New Hope the Wretched: Metal Priestess

New Hope for the Wretched/Metal Priestess album for sale by Plasmatics was released Apr 10, 2001 on the Plasmatics Media label. This two-fer reissue from New York shock merchants the Plasmatics makes for a somewhat odd pairing, with the band's most punk-friendly album, 1980's New Hope for the Wretched, matched up with the 1981 EP Metal Priestess, where the band made it's first clear bid for acceptance by the world's heavy metal kids. Truth be told, the shift isn't as disorienting as some might expect; a listen to New Hope makes it clear guitarists Richie Stotts and Wes Beech already had at least one toe dipped in the hard rock pool from the very beginning, though their more metallic inclinations were reigned in by the forward velocity of songs like "Tight Black Pants, " "Butcher Baby, " and "Monkey Suit, " as well as the noisy experimentalism of their cover of Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover." New Hope for the Wretched/Metal Priestess CD music contains a single disc with 21 songs.