it's bonkers. But, crucially, it would all be pointless were the music just a replica of efforts gone by. Thankfully, it's not. Planet Eater Interstellar 187 sets off like a bastard and rattles ribcages like a Deicide number. Which is new.

“I think it still fits what we do,” he said. “I mean, when it kicks in, you're still like: 'Holy shit! That's some double bass!' I put out a record every year and I do a lot of the same thing, and I wanted to try things I've never done before. In the past five years or so, my musical tastes have definitely shifted into heavier, darker sounds and I wanted to showcase that. Our guitar player, Roman [Surman], sent me a demo because he wrote the song. I was just like: 'Woah, this is fuckin' brutal.' It's like a pop death metal song.”

As a man whose love of Mötley Crüe and Alice Cooper is well documented, it's a surprise to observe his palette of late. With 'The Dixie Dead', and even more so on 'Monsters...', Wednesday 13 has toned down the sleaze in favour of nastier noises.

“I love Satyricon – they've been one of my favourite bands over the last few years,” he said. “Then Killing Joke, who obviously aren't considered to be heavy but who've been a big influence on me. Again, I love stuff like Fear Factory and Lamb Of God, and a lot of those guys are friends of mine too, so that sorta music's been where my heart's been at lately.

“Even when I go back over all my old stuff, it's not all just punk and rock stuff. I've always had that side with heavy guitar. I've always been a huge fan of Pantera and Dimebag's style, and the first White Zombie record, you can still hear that guitar sound on the first Murderdolls record. Dead In Hollywood has that 'Dun Dun Dun Dun' that was always more than just a punk riff.”

'Monsters...' is still brimming with cheeky lyrics, that coarse croon and rock 'n' roll swagger, but it's a massive shake-up and one that won’t stop with the end of the recording process. With a slew of live dates - including a UK run in March - in the diary, further shifts are on the way.

“I definitely want to change the show,” he said. “It always depends on budget and things like that. I've been doing my stuff DIY for years and I've still been able to make my show what it is, but the whole idea of this record and tour is it marks 10 years since 'Transylvania 90210' came out. I wouldn't say I've just been doing the same shit, but the show's always had the same format. Visually, I have tonnes of ideas and tricks and gimmicks. Don't expect to see fire and all that stuff, but it's definitely gonna be a more theatrical show in terms of staging and make-up and things like that. It's gonna be the new era of the band.”

A new era for the band and, in particular, a musician who has crested the highs and hit the lows of the music business. Wednesday opened for Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne and Guns N' Roses with Murderdolls, while he’s paid his club circuit dues at both ends of his career. He’s now in a comfortable position with a dedicated fanbase, but he must miss the overblown proportions of those shows, right?

“It's a lot of fun just being there going: 'Wow, I get to play this big arena with this band I grew up with',” said. “It's awesome, but financially it wasn't easy and at the end of the day, most of those people forgot who we were as soon as we walked off stage. When you're a little baby band trying to do those shows, it sucks. It was kinda cool to go to catering and see people from Alice Cooper, like hanging out and eating breakfast with them. That was fun.”

Breakfast with Alice Cooper members does indeed sound like fun, which is an important word to come back to when discussing this particular freewheeling career. Wednesday 13 has survived for 20 years doing precisely what he wants and he continues to surprise a diehard audience.

“I don't have a little rulebook when I write music or play shows or anything,” he concluded. “There are no rules and I can do what I want. I don't want to paint myself into a corner where I can only do horror punk and that's it. I think some of my fans would prefer it if I just did horror punk non-stop, but I can't do that. It's not healthy for me. I've gotta be inventive and do what makes me happy, and I only hope that the fans travel with me.”

Zombie aliens, government conspiracies and the heaviest, most inspired piece of work he's done since 'Transylvania 90210'?  We're with you, Wednesday 13. Until the apocalypse begins, that is.

Wednesday 13 Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:

Thu March 05 2015 - SHEFFIELD Sheffield Corporation
Fri March 06 2015 - READING Bowery District
Sat March 07 2015 - EXETER Cavern
Sun March 08 2015 - SOUTHAMPTON Joiners
Tue March 10 2015 - WOLVERHAMPTON Slade Rooms
Wed March 11 2015 - MANCHESTER Academy
Thu March 12 2015 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE THINK TANK at Digital
Fri March 13 2015 - GLASGOW Cathouse
Sat March 14 2015 - NOTTINGHAM Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Sun March 15 2015 - BRISTOL Marble Factory
Tue March 17 2015 - NORWICH Waterfront Studio
Wed March 18 2015 - CARDIFF Globe

Click here to compare & buy Wednesday 13 Tickets at Stereoboard.com.

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