Metal Priestess - An Essay
The Metal Priestess six-track EP is the companion volume to the Beyond the Valley of 1984 album. Both were released in 1981.
Metal Priestess is a title worthy of some analysis. At first sight it might not appear particularly significant, merely a link between heavy metal and Wendy. There is however a deeper meaning. A priest, and hence a priestess, is someone authorised by the church to administer, on behalf of God, baptisms, confirmations, the eucharist, penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony. And also to pronounce absolution, in which sins are forgiven. The priestess acts as the link between the physical world in which we live, bound by the laws of space and time, and the mysteries of eternity known only to God.
On the cover, Wendy is pictured on stage on her
knees, leaning backwards. At first sight this is simply a good photo - and a sexy one! But
it has a religious aspect. Wendy - the priestess - can be seen as subordinate to a
superior being or set of beliefs.
This becomes clear when we examine the tracks. The first - Lunacy - begins with a fairly long instrumental prologue, which is somewhat mantra-like. Lunacy means insanity or madness, and in the past intermittent lunacy was attributed to the cycles of the moon. This lunar aspect features clearly in the song. Wendy is describing some form of cosmic power which is given to people, and which they can use for good or evil effect. This is entirely consistent with Christian teaching, in which people have free will to choose between good and evil and the future is not predetermined.
The next track - Doom Song - maintains the religious theme with an organ introduction. Doom Song is a kind of alternative Lord's Prayer. The priestess - Wendy - is administering a form of eucharist. Casual listening to the record can lead to the mistaken impression that she is swnmoning up dark forces, but the opposite is actually the case. The condemnation of hypocrites echoes the words of Jesus, and the priestess has been given considerable power to use some force against the enemies of good. The hypocrites are described as "filthy", and some mysterious crawling, oozing, slimy "something" is going to deal with them.
The reference to the Prince of Darkness is curious. Superficially, Satan is being invoked, and that is why the song can easily be misinterpreted as a form of Black Mass. But the figure of Satan is always a baffling one; if Satan is in charge of Hell - the purpose of which is supposedly to punish sinners for all eternity - he is clearly acting on behalf of Ciod and is hardly the sinner's friend. In fact, Satan would be one of God's key workers, albeit with a rather hot and unpleasant working enviromnent! The concept of Hell does not derive from the Bible but from later ideas, and Satan is an ambivalent figure. It is possible that the "something" referred to above is Satan - and therefore the priestess, acting on Go&s authority, has summoned Satan from the underworld to punish the hypocrites. The reference to "YI"" at the end of the song, i.e. to Jehovah, confirms the fascinating religious theme of this song.
The third track - Sex Junkie - also appears in Beyond the Valley of 1984 and is a condemnation of sex-obsessed American culture (see the analysis of this song in the section about the 1984 album)
The fourth track - Black Leather Monster - follows the same theme as Sex Junkie. The meaning of the title refers is unclear; it could be a phallic reference, or maybe even to the priestess herself, the song being sung in the third person i.e. Wendy is taking the role of one of the sex junides who is at the mercy of the priestess/dominatrix.
The fifth track - 12 Noon - is in many ways a prologue for the excellent Maggots album that would follow some six years later. Wendy is describing the corruption and pollution in modern society. The song is very interesting because it takes the opposite line to the stereotypical warnings of "destruction just around the corner". For it is corruption and pollution - rather than civilised society - which is about to be destroyed. Whether this destruction will result in the restoration of morality, or simply the end of human life, isn't clear. In a way, the priestess may be giving the world an opportunity to confess sins and make peace with God before possible annihilation, the suggestion being that the world has been given 24 hours or so to do this.
The final song - Masterplan - is also on the Beyond the Valley of 1984 album and an analysis of the song is in the commentary on that album. The song suggests that society had it made, but ruined everything. This echoes the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Metal Priestess is very clearly an album with a strong religious theme. It can be interpreted as the priestess - Wendy - describing how mankind has been given the power to choose between Good and Evil, but has chosen Evil. She has summoned the forces of destruction to sweep the corruption away, and has given the world time to make peace with God and seek absolution of its sins.
served
Images copyright Plasmatics Media Inc. 1998/1999
Used with permission
